Project Related Outputs

For project related (PaWS and PaWS2) activities and engagements click here (engagements) and here (news brief).

Formal project outputs are outlined below:

Community of Practice (PaWS2) Webinar Series (draft program here)

1. The Pathways to Water resilient South African cities webinar series no1. Stormwater ponds for a water resilient Cape Town: overflowing with potential? November 2023

2. The Pathways to Water resilient South African cities webinar series no2. Stormwater ponds: 'stepping stones' to urban biodiversity? February 2024

3. The Pathways to Water resilient South African cities webinar series no3. Novel Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and data sharing for management of groundwater resources. July 2024

4. The Pathways to Water resilient South African cities webinar series no4. Stormwater ponds – their potential for multifunctionality (or multi-purpose?) from an urban planning perspective. September 2024

5. The Pathways to Water resilient South African cities webinar series no5. Multi-layered management requirements of stormwater-linked Blue-Green Infrastructure (including SuDS) in cities. January 2025

6. The Pathways to Water resilient South African cities webinar series no6. Integrated Water Quality Management for a resilient city. April 2025 

 

Newsletters (PaWS2)

1. The Pathways to Water resilient South African cities newsletter. Stormwater ponds for a water resilient Cape Town: overflowing with potential? November 2023 (J. Fell, PhD)

2. The Pathways to Water resilient South African cities webinar series no2. Stormwater ponds: 'stepping stones' to urban biodiversity? February 2024 (J. McLachlan)

3. The Pathways to Water Resilient South African cities newsletter: Transition to novel Internet of Things (IoT) Technology for management of groundwater resources - Cape Town, South Africa. June 2024 (M. Arinaitwe)

4. Stormwater ponds – their potential for multifunctionality (or multi-purpose?) from an urban planning perspective (J.McLachlan & K.Carden)

5. Multi-layered management requirements of stormwater-linked Blue-Green Infrastructure (including SuDS) in cities (J.McLachlan, K.Carden & A.Abrams)

6. Integrated Water Quality Management for a resilient city (R. Schneuwly & K. Carden)

 

Websites (PaWS and PaWS2)

PhD candidate, Jessica Fell, has developed a Storymap related to the project.

Fell, J. 2022. Stormwater ponds for sustainable and water resilient cities: Overflowing with potential. ArcGIS StoryMap.

 

Videos (PaWS and PaWS2)

PaWS @ IWA NSS (non sewered sanitation) conference by Sansha van der Merwe

PaWS Mural Story (standard definition)

PaWS Mural Story (HD)

PaWS - Making use of stormwater ponds video

 

Briefs (PaWS and PaWS2)

Cape Town research Brief

Johannesburg research Brief

PaWS Mural Brief - to learn more about the artistic team involved, Handcantrol360, please see their Instagram page.

Getting to know your stormwater ponds - J. Mclachlan

 

Toolkits (PaWS and PaWS2)

A Citizen placemaking toolkit was developed, as part of a MSc Landscape Architecture students’ output, incorporating landscape elements designed to guide citizens in placemaking initiatives within blue-green infrastructure.

 

Workshops

 

Publications (PaWS and PaWS2)

Mguni, P., Byskov Herslund, L., Abrams, AL., Carden, K., Tanyanyiwa, C., McLachlan, J., Schneuwly, R., Armitage, N., 2025. Scaling deep at the margins: Coproduction of nature-based solutions as decolonial research praxis in Cape Town. NPJ Urban Sustainability 5, 1.

Arinaitwe, M. & Okedi, J., 2024. IoT-based data and analytic hierarchy process to map groundwater recharge with stormwater. Water Science and Technology, 89(3), pp.529-547.

Herslund, L. Carden, K and Mguni, P., 2023. Editorial: Governing Hybrid Urban Infrastructure - The Co-Production of Decentralized, Nature-Based and Localized Solutions. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities.

Mclachlan, J., Tanyanyiwa, C.T., Schneuwly, R., Carden, K., Armitage, N.P., Abrams, A., Mguni, P. and Herslund, L.B., 2023. Pathways to water resilient South African cities–from mono-functional to multi-functional stormwater infrastructure. Scientific African, p.e01674.

Tanyanyiwa, C.T., Abrams, A.L., Carden, K., Armitage, N.P., Schneuwly, R., Mguni, P., Byskov Herslund, L. and Mclachlan, J., 2023. Managing stormwater in South African neighbourhoods: when engineers and scientists need social science skills to get their jobs done. AQUA-Water Infrastructure, Ecosystems and Society.

TPT Faragher, K Carden. 2023. Groundwater governance for improving city water resilience in Cape Town, South Africa. Front. Sustain. Cities 5:1062661. doi: 10.3389/frsc.2023.1062661.

Mokgele, R.; Okedi, A.J. 2023. Suitability of Coastal Reservoirs for Stormwater Harvesting in South Africa. Preprints 2023, 2023081039. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202308.1039.v1

Mguni, P., Abrams, A., Herslund, L.B., Carden, K., Fell, J. and Armitage, N., 2022. Towards water resilience through Nature‐based Solutions in the Global South? Scoping the prevailing conditions for Water Sensitive Design in Cape Town and Johannesburg.   Environmental Science & Policy, 136, pp.147-156.

Carden, K and Fell, J. 2021. A Community of Practice Approach to Planning Water Sensitive Cities in South Africa. Urban Planning, 6(4), pp.110-121. (This paper has PaWs as one of its case studies).

Swatuk, L., Brill, G., Büchner-Marais, C., Carden, K., Conradie, E., Day, J., Fatch, J., Fell, J., Hara, M. & Ncube, B. (eds).  2021. Towards the Blue-Green city: Building urban water resilience. WRC Report no. SP 153/21. Water Research Commission, Pretoria, South Africa. ISBN 978-0-6392-0317-1  

Fell, J. & Carden, K. 2021. A renewed technical agenda for integrated urban water management. Chapter 3, Pg 46-76, in Swatuk, L., Brill, G., Büchner-Marais, C., Carden, K., Conradie, E., Day, J., Fatch, J., Fell, J., Hara, M. & Ncube, B. (eds), Towards the Blue-Green city: Building urban water resilience. WRC Report no. SP 153/21. Water Research Commission, Pretoria, South Africa. ISBN 978-0-6392-0317-1. 

 

Recent Presentations (PaWS and PaWS2)

Carden, K., 2025. 14th IWA International conference on water reuse and reclamation, 16-19 March 2025, Cape Town, South Africa. Linking policy to local BGI interventions: An analysis of associated policy in Cape Town, South Africa.

Abrams, A., 2025. 14th IWA International conference on water reuse and reclamation, 16-19 March 2025, Cape Town, South Africa. Beyond just research towards Just research: Ethical Reflections from Water Reuse Implementation Projects.

Schneuwly, R., 2025. 14th IWA International conference on water reuse and reclamation, 16-19 March 2025, Cape Town, South Africa. Non-target screening of trace organic compounds and seasonal monitoring of contaminants in diverse parts of the Cape Flats Aquifer. 

Grootboom, L., 2025. 14th IWA International conference on water reuse and reclamation, 16-19 March 2025, Cape Town, South Africa. Integrating Indigenous Knowledge systems into Water systems in South Africa 

Grootboom, L., 2025. 14th IWA International conference on water reuse and reclamation, 16-19 March 2025, Cape Town, South Africa. Linking local engagement to BGI interventions: Lived experiences of researchers and residents in repurposing a stormwater pond in Mitchell's Plain, Cape Town, South Africa. 

Mguni, P., 2024. Speaker at the Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium (TIPC) Open Learning series – “Breaking entrenched structures: Alternative frames for transformative outcomes in decolonising urban sustainability practice and research”, 3 December 2024.

Carden, K., & Abrams, A., 2024. Workshop facilitation at CONSUS "Wonders of Water" workshops in Pretoria, November 2024. 

Carden, K., 2024. Climatopolis Sao Paulo Meeting, November 2024: Climate Change -the challenge of global cooperation for urban adaptation "Water: Building Conscious Communities"

Carden, K., 2024. CoCT District Planning & Mechanisms Department Box Session, 23 August 2024 - "The role of integrated spatial planning and policy in a water sensitive city transition". 

Mguni, P., 2024. Patience Mguni chaired the Innovation for Sustainability transitions in the Global South Track, IST 2024 in Oslo, June 2024. 

Carden, K., 2024. Presentation to the Imperial College workshop, 12 June 2024, on "Building Collaborations for the Equitable Co-Production of Nature Based Solutions for Sustainable, Equitable and Resilient Water Futures".

Carden, K., 2024. Presentation to University of Sheffield seminar, 17 June 2024, on "Reorienting an innovating in communities of practice and methods in water research".

Carden, K.,  P Mguni, L Herslund, A Abrams, J Mclachlan, N P Armitage. 2023. Local management models for Water Sensitive public open space with multiple functions --Cape Town, South Africa. IWA NSS, Kigali Rwanda, December 2023. Presentation.

Carden, K. 2023. Pathways To Water Resilient South African Cities. 12th Nrcs Annual Building Control Officers’ Convention 2023 – “Building Resilience In Changing Times”. Nov 2023. Invited Speaker

Abrams, A. 2023. Social aspects of NbS for more Just Transitions towards water resilience SANBI National Agenda Setting for NbS. 21 November 2023.     

McLachlan, J. 2023. TRANSLATING CAPE TOWN’S MONO-FUNCTIONAL STORMWATER PONDS INTO MULTI-FUNCTIONAL BLUE-GREEN URBAN SPACE. International Federation of Landscape Architects Annual Conference, 28 - 30 September, Stockholm X Nairobi.

van der Merwe, S., Armitage, N., Carden, K., Mguni, P., Sheridan, C. 2023. WSUD protecting rivers when sanitation services fail: Johannesburg, South Africa. 1st IWA Non-Sewered Sanitation Conference.

Cloete, J., Grootboom, L., Mosienyane, Hlahla, S., Abrams, A. 2023. Linking local engagement to BGI interventions: Lived experiences of communities in repurposing a stormwater pond in Mitchell's Plain, Cape Town, South Africa. Young Water Professionals (YWP) WISA conference.        

Cloete, J., Grootboom, L., Mosienyane, Hlahla, S., Abrams, A. 2023. Linking policy to local BGI interventions: An analysis of associated policy in Cape Town, South Africa. Young Water Professionals (YWP) WISA conference. 

Schneuwly, R. Tanyanyiwa, C. & Carden, K. 2023. Simulating stormwater treatment during infiltration and storage in the Cape Flats Aquifer. 7th WISA YWP Conference, Stellenbosch, South Africa. Conference presentation.

Tanyanyiwa, C.T., N.P. Armitage, J. Okedi, R. Schneuwly. 2023. Evaluating the hydrogeological and treatment performance of retrofitted infiltration basins for urban MAR in Cape Town, South Africa. Novatech 2023,Conference presentation.      

Mguni, P. 2023. Narratives of water resilience – Climate action pathways in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Earth System Governance, 24-26 October 2023, Radboud, Virtual. Conference presentation

Mguni, P. 2023.  Scaling deep at the margin – Nature based solutions as decolonial praxis in Cape Town. Earth System Governance, 24-26 October 2023, Radboud, Virtual

Carden, K. 2023. Water Sensitive Design In Urban Fynbos. Fynboslife Fair, Muizenberg, Sept 2023. Invited Talk

Mguni, P. 2023. Nature-based Solutions as climate action pathways in South Africa. International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE) Conference, 10-15 July 2023, Virtual Conference presentation

Abrams, A. 2023. Future Water's work in Water Quality YES! Knowledge Exchange Webinar: Water quality monitoring: techniques and challenges. University of York invited panelist – 9 June 2023.

Carden, K. 2023. Pathways to water resilient South African cities Confluency Colloquium. June 2023. Conference presentation.

Carden, Kirsty. 2023. Enhancing water resilience ‘Pathways to water resilient South African cities’ project. Western Cape Water Indaba, 22 March 2023.

PaWS Tech Talk  - November 2022

Julia McLachlan, 21 November 2022. Blue-green acupuncture: A blue-green infrastructure strategy for Cape Town, African Infrastructure Futures, 21-23 November 2022, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

IWA 2022 Presentations itinerary and program where a number of PaWS related presentations were made. 

Schneuwly, R. and Carden, K. 2022. Evaluating the water treatment functionality of a retrofitted stormwater detention pond. International Water Association conference, Copenhagen Denmark. Understanding components of an enabling governance environment for Water Sensitive Design - IWA abstract (September 2022)

Prof. Armitage collaborated to develop a workshop entitled Nature Based Solutions for climate-resilient cities in Developing Countries under Change, on 13 September 2022, IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition, 11 –15 September 2022 | Copenhagen, Denmark

Tanyanyiwa, C.T, Abrams, A.L., Carden K., Armitage, N.P., Schneuwly, R., Mguni, P., Byskov Herslund, L., Mclachlan, J. (2022) – Managing stormwater in South African neighbourhoods: When engineers and scientists need social science skills to get their jobs done. World Water Congress & Exhibition, September 11 – 15, Copenhagen, Denmark. 11th – 15th September 2022. 

Mguni, P. K. Carden, L. Herslund, A. Abrams, C.T. Tanyanyiwa, R. De Charmoy, J. Mclachlan. 2022. Decolonialising sustainabilities: Reflecting on the coproduction of Nature-based Solutions as empowerment for researchers, communities and the landscape in Cape Town. IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition, 11-15 September 2022, Copenhagen, Denmark. Conference presentation

van der Merwe, S., Armitage, N., Carden, K., Mguni, P., Sheridan, C. 2022. The efficiency of WSUD Systems in improving the Stormwater Quality in public and private development in Johannesburg, South Africa. IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition, 11-15 September 2022, Copenhagen, Denmark

Mapping Urban Water Management Governance Processes - WISA abstract (September 2022)

Towards urban managed aquifer recharge in Cape Town's retrofitted multi-functional stormwater ponds - WISA abstract (September 2022): Tanyanyiwa, C.T., Armitage, N.P., Okedi, J. (2022) – Towards urban managed aquifer recharge in Cape Town's retrofitted multi-functional stormwater ponds. 17th Water Institute of Southern Africa Biennial Conference, September 28 - 30, 2022, Sandton, South Africa. September 28th – 30th, 2022.

Fell, J., Armitage, N. and Okedi, J. 2022. Evaluating the multi-functional potential of stormwater ponds: planning support for a Water Sensitive City transition in Cape Town, South Africa. Water Institute of Southern Africa Biennial Conference 2022, Johannesburg, South Africa. 

Abrams, A. Pivots in Transdisciplinary Engaged Water Sensitive Research in COVID Times; PaWS DANIDA case study - WISA oral presentation (September 2022)

K Carden, J Fell. 2022. Lessons from a crisis: a renewed technical agenda for sustainable water management. WISA 2022.

A presentation at International Conference on Urban Drainage - abstract IUCD 2021: Tanyanyiwa, C.T, Armitage, N.P., Dzurume, T (2021). Cape Town's Stormwater Quality – A GIS-aided case study of the Zeekoe Catchment. 15th International Conference on Urban Drainage, October 25 - 28, 2021, Melbourne, Australia. 25th – 28th October 2021.

Fell, J., Armitage, N. and Okedi, J. 2022. Insights into the multi functionality of stormwater ponds for a water sensitive Cape Town, South Africa. 15th International Conference on Urban Drainage 2021, Melbourne, Australia.

Carden, K. 2021. Pathways to water resilient South African cities Conference on Climate Responsive Urbanism: Water in Cities, Istanbul Policy centre Conference presentation

Carden, K. 2021. Pathways to water resilient South African cities. Evolving Dialogues in Water Resilience – Cardiff University Webinar presentation - invited

K Carden, T Faragher. 2021. Landscape architects and civil engineers working together to build Water Sensitive Design capacity in South Africa. SAICE’s Environmental Engineering Division Conference Conference presentation

A presentation at the Network for Early career researchers in Sustainability Transitions (NEST) Conference (April 2021)

A presentation on progress on the PaWS project was delivered by Kirsty Carden at the Water Institute of South Africa (WISA2020) conference held in December 2020

*A number of workshops with local residents on topics ranging from sandbag construction, local plant biodiversity (at Edith Stephens Nature Reserve) and mural making activities (click here for more information or visit our engagement page for updates).

 

Awards and Honors (PaWS and PaWS2)

Co-create Award Shortlist

Sansha van der Merwe. 2023. First place as Gradflash Winner. https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/general-news/2023/2023-12/the-postgraduate-symposium-a-festival-of-ideas.html

 

Other appearances and presentations (PaWS and PaWS2)

Fell, J. 2022. Environment feature: Research interview. Interviewed by Patricia Ntuli. The Morning Show. Safm Radio. https://wsudsa.org/media/water_sample/Jessica_Fell_Radio_interview_WSCs.m4a  

Carden, K. 2022. Creative Exchange with #cocreateSANL - Creative Exchange: Water in the city – Designing African blue-green cities for all - 20 April

Abrams, A. 2022. Creative Exchange with #cocreateSANL – Healthy cities, healthy citizens – 29 June 2022.

 

Useful and related links:

CFF C40 

Co-Create event Booklet - 2022