The water sector is increasingly facing unprecedented challenges and disruptive change, as are many other sectors of the economy. The partial privatisation of water assets is just the beginning of this process and climate change impacts will exacerbate all these challenges. Action needs to be taken now if threats are to be turned into opportunities.

While municipal government is most often at the heart of local urban greenspace provision, delivery depends upon internal as well as external factors which can act as disruptors. Drawing upon two case studies, this paper examines which factors most affect urban greenspace in two fast growing cities of Australia and Canada, exploring how they manifest...

With over half a million people, the Gold Coast is currently the sixth largest city in Australia and one of the most rapidly developing urban areas in the country. Unfortunately, it is also highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and has been hard hit by storms, flooding, heatwaves, and droughts in recent years...

As climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of natural disasters resilience is becoming more and more important. While the need for an intergovernmental approach to adapt to climate change impacts and achieve disaster resilience is widely acknowledged, higher levels of government often delegate the responsibility to local governments without much guidance or support.

For a generation, governments around the world have been committed to sustainable development as a policy goal. This has been supported by an array of new policies ranging from international agreements, to national strategies, environmental laws at many levels of government, regional programs, and local plans. Despite these efforts, decades of scientific monitoring indicate that...