There are many pressures on urban water systems in today's highly dynamic world. These include the diverse impacts that are summarized under the term "Global Change". At the same time, high demands on water utiliti...There are many pressures on urban water systems in today's highly dynamic world. These include the diverse impacts that are summarized under the term "Global Change". At the same time, high demands on water utilities to act sustainably do exist. For this purpose, the collaborative project "Sustainability Controlling for Urban Water Systems" (NaCoSi) introduces an innovative approach with which sustainability risks can be identified and controlled. The sustainability controlling is based on common process-oriented management systems. The starting point is a system of sustainability objectives, which were developed together with practice partners from the German water sector. A method for multidimensional risk identification is introduced to identify sustainability risks. Complex networks of cause-effect relationships are disaggregated into unbranched linear causal chains, which are managed as records in a risk database. The subsequent analysis of the risk database allows the examination of cross-linked risks. Severe risk factors, vulnerable processes and sustainability objectives can thereby be identified and subsequently analyzed. The sustainability controlling was successfully tested and improved by an iterative process of case studies in cooperation with practice partners. The results of the case studies demonstrate the benefit of the project's interdisciplinary approach and the applicability of the sustainability controlling.展开更多
文摘There are many pressures on urban water systems in today's highly dynamic world. These include the diverse impacts that are summarized under the term "Global Change". At the same time, high demands on water utilities to act sustainably do exist. For this purpose, the collaborative project "Sustainability Controlling for Urban Water Systems" (NaCoSi) introduces an innovative approach with which sustainability risks can be identified and controlled. The sustainability controlling is based on common process-oriented management systems. The starting point is a system of sustainability objectives, which were developed together with practice partners from the German water sector. A method for multidimensional risk identification is introduced to identify sustainability risks. Complex networks of cause-effect relationships are disaggregated into unbranched linear causal chains, which are managed as records in a risk database. The subsequent analysis of the risk database allows the examination of cross-linked risks. Severe risk factors, vulnerable processes and sustainability objectives can thereby be identified and subsequently analyzed. The sustainability controlling was successfully tested and improved by an iterative process of case studies in cooperation with practice partners. The results of the case studies demonstrate the benefit of the project's interdisciplinary approach and the applicability of the sustainability controlling.