Co-Designed Rehabilitation of an Urban Watercourse

Lessons learned from Victoria, Australia for Montevideo, Uruguay

Rehabilitación co-diseñada de un curso de agua urbano.
Lecciones aprendidas de Victoria (Australia) para Montevideo (Uruguay)
Iyuí Stream / Cañada Iyuí (Sept 2021) Author: Adriana Piperno
Iyuí Stream / Cañada Iyuí (Sept 2021) Author: Adriana Piperno

Year: 2022

Mentors: Dr. Arch. Beau Beza (Deakin) and Msc. Arch. Adriana Piperno (FADU)

Category: Master of Sustainability thesis

Tags: Research | Sustainable Drainage | Co-design

Abstract

This research undertakes two integrated comparative case studies of two highly polluted small urban watercourses, identifying causal attributions for the successful rehabilitation of one and generating strategic recommendations for the other. The first is the Stony Creek case in Victoria, Australia. A case whose watercourse has suffered the highest levels of pollution in 30 years in Melbourne and whose ecosystem rehabilitation was largely achieved thanks to the active participation of its community. The other is the Iyuí Stream case in Casavalle’s neighbourhood in Montevideo, Uruguay. A case with a highly urbanised waterway with medium and highly vulnerable populations settled on its banks. Since 2015, Iyuí has had a plan that proposes the channelling and rectification of its riverbed and banks, which has advanced very punctually yet without participation instances. However, a co-designed rehabilitation project for the Iyuí stream could be a conceivable proposal given the City Council’s new proposals for ecosystemic environmental recovery with citizen participation and the precedents of high-impact community participation’s successful local experiences.

This research reveals a vast gap related to the absence of literature linking urban watercourse rehabilitation and co-design in Latin American contexts of precariousness and socio-economic vulnerability. It shows that successful cases of sustainable and collaborative public policies can be achieved through laborious and gradual processes through the joint work of all citizens. Thus, organised local communities can achieve powerful local changes of planetary and humanitarian significance by acquiring both the responsibilities and the benefits that come with them.

In fact, this study makes it possible to conceive that a shift towards a co-designed rehabilitation of the Iyuí stream is admissible and suggests the transformation of the Iyuí project into a tentative prototype of a co-managed space of activist environmental education that works transversally towards sustainable development, combating the structural situation of precariousness and socio-economic vulnerability that the Casavalle’s community still lives in.

Resumen

La investigación lleva a cabo dos estudios de casos comparados integrados de dos pequeños cursos de agua urbanos altamente contaminados e identifica las atribuciones causales del éxito de la rehabilitación de uno y genera recomendaciones estratégicas para el otro. El primero es el caso de Stony Creek, en Victoria (Australia). Un caso cuyo curso de agua ha sufrido los mayores niveles de contaminación de los últimos 30 años en Melbourne y cuya rehabilitación del ecosistema se logró en gran medida gracias a la participación activa de su comunidad. El otro es el caso de la cañada Iyuí en el barrio de Casavalle en Montevideo, Uruguay. Un caso con un curso de agua altamente urbanizado y con población media y altamente vulnerable asentada en sus orillas. Desde 2015, la cañada Iyuí cuenta con un plan que propone la canalización y rectificación de su cauce y riberas, que ha avanzado puntualmente pero sin instancias de participación. No obstante, un proyecto de rehabilitación co-diseñado para la cañada Iyuí podría ser una propuesta concebible dadas las nuevas propuestas de recuperación ambiental ecosistémica con participación ciudadana de la Intendencia de Montevideo y los antecedentes de experiencias locales exitosas de participación comunitaria de alto impacto.

La investigación por un lado, revela la ausencia de literatura vinculada a la rehabilitación de cursos de agua urbanos y el co-diseño en contextos latinoamericanos de precariedad y vulnerabilidad socioeconómica. Muestra asimismo que se pueden lograr casos exitosos de políticas públicas sostenibles y colaborativas a través de procesos laboriosos y graduales mediante el trabajo conjunto de todos los ciudadanos. Así como también, evidencia como las comunidades locales organizadas pueden lograr poderosos cambios locales de trascendencia planetaria y humanitaria adquiriendo tanto las responsabilidades como los beneficios que conllevan.

Finalmente, el estudio permite concebir que es admisible un giro hacia una rehabilitación co-diseñada de la cañada Iyuí y sugiere la transformación del proyecto Iyuí en un prototipo tentativo de espacio cogestionado de educación ambiental activista que trabaje transversalmente hacia el desarrollo sostenible, combatiendo la situación estructural de precariedad y vulnerabilidad socioeconómica que aún la comunidad de Casavalle vivencia.

Stony Creek case

Time segments in which the Stony Creek co-designed rehabilitation process is divided into
Time segments in which the Stony Creek co-designed rehabilitation process is divided into
Stony Creek Timeline Prior to the 2018 Polluting Event
Stony Creek Timeline Prior to the 2018 Polluting Event
Generation of the community-led rehabilitation plan for Stony Creek
Generation of the community-led rehabilitation plan for Stony Creek
Stony Creek’s Co-Designed Rehabilitation Plan Development
Stony Creek’s Co-Designed Rehabilitation Plan Development
Stony Creek’s Future Directions Plan and Rehabilitation Plan Implementation
Stony Creek’s Future Directions Plan and Rehabilitation Plan Implementation

Iyuí Stream case

Time segments in which Iyuí Stream’s historical process is divided into
Time segments in which Iyuí Stream’s historical process is divided into
Casavalle Plan’s background and triggers. Population’s uses and links with the Iyuí Stream
Casavalle Plan’s background and triggers. Population’s uses and links with the Iyuí Stream
Casavalle Plan’s development and Iyuí Stream’s current status
Casavalle Plan’s development and Iyuí Stream’s current status

Iyuí Stream. Lessons Learned from Stony Creek

System of actors, linkages, influences and determining nodes in the face of an Iyuí Stream’s co-designed rehabilitation
System of actors, linkages, influences and determining nodes in the face of an Iyuí Stream’s co-designed rehabilitation
Possible lessons learned from the Stony Creek Case to the Iyuí Stream Case’s System
Possible lessons learned from the Stony Creek Case to the Iyuí Stream Case’s System
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