Overcoming behavioural barriers for the adoption of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) in subtropical islands - Challengers and enablers in Mauritius

With the advent of climate change, flooding has become a major risk worldwide, especially in small islands found in subtropical regions due to the increased number of high intensity rainfall events. Compared to conventional drainage systems, Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) offer the possibility of better water management and runoff control through the promotion of groundwater infiltration using systems such as swales, infiltration basins and retention ponds. Previous studies have identified several barriers at the technical, organizational, financial and regulatory levels. However, there is a dearth of research on behavioural factors affecting professionals involved in stormwater management. Moreover, although implemented in various countries with temperate climates, the adoption of SUDS in subtropical islands like Mauritius is still low. The aim of this study was to explore the barriers and enablers at the individual level for the uptake of SUDS in small islands located in subtropical climates, with Mauritius as case study. A qualitative approach was used through a semi-structured interview with 16 experts involved in stormwater management infrastructure consisting of engineers and planners. Following a thematic analysis, results showed that while interviewees were aware of the benefits of using SUDS, the main barriers at individual level were the lack of trust in effectiveness of SUDS to cope with high intensity rainfall, resistance to change from the conventional drainage systems, fear of adopting innovative systems due to lack of knowledge and lack of facilitating conditions in organisations. The potential enablers for promoting adoption of SUDS by professionals included greater dissemination of successful SUDS projects to increase trust, organization of capacity-building workshops, provision of locally adapted guidelines on SUDS and improved top management support promoting the use of SUDS by employees. The study has provided useful insights on challenges faced at individual level by professionals and the potential enablers for overcoming these behavioural barriers, thus laying the founding steps for greater uptake of SUDS and ultimately higher infrastructure resilience to flooding.