Assessing participatory practices in green stormwater infrastructure development

Participatory practices are essential for green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) development that addresses stormwater issues while providing other ecosystem benefits. However, few studies have examined how communities are engaged in GSI projects, best practices for different engagement mechanisms, and if the engagement process produced the intended outcomes. This study fills these critical gaps through a survey (n = 195) and key informant interviews (n = 17) of professionals and academics previously involved in GSI development. We reveal that engagement initiatives for GSI are hindered mainly by available resources, perceptions, requirements, and the COVID-19 Pandemic. Current GSI engagement focuses primarily on early project stages and is uniquely challenged by project technical complexity and the need for effective knowledge transfer and long-term stewardship. Finally, the significant gap in engagement assessments calls for allocating adequate resources for evaluation and advancing research on appropriate evaluative methods based on project type, community context, and evaluation purpose.