Governance of infrastructure for resilience

This white paper highlights the role that good governance can play in embedding resilience through seven key themes which include: whole systems approaches; adaptive capacity; prioritising infrastructure needs; infrastructure financing; regulation, codes and standards; capacity and resourcing and; data, information and technology. Additionally, the governance challenges and opportunities related to integration of Nature-based Solutions into traditional decision-making have been highlighted and explored through the lens of the themes developed in this white paper. Strengthening governance systems – the mechanisms that ensure that infrastructure is of high quality and is sustainable over the long-term – can lead to substantial increases in the efficiency and productivity of infrastructure.

The paper finds that the themes and actions explored are significantly interdependent on each other, and need to be considered and implemented collectively to have maximum impact on improving infrastructure governance for resilience. For example, having capacity and resources, and data and information is essential for better understanding the whole infrastructure system and for prioritising where resilience strengthening is needed. The themes and actions identified should be prioritised to understand where the most significant benefits can be provided with limited resources and to identify critical actions that can have the biggest impact to the governance of infrastructure for resilience.