We focused on the barriers to the implementation of enabling environments for sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. Based on interviews and desktop research, we analyzed overall framework conditions in these countries as well as implementation practices in three cities. Our findings demonstrate that the main problem was the deficit of strategic foresight for urban development. SUDS are mostly promoted by NGOs and fueled by international donors, and this represents a major barrier to their implementation, as NGOs and ‘traditional’ epistemic communities are often not connected. Successful examples of SUDS are missing, often due to regulatory environments forcing SUDS development teams to take suboptimal decisions. In order to be taken seriously by key stakeholders SUDS need to appear in national policy documents. Furthermore, the overall successful implementation of SUDS needs robust governance frameworks while many structural issues are direct results of governance deficits.

我们专注于在白俄罗斯、俄罗斯和乌克兰实施可持续城市排水系统 (SUDS) 有利环境的障碍。基于访谈和桌面研究，我们分析了这些国家的总体框架条件以及三个城市的实施实践。我们的研究结果表明，主要问题是缺乏对城市发展的战略远见。SUDS 主要由非政府组织推动并由国际捐助者推动，这代表了其实施的主要障碍，因为非政府组织和“传统”认知社区往往没有联系。缺少 SUDS 的成功示例，这通常是由于监管环境迫使 SUDS 开发团队做出次优决策。为了得到主要利益相关者的重视，SUDS 需要出现在国家政策文件中。