System harmonisation of land and water resources in peri-urban regions : lessons from Western Sydney, Australia

In this study, Western Sydney region was used as the 'laboratory' for understanding issues and options to harmonise rapidly changing peri-urban landscapes and identifying options for regional water security and land use planning. The main focus of the study was to engage and work with a range of stakeholder and government agencies to identify issues that impact on the use of potable water, stormwater, effluent and groundwater. The study involved transdisciplinary research and system harmonisation approach to understand the role of water in primary production, identifying opportunities and constraints as influenced by water quantity and quality, analysing market options and mechanisms to improve water productivity and environmental outcomes, review water policies, institutional barriers and community aspirations and identifying changes needed to improve water security. In this chapter, we discuss how the system harmonisation approach was applied to a peri-urban catchment in the Western Sydney region and a number of lessons that emerged from this study and the relevance of this approach to engaging stakeholders and government agencies and carrying out transdisciplinary research in peri-urban landscapes.