Governance in drought adaptation: Science meeting practice in Northwest Europe

Mini-symposium Water-Land-Environment Nexus

20th of September 2013

Dr. Ir. Joanne Vinke-de KruijfWater Authority Regge & Dinkel

Drought adaptation in Europe

2

Why a Northwest European project on drought, adaptation and governance?

Mitigation efforts are insufficient: we have no choice, but to

adapt now

• Drought and water scarcity already affects 17% of the EU population and 11% of the EU territory

• Impacts of climate change are projected to increase periods of drought and water scarcity

• Early adaptation provides opportunities, not adapting involves high costs

• Governance settings need to become more supportive: policy implementation is a key problem

3(EC, 2007, EEA report No 12/2012, EEA report No 3/2013, EU Blueprint)

Project objective and actions

To enhance the preparedness and resilience of Northwest

European regions to periods of drought and water scarcity

• Test and implement pilot meaures for drought adaptation in agriculture, nature and freshwater

• Develop and apply a governance assessment tool in the regions of the pilot measures

• Draw transnational lessons and actively share them with others in meetings and through a handbook and guide

Implemented between January 2013 and June 2015 with support of the Interreg IVB programme for Nortwest Europe

4

11 partners: 6 water authorities and 5 knowledge institutes

5

Lead partner

Nature pilot

Agriculture pilot

Freshwater pilot

Governance team

Yes, drought is a major problem on the high sandy soils of Northeast Twente causing damage to agriculture and nature!

6

Practice of drought adaptation: Twente (the Netherlands)

• Pilot measure (one of many): level dependent drainage

to create buffer zones around nature conservation areas

• Implications for division of roles and responsibilities?

How to serve diverse interests of nature and

agriculture?

Freshwater reservoir built (30 years ago) for flood prevention, agriculture and navigation.Currently serving flood prevention and drinking water supply alongside recreation (sailing), nature (Natura 2000). Conflicts about use.

Practice of drought adaptation: Brittany (France)

• Pilot measure: design and construct a new lock to

prevent salt intrusion while diverse interests

• How to create productive interactions between many

diverse stakeholders in a transition setting?7

Governance: the structural context that enables/restricts adaptation actions and interactions

8

Interaction process

Wider context: political, economical, socio-cultural, technological, problem

Structural (governance) context:- Levels and scales

- Actors and networks- Problem perceptions and goal

ambitions- Strategies and instruments

- Responsibilities and resources for implementation

Specific context: previous decision, specific circumstances

Actor

BActor

A

Governance assessment: where science meets practice

To what degree are the governance contexts of the pilot

regions supportive of drought adaptation?

• Extent: Is the governance structure complete enough? Is

there something lacking?

• Coherence: Are there contradictions between the various

tasks or the ways they should be fulfilled? Is there enough

synergy between these?

• Flexibility: Is there a reasonable degree of independence to

be able to fulfil the tasks in the most efficient way?

• Intensity: Is there enough support to make it possible to

achieve the tasks and ambitions? 9

(see report of Bressers et al, 2013)

Science meeting practice: the knowledge transfer challenge

Bridging differences through interactions

10

Sharing and acquisition of knowledge

Background- Socio-cultural- Profession- Organization

Actor (source/receiver)

Background- Socio-cultural- Profession- Organization

Actor (source/receiver)

� Knowledge levels� Knowledge types

� Knowledge levels� Knowledge types

Enablers, such as intense and direct interaction, team work,

previous projects, trust, …

(see PhD thesis Vinke-de Kruijf, 2013)

Thank you!

Website: www.dropproject.eu

Email: info@dropproject.eu

Twitter: @the_DROPproject

Slideshare: user/TheDROPproject

11