Managing Water Resources in Large River Basins

Management of water resources in large rivers basins typically differs in important ways from management in smaller basins. While in smaller basins the focus of water resources management may be on project implementation, irrigation and drainage management, water use efficiency and flood operations; in larger basins, because of the greater complexity and competing interests, there is often a greater need for long-term strategic river basin planning across sectors and jurisdictions, and considering social, environmental, and economic outcomes. This puts a focus on sustainable development, including consumptive water use and non-consumptive water uses, such as inland navigation and hydropower. It also requires the consideration of hard or technical issues—data, modeling, infrastructure—as well as soft issues of governance, including legal frameworks, policies, institutions, and political economy. Rapidly evolving technologies could play a significant role in managing large basins. This Special Issue of Water traverses these hard and soft aspects of managing water resources in large river basins through a series of diverse case studies from across the globe that demonstrate recent advances in both technical and governance innovations in river basin management

Integrated assessment and valuation of ecosystem services - Guidelines and experiences

EU FP7 OpenNESS project deliverable D33 & D4

“We can’t do it on our own!”—Integrating stakeholder and scientific knowledge of future flood risk to inform climate change adaptation planning in a coastal region

Decision-makers face a particular challenge in planning for climate adaptation. The complexity of climate change's likely impacts, such as increased flooding, has widened the scope of information necessary to take action. This is particularly the case in valuable low-lying coastal regions, which host many competing interests, and where there is a growing need to draw from varied fields in the risk-based management of flooding. The rising scrutiny over science's ability to match expectations of policy actors has called for the integration of stakeholder and scientific knowledge domains. Focusing on the Broads — the United Kingdom's largest protected wetland — this study looked to assess future flood risk and consider potential adaptation responses in a collaborative approach. Interviews and surveys with local stakeholders accompanied the development of a hydraulic model in an iterative participatory design, centred on a scientist-stakeholder workshop. Knowledge and perspectives were shared on processes driving risk in the Broads, as well as on the implications of adaptation measures, allowing for their prioritisation. The research outcomes highlight not only the challenges that scientist-stakeholder integrated assessments of future flood risk face, but also their potential to lead to the production of useful information for decision-making

Conflict Resolution in the Performance of Collaborative Governance: A Systematic Literature Review

Conflict is one of the problems that occurs when every human, organization, and the social life of the organization. Conflict can be reviewed through the root of existing problems that can be internal or can be external. The science of public administration has the right resolution in dealing with the mechanism of collaborative governance. The literature review approach applied was based on scientific journals published in the database. The database that the authors used were Scopus, Science Direct, and Taylor and Francis Group. The result of this research showed that the implementation of the proposed collaborative governance form of cooperation structure and the policy then is the creation of the community plan making. Furthermore, the types of conflicts resolved by collaborative governance in the 2015-2019 period were the source of conflicts that often occur in that period. Researchers suggested that researching collaborative governance can be developed in government so that it can be implemented in overcoming various public problems

Assessing vulnerability and modelling assistance: using demographic indicators of vulnerability and agent-based modelling to explore emergency flooding relief response

Flooding is a significant concern for much of the UK and is recognised as a primary threat by most local councils. Those in society most often deemed vulnerable: the elderly, poor or sick, for example, often see their level of vulnerability increase during hazard events. A greater knowledge of the spatial distribution of vulnerability within communities is key to understanding how a population may be impacted by a hazard event. Vulnerability indices are regularly used – in conjunction with needs assessments and on-the-ground research – to target service provision and justify resource allocation. Past work on measuring and mapping vulnerability has been limited by a focus on income-related indicators, a lack of consideration of accessibility, and the reliance on proprietary data. The Open Source Vulnerability Index (OSVI) encompasses an extensive range of vulnerability indicators supported by the wider literature and expert validation and provides data at a sufficiently fine resolution that can identify vulnerable populations. Findings of the OSVI demonstrate the potential cascading impact of a flood hazard as it impacts an already vulnerable population: exacerbating pre-existing vulnerabilities, limiting capabilities and restricting accessibility and access to key services. The OSVI feeds into an agent-based model (ABM) that explores the capacity of the British Red Cross (BRC) to distribute relief during flood emergencies using strategies based upon the OSVI. A participatory modelling approach was utilised whereby the BRC were included in all aspects of the model development. The major contribution of this work is the novel synthesis of demographics analysis, vulnerability mapping and geospatial simulation. The project contributes to the growing understanding of vulnerability and response management within the NGO sector. It is hoped that the index and model produced will allow responder organisations to run simulations of similar emergency events and adjust strategic response plans accordingly

Transitions in Motion: Accelerating Active Travel Infrastructure in London through Grassroots Groups and Activist Researchers

Active transport plans and infrastructure transition plays a key role in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and various health issues faced in London, yet has not occurred at a speed required for mitigation or even achieving stated targets and goals. While socio-technical transition research has often focused on the historical perspective and the technical aspects of a transition, it has dwelt less on the process of transition in motion. In particular, the role of grassroots movements in accelerating transitions and the social aspects of creating transitions. Utilising participatory action research and an adapted bridging methodology, this research aims to analyse mechanisms for speeding up active transport policy and infrastructure transitions. It intertwines three layers of bridging methodologies across policy and practice, namely the initiative-based learning (e.g. cycling campaigns), socio-technical analysis, and quantitative modelling. The initiative-based learning was enacted as participatory action research, with myself as an activist researcher, working in partnership with grassroots movements campaigning for active transport infrastructure and policy changes. The ‘Framework for Change’ is a template trialed in this research provided the practical connection to the theoretical socio-technical transition literature. This research project highlight the opportunities and obstacles to accelerate transitions in motion specifically for grassroots movements. The empirical findings suggest that by coupling grassroots and activist researchers, it is possible to create micro-accelerations and influence urban changes towards sustainability. Further, that using the ‘Framework for Change’ can upskill activists and form a template for other campaigns. The findings also suggest that the most important parts of the Framework for Change are building coalitions, creating measurable goals and visions, and understanding who can change policy and infrastructure. My research highlights how actions and events that unfolded represent micro-accelerations or microdecelerations and can lead to better understanding of potential transition pathways and transition goals. It further highlights that grassroots’ movements have much to offer in understanding the social and political changes required for sustainable socio-technical transitions. More research into the social rather than the technical factors could speed up the pace and expand the scale of the transition required for climate change adaptation and healthy built environment outcomes

The race between education and catastrophe: creating climate-sensitive cities

‘History is a race between education and catastrophe’ (Gurría, 2013). This is the essence of the climate-change dilemma in human settlements today. How can cities act effectively to live with climate change? After a century, the world is bracing for a perfect storm with burgeoning populations drifting to the cities, resulting in anthropogenic greenhouse gases multiplying exponentially. Rapid urban development breaks down natural systems that sequester greenhouse gases, making cities unhealthy, unbalanced, and undesirable (Blakely & Carbonell, 2012). It is reported that ‘more people are killed from poor urban design and climate-change than terrorism’ (Birkeland, 2008), which is an immense ethical problem. My focus is on creating resilient Climate-Sensitive-Cities®. This approach to tackling the urgency of climate change in cities is five-fold: 1. It audits vulnerability and coping capacity. 2. It addresses audit gaps by investing in accelerated learning for professions and communities to build capacity for resilience. 3. It appreciates that every individual can make a unique contribution to interdisciplinary capacity-building for addressing climate education through their own organisations and regions. 4. It realises that accelerated learning for the long-term investment in individuals within organisations includes collaborative coaching and partnering. 5. It recognises that optimism for a preferred future can be achieved in a world full of perverse incentives. Although there are many perspectives and prescribed actions from each discipline, my approach is founded on meta-scanning, with principle-based options that emerge from broad lessons from international and local successes. The crucial part of my work is to convert research into desirable actions in a way that demonstrates learning for better climate governance. The results of my endeavours include influence of policy and practices in fourteen countries and through professional bodies across disciplines. My contribution to transformational guidelines for international climate action transparency is recognised widely. This thesis comprises an exploration of philosophies, revisiting values, seeking answers to four research questions, a new lens with three perspectives, and project design to ensure higher fidelity with my statement of intent. My Doctorate establishes a framework that enables individuals to lead the way in climate-change practices. I intend to be a living example of such frameworks. The thesis concludes with new definitions for Climate-Sensitive-Cities® and Accelerated Learning. It also overlays triple loop policy development with the Climate Policy in Practice Cycle® as a means for funding and evaluating action. Finally, a manual for Master Classes delivered across fourteen countries works with a transformational change trajectory that articulates the journey from passive bystanding, to advocacy, to tipping points, to coping with success. Independent evaluations accelerate the uptake of these skills in governments, communities, professions, and most importantly, individuals. We need to learn, question old thinking, and relearn in order to adapt and live with the many facets of climate-change. Based on this rationale, I have structured my Doctorate to advance a deeper understanding of the technical, intellectual, and interpersonal skills required of an effective Sustainability Commissioner. Alvin Toffler stated ‘the illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn’ (ISLS, 2013). This is how we win the race of education over catastrophe