Analyzing the Data-Rich-But-Information-Poor Syndrome in Dutch Water Management in Historical Perspective

Water quality monitoring has developed over the past century from an unplanned, isolated activity into an important discipline in water management. This development also brought about a discontent between information users and information producers about the usefulness and usability of information, in literature often referred to as the data-rich-but-information-poor syndrome. This article aims to gain a better understanding of this issue by studying the developments over some five decades of Dutch national water quality monitoring, by analyzing four studies in which the role and use of information are discussed from different perspectives, and by relating this to what is considered in literature as useful information. The article concludes that a “water information gap” exists which is rooted in different mutual perceptions and expectations between the two groups on what useful information is, that can be overcome by improving the communication. Such communication should be based on willingness to understand and deal with different mindframes and should be based on a methodology that guides and structures the interactions

Sustainable Business Model Ideation and Development of Early Ideas for Sustainable Business Models: Analyzing a New Tool Facilitating the Ideation Process

This chapter presents an early ideation tool, the Impact Canvas® (IC), that has been specifically designed to involve different kinds of stakeholders in the early stages of the business and research ideation process. The authors discuss how a tool can support the ideation process and how the IC tool has been designed to incorporate different elements for the development of sustainable and impactful ideas. The usefulness of the tool when cooperating in a multidisciplinary team is described. The authors report feedback from users of the tool that supports the perception of the user-friendliness and usefulness of the tool. The chapter concludes with a description of how the IC tool is being further developed to support a more multidisciplinary approach to research and business ideation.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Science–policy processes for transboundary water governance

In this policy perspective, we outline several conditions to support effective science–policy interaction, with a particular emphasis on improving water governance in transboundary basins. Key conditions include (1) recognizing that science is a crucial but bounded input into water resource decision-making processes; (2) establishing conditions for collaboration and shared commitment among actors; (3) understanding that social or group-learning processes linked to science–policy interaction are enhanced through greater collaboration; (4) accepting that the collaborative production of knowledge about hydrological issues and associated socioeconomic change and institutional responses is essential to build legitimate decision-making processes; and (5) engaging boundary organizations and informal networks of scientists, policy makers, and civil society. We elaborate on these conditions with a diverse set of international examples drawn from a synthesis of our collective experiences in assessing the opportunities and constraints (including the role of power relations) related to governance for water in transboundary settings