Review article: Towards a context-driven research: A state-of-the-art review of resilience research on climate change

The twofold aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the current state of resilience research with regard to climate change in the social sciences and propose a research agenda. Resilience research among social scientists is characterized by much more diversity today than a few decades ago. Different definitions and understandings of resilience appear in publications during the last 10 years. Resilience research increasingly bears the mark of social constructivism, a relative newcomer compared to the more long-standing tradition of naturalism. There are also approaches that are indebted to both "naturalism" and "constructivism", which, of course, come in many varieties. Based on our overview of recent scholarship, which is far from being exhaustive, we have identified six research avenues that arguably deserve continued attention. They combine naturalist and constructivist insights and approaches so that human agency, reflexivity, and considerations of justice and equity are incorporated into systems thinking research or supplement such research. Ultimately, we believe that the overarching challenge for future research is to ensure that resilience to climate change does not compromise sustainability and considerations of justice (including environmental, climate, and energy justice).

Governance of Agricultural Water Management: How Does the EPSI Model Explain Iranian Farmers' Satisfaction? An Experience from Northwestern Iran

Farmers’ satisfaction with agricultural water management can be used as a measure of the fairness of water distribution and the performance of an irrigation scheme. Therefore, the assessment of farmers’ satisfaction in this respect could provide useful insights contributing to the sustainable governance of irrigation water. In this study, the population of interest consisted of residents in district of Lajan using the public irrigation network in Piranshahr Township, Iran. Using Krejcie and Morgan’s table and following a simple random sampling method, 110 individuals were selected as the research sample. Questionnaire [based on the European Performance Satisfaction Index (EPSI)] was the main tool for data gathering. The validity of the questionnaire was verified by a panel of experts. To assess its reliability, Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient was calculated for the main scales of the questionnaire (α= 0.74 to 0.86). According to the obtained data, the main factors influencing farmers’ satisfaction included the perceived image of irrigation governance, expectations of farmers from irrigation governance, and the perceived quality and value of irrigation. According to the results, farmers believed that irrigation management by the government was a solution for reducing local conflicts in relation to agricultural water use and justice in the distribution of irrigation water. However, they were not satisfied with the irrigation scheme governance

Regional governance assessment for drought adaptation in North-West Europe: case study results from the analysis with a governance assessment tool in the DROP-project

International audienceNorth-West Europe will increasingly face drought periods that may se-riously affect inter alia agricultural production, natural ecosystems and fresh water supplies. In addition to implementing hard adaptation measures, enhancing regional water governance is crucial for effective drought adaptation. One of the objectives of the DROP project is to identify possible improvements to regional governance settings in six case study areas: Flanders (BE), Somerset (UK), Eifel-Rur (DE), Vi-laine (FR), Vechtstromen (NL) and Groot Salland (NL).The basis for the analysis is a Governance Assessment Tool adapted for the analysis of the resilience of the system to face droughts and water scarcity. This tool is elaborated from a concept of “governance” as a modification and extension of the concept of “policy”. The paper introduces this Governance Assessment Tool and presents insights of its application in the six case study areas