Bridging the legitimacy gap—translating theory into practical signposts for legitimate flood risk governance

Legitimacy is widely regarded as a founding principle of ‘good’ and effective governance, yet despite intense academic debate and policy discourse, the concept remains conceptually confusing and poorly articulated in practice. To bridge this gap, this research performed an interpretive thematic analysis of academic scholarship across public administration, public policy, law, political science and geography. Three core themes were identified in relation to representative deliberation, procedural and distributive equity and justice, and socio-political acceptability, with numerous sub-themes therein. In an attempt to clarify conceptual confusion, this paper grounds these theoretical debates in the context of flood risk governance where numerous legitimacy dilemmas exist. A number of questions are presented as conceptual ‘sign posts’ to encourage reflexive governance in the future. Thus, more broadly, we assert the importance of bringing legitimacy to the forefront of contemporary flood risk governance discourse and practice, moving beyond the realm of academic reflection

Monitoring of regionally oriented environmental policy: analysis at provincial level

In deze studie is onderzoek gedaan naar de wijze waarop in de verschillende provincies wordt omgegaan met de monitoring van het gebiedsgericht beleid in de milieubeschermingsgebieden. Het blijkt dat de doelstellingen van het beleid voor deze gebieden nog niet zijn uitgewerkt in concrete milieukwaliteitseisen. De relatie tussen de doelstellingen, de feitelijke milieubelasting, de gerealiseerde acties en de gewenste milieukwaliteit is veelal onduidelijk. Alhoewel in vele gebieden aandacht wordt besteed aan monitoring is de coordinatie en organisatie van de monitoring van gebiedsgerichte projecten op provinciaal niveau doorgaans gebrekkig. Vrijwel nergens is het systeem volledig uitgekristalliseerd, zowel methodisch als organisatorisch. Nergens is sprake van centrale regie. Bestaande monitoringsystemen zijn veelal gericht op het afleggen van verantwoording over voortgang en kosten richting financiers. Doorgaans bestaat er onvoldoende inzicht in de relaties tussen de geleverde prestaties en de gebiedsspecifieke doelstellingen. Onduidelijk is, hoe informatie gebruikt wordt voor bijsturing van de uitvoering van de projecten. Milieukwaliteitsmonitoring is in vele gebiedsgerichte projecten nog in opbouw. Nulmetingen zijn slechts in een beperkt aantal projecten daadwerkelijk uitgevoerd. Momenteel wordt door de provincies gewerkt aan een meer systematische opzet en uitwerking van de monitoring.This study to investigate how the different Dutch provinces monitor regionally oriented policy and its effect on environmental protection areas has shown the goals of this policy not yet interpretable in terms of concrete environmental quality demands. The relationship between goals, actual environmental load, action for protection realized and desired environmental quality is often not clear. Although monitoring is carried out in many of the regionnally oriented projects, its coordination and organization is generally insufficient at the provincial level. Practically nowhere is the monitoring system complete, both technically and organizationally speaking. Coordination from a central point is non-existent. Existing monitoring systems are primarily directed to reporting progress and costs to the principals. In general, there is insufficient insight into the relationship between measures taken and the region-specific environmental goals. Furthermore, it is unclear how information is used for re-adjustment in the execution of projects. In most projects environmental monitoring is still in the development phase. Zero measurements have only been carried out in a limited number of projects. The focus at the moment in the provinces is working on a more systematic monitoring set-up and elaboration

Monitoring of regionally oriented environmental policy: analysis at provincial level

This study to investigate how the different Dutch provinces monitor regionally oriented policy and its effect on environmental protection areas has shown the goals of this policy not yet interpretable in terms of concrete environmental quality demands. The relationship between goals, actual environmental load, action for protection realized and desired environmental quality is often not clear. Although monitoring is carried out in many of the regionnally oriented projects, its coordination and organization is generally insufficient at the provincial level. Practically nowhere is the monitoring system complete, both technically and organizationally speaking. Coordination from a central point is non-existent. Existing monitoring systems are primarily directed to reporting progress and costs to the principals. In general, there is insufficient insight into the relationship between measures taken and the region-specific environmental goals. Furthermore, it is unclear how information is used for re-adjustment in the execution of projects. In most projects environmental monitoring is still in the development phase. Zero measurements have only been carried out in a limited number of projects. The focus at the moment in the provinces is working on a more systematic monitoring set-up and elaboration.In deze studie is onderzoek gedaan naar de wijze waarop in de verschillende provincies wordt omgegaan met de monitoring van het gebiedsgericht beleid in de milieubeschermingsgebieden. Het blijkt dat de doelstellingen van het beleid voor deze gebieden nog niet zijn uitgewerkt in concrete milieukwaliteitseisen. De relatie tussen de doelstellingen, de feitelijke milieubelasting, de gerealiseerde acties en de gewenste milieukwaliteit is veelal onduidelijk. Alhoewel in vele gebieden aandacht wordt besteed aan monitoring is de coordinatie en organisatie van de monitoring van gebiedsgerichte projecten op provinciaal niveau doorgaans gebrekkig. Vrijwel nergens is het systeem volledig uitgekristalliseerd, zowel methodisch als organisatorisch. Nergens is sprake van centrale regie. Bestaande monitoringsystemen zijn veelal gericht op het afleggen van verantwoording over voortgang en kosten richting financiers. Doorgaans bestaat er onvoldoende inzicht in de relaties tussen de geleverde prestaties en de gebiedsspecifieke doelstellingen. Onduidelijk is, hoe informatie gebruikt wordt voor bijsturing van de uitvoering van de projecten. Milieukwaliteitsmonitoring is in vele gebiedsgerichte projecten nog in opbouw. Nulmetingen zijn slechts in een beperkt aantal projecten daadwerkelijk uitgevoerd. Momenteel wordt door de provincies gewerkt aan een meer systematische opzet en uitwerking van de monitoring

Achieving European water quality ambitions: governance conditions for more effective approaches at the localrRegional scale.

Worldwide countries face challenges to restore and preserve water resources. This paper analyses how governance approaches support the attainment of water quality ambitions set out in the European Water Framework Directive and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. To this end, the connection between the physical water system and the governing legal and societal systems is explored, using scientific literature and empirical material on governance approaches in the subdo-mains of drinking water resources, freshwater ecosystems and bathing water in The Netherlands. The results show the effects of the intricate relationship between water system characteristics and the drivers of water quality versus the various elements of a governance approach. For instance, hydrological, morphological and chemical objectives set different demands on governance conditions, related to the scale, roles and responsibilities of actors who need to be involved and coherence of the legal and policy frameworks in place. These demands can also be different during the different stages of a policy process. Choices made in a governance approach (who to involve, availability and use of legal instruments, measures and monitoring) may therefore influence the level of water quality improvement that can be achieved. A joint approach from the social-economic, legal and ecological knowledge domain during all stages of a policy process is necessary to overcome such unintended results