Integrated Marine Governance: Questions of Legitimacy

Marine ecosystems are threatened by multiple economic activities, suchas fisheries, commercial shipping, oil- and gas production, offshore windmillparks, and tourism. To find solutions for these problems several countries and the eu are taking initiatives to develop integrated maritime policy. Marine governance is the sharing of policy making competencies in a system of negotiation between nested governmental institutions at several levels (international, (supra)national, regional and local) on the one hand and governmental actors, market parties and civil society organizations on the other in order to govern activities at sea and their consequences. The involvement of multiple actors, multiple levels and the coordination and integration of different sectoral marine activities will affect the legitimacy of integrated marine governance. This paper formulates questions of legitimacy and challenges for integrated marine governance

Coping with Extreme Events: Institutional Flocking

Recent measurements in the North Atlantic confirm that the thermohaline circulation driving the Gulf Stream has come to a stand. Oceanographic monitoring over the last 50 years already showed that the circulation was weakening. Under the influence of the large inflow of melting water in Northern Atlantic waters during last summer, it has now virtually stopped. Consequently, the KNMI and the RIVM estimate the average . In this essay we will explore how such a new risk profile affects the distribution of risks among societal groups, and the way in which governing institutions need to adapt in order to be prepared for situations of rapid but unknown change. The next section will first introduce an analytical perspective, building upon the Risk Society thesis and a proposed model of ‘institutional flocking’.temperature to decrease by 3°C in the next 15 years

Europa breidt uit op zee

Brussel gaat zich steviger bemoeien met de Europese zeeën. De Europese Unie wil meer aandacht voor ruimtelijke ordening en de zeeën moeten weer een goede milieutoestand krijgen. ‘Het zal hoe dan ook een verdere inperking van de visserij inhouden’, verwacht IMARES-directeur Martin Scholten. Je moet bijvoorbeeld de Noordzee als samenhangend gebied bezien. Doe je dat niet en laat je ieder land zijn eigen gang gaan, dan krijg je suboptimale oplossingen’, aldus Van Tatenhove

Implementatie van Europees natuurbeleid in Nederland

Aan de hand van de casus 'Korenwolf' en 'Gelderse Poort' wordt een analyse gemaakt van de problemen bij de implementatie van de Vogel- en Habitatrichtlijn in de Nederlandse wet- en regelgevin

The tide is turning : the rise of legitimate EU marine governance

Om alle belangen, zoals milieu, visserij, havens of tankervaart, rond een Europees zeegebied in goede banen te leiden is een aanpak nodig die de hele regio omvat. Er zou dus een gebiedsgerichte aanpak moeten komen voor bijvoorbeeld de hele Noordzee, de Oostzee of de Middellandse Zee. Regelingen op nationaal niveau alleen zijn onvoldoende. Op dit moment is het beleid en de regelgeving rond zeegebieden in en rondom Europa een lappendeken aan nationale, internationale en supranationale regelingen en instituties. Het antwoord op die lappendeken en onzekerheid is dat er een integrale en op een heel zeegebied gerichte beleidsaanpak onder supervisie van de EU van de grond moet komen, zegt prof. Van Tatenhove in zijn inaugurele rede The Tide is turning. The rise of legitimate EU marine Governance. Hij is voorzichtig optimistisch, nu er sinds enkele jaren zulke integrale gebiedsgerichte benaderingen zijn op het gebied van de bescherming van ecosystemen of van gemeenschappelijk visserijbelei

Ecological considerations in constructing marine infrastructure: The Falmouth cruise terminal development, Jamaica

Cruise tourism is an important and expanding global industry. The growth of this sector,coupled with the continuous development of larger cruise ships, creates demands for new marine infrastructure. The development of these marine infrastructures takes place at the intersection of global cruise tourism, dredging and financial networks, and local social economic and civil society networks. In this paper we analyse how the interaction of these global and local networks influences ecosystem based design in marine infrastructure development, taking the Falmouth cruise terminal in Jamaica as case study. Based on this analysis of global and local networks four conditions are identified that enable and stimulate ecosystem based design of marine infrastructures: a shared (discursive) goal connecting global and local actors; brokers that connect different networks; the availability of adequate resources; and an environmental discourse that is materialized in standards and legislation

Initiatieven in de energieke samenleving : op zoek naar vernieuwing in het groene domein

Maatschappelijke partijen moeten toegang krijgen tot besluitvorming over natuur en duurzaamheid. Voor de overheid ligt hier een opgave. Het vraagt om een overheid die niet wegtrekt, maar investeert in de capaciteit van mensen en hen toegang geeft tot netwerken, besluitvorming en uitvoering. Maar ook voor de maatschappelijke partijen liggen er grote opgaven. Burgers, bedrijven en intermediaire organisaties zullen vaker aangesproken worden op hun maatschappelijke verantwoordelijkheden. Dat zal niet alleen de betrokkenheid doen toenemen, maar ook bijvoorbeeld ‘greenwashing’ lastiger maken. Deze paper gaat in op een grote diversiteit aan initiatieven voor natuur in Nederland. Ook verduurzaming van internationale productie- en handelsstromen komt aan de orde

Greening Flood Protection - An Interactive Knowledge Arrangement Perspective

In flood protection, the dominant paradigm of ‘building hard structures’ is being challenged by approaches that integrate ecosystem dynamics and are ‘nature-based’. Knowledge development and policy ambitions on greening flood protection (GFP) are rapidly growing, but a deficit remains in actual full-scale implementation. Knowledge is a key barrier for implementation. To analyse conditions for the implementation of GFP, a knowledge-arrangement perspective is developed. The knowledge-arrangement perspective is applied on a case study of successful implementation of GFP in the Netherlands, the pilot Sand Engine Delfland, a large-scale (21.5 Mm3) sand nourishment project. This project confirms that an integrated knowledge arrangement enables GFP as it allows for multifunctionality. Effectiveness of the integrated arrangement in this project is explained by its ‘flexible’ nature providing ample design space. This was possible because core values in flood protection and nature were not part of the integrated arrangement. More generally the case study demonstrates the difficulties of implementing GFP in existing mainstream flood protection routines. These are not (yet) geared to incorporate uncertainty, dynamics and multifunctionality, characteristics associated with GFP. The Sand Engine project can be regarded as a ‘field laboratory’ of physical and institutional learning and an innovation for mainstream flood protection

Greening flood protection through knowledge processes : lessons from the Markermeer dikes project in the Netherlands

Greening flood protection (GFP) is increasingly recognized as an adaptive and flexible approach to water management that is well suited to addressing uncertain futures associated with climate change. In the last decade, GFP knowledge and policies have developed rapidly, but implementation has been less successful and has run into numerous barriers. In this paper, we address the challenge of realizing green flood protection goals by specifically considering knowledge in the decision-making of a Dutch flood protection project in Lake Markermeer. In this project, an ecological knowledge arrangement and a traditional flood protection knowledge arrangement are compared and their interactions analysed. The analysis provides insight into the specific difficulties of implementing GFP measures and identifies ways to realize GFP goals. The primary challenge is twofold: First, a self-reinforcing cycle of knowledge production and decision-making in the flood protection domain inhibits the introduction of innovative and multifunctional approaches such as GFP; second, the distribution of power is severely unbalanced in terms of ecological enhancement and flood protection, favouring the latter. Implementation of GFP requires structural change and the integration of ecological and flood protection knowledge and policy. Potentially rewarding routes towards this integration are the exploration of shared interests in GFP and the creation of mutual dependency between knowledge arrangements. The case study and the insights it provides show that GFP is far from mainstream practice and that implementation requires serious effort and courage to break with historical practices