| 1. |
- Dieperink, Carel, et al.
(author)
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Managing urban flood resilience as a multilevel governance challenge : an analysis of required multilevel coordination mechanisms
- 2018
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In: Ecology and Society. - : Resilience Alliance. - 1708-3087. ; 23:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In both academic literature and flood risk management practices, it is argued that governance initiatives are needed to enhance the flood resilience of urban agglomerations. Multiple levels of governance will be involved in this activity. However, thus far, the literature has hardly addressed what mechanisms are required to coordinate the different levels of managing urban flood resilience, and what factors account for these mechanisms. Our aim is to address this knowledge gap. Here, we examine six in-depth case studies undertaken in urban agglomerations in different European countries: Dordrecht, the Netherlands; Hull, UK; Geraardsbergen, Belgium; Karlstad, Sweden; Wroclaw, Poland; and Nice, France. The case studies reveal the ways in which multiple levels of governance are involved in managing urban flood resilience. Coordination among governance levels is achieved by proactive policy entrepreneurs, the use of bridging concepts, clear rules, and the provision of resources. These mechanisms seem to be universally applicable, but their characteristics appear to be highly dependent on more general institutional, economic, geographical, and cultural contextual factors.
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| 2. |
- Fournier, Marie, et al.
(author)
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Flood risk mitigation in Europe : how far away are we from the aspired forms of adaptive governance?
- 2016
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In: Ecology and Society. - 1708-3087. ; 21:4
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Flood mitigation is a strategy that is growing in importance across Europe. This growth corresponds with an increasing emphasis on the need to learn to live with floods and make space for water. Flood mitigation measures aim at reducing the likelihood and magnitude of flooding and complement flood defenses. They are being put in place through the implementation of actions that accommodate (rather than resist) water, such as natural flood management or adapted housing. The strategy has gained momentum over the past 20. years in an effort to improve the sustainability of flood risk management (FRM) and facilitate the diversification of FRM in the pursuit of societal resilience to flooding. Simultaneously, it is increasingly argued that adaptive forms of governance are best placed to address the uncertainty and complexity associated with social-ecological systems responding to environmental challenges, such as flooding. However, there have been few attempts to examine the extent to which current flood risk governance, and flood mitigation specifically, reflect these aspired forms of adaptive governance. Drawing from EU research into flood risk governance, conducted within the STAR-FLOOD project, we examine the governance of flood mitigation in six European countries: Belgium, England, France, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden. Using in-depth policy and legal analysis, as well as interviews with key actors, the governance and implementation of flood mitigation in these countries is evaluated from the normative viewpoint of whether, and to what extent, it can be characterized as adaptive governance. We identify five criteria of adaptive governance based on a comprehensive literature review and apply these to each country to determine the “distance” between current governance arrangements and adaptive governance. In conclusion, the flood mitigation strategy provides various opportunities for actors to further pursue forms of adaptive governance. The extent to which the mitigation strategy is capable of doing so varies across countries, however, and its role in stimulating adaptive governance was found to be strongest in Belgium and
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| 3. |
- Gralepois, Mathilde, et al.
(author)
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Is flood defense changing in nature? : Shifts in the flood defense strategy in six European countries
- 2016
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In: Ecology and Society. - 1708-3087. ; 21:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In many countries, flood defense has historically formed the core of flood risk management but this strategy is now evolving with the changing approach to risk management. This paper focuses on the neglected analysis of institutional changes within the flood defense strategies formulated and implemented in six European countries (Belgium, England, France, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden). The evolutions within the defense strategy over the last 30 years have been analyzed with the help of three mainstream institutional theories: a policy dynamics-oriented framework, a structure-oriented institutional theory on path dependency, and a policy actors-oriented analysis called the advocacy coalitions framework. We characterize the stability and evolution of the trends that affect the defense strategy in the six countries through four dimensions of a policy arrangement approach: actors, rules, resources, and discourses. We ask whether the strategy itself is changing radically, i.e., toward a discontinuous situation, and whether the processes of change are more incremental or radical. Our findings indicate that in the European countries studied, the position of defense strategy is continuous, as the classical role of flood defense remains dominant. With changing approaches to risk, integrated risk management, climate change, urban growth, participation in governance, and socioeconomic challenges, the flood defense strategy is increasingly under pressure to change. However, these changes can be defined as part of an adaptation of the defense strategy rather than as a real change in the nature of flood risk management.
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