Systematic learning in water governance: insights from five local adaptive management projects for water quality innovation

Adaptive management has been proliferating since the 1970s as a policy approach for dealing with uncertainty in environmental governance through learning. Learning takes place through a cyclical approach of experimentation and (possible) adjustment. However, few empirical studies exist that cover fu...

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Autores principales:	Elisa Kochskämper, Tomas M. Koontz, Jens Newig
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Resilience Alliance 2021
Materias:	comparative research environmental governance implementation public participation water framework directive Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/602aca6dcb6c484a95f78ed9f886c2a5
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:602aca6dcb6c484a95f78ed9f886c2a52021-12-02T14:21:42ZSystematic learning in water governance: insights from five local adaptive management projects for water quality innovation1708-308710.5751/ES-12080-260122https://doaj.org/article/602aca6dcb6c484a95f78ed9f886c2a52021-03-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol26/iss1/art22/https://doaj.org/toc/1708-3087Adaptive management has been proliferating since the 1970s as a policy approach for dealing with uncertainty in environmental governance through learning. Learning takes place through a cyclical approach of experimentation and (possible) adjustment. However, few empirical studies exist that cover full iterations of adaptive management cycles. We report on five adaptive management projects on water quality enhancement, of which four led to innovations in the small-scale management of waterways in northern Germany. We trace processes as well as outcomes, to identify factors affecting learning, environmental improvement, and the successful delivery of a project throughout a management cycle. Our findings point to a key difference between two kinds of uncertainty in the studied processes: ecological uncertainty (whether and how interventions will be effective in improving water quality) and what we term "social uncertainty" (how stakeholders will respond to interventions). We find that those managers performed better who addressed both kinds of uncertainty. Factors for dealing with social uncertainties were usually rather different than the ones linked to knowledge gain for the results in the rivers, and their acknowledgment was decisive for successful project delivery. On a conceptual level, our findings suggest that the model of a dual feedback cycle, including both types of uncertainties, allows for more clear-cut conceptual differentiation and empirical outcome measurement of adaptive management processes.Elisa KochskämperTomas M. KoontzJens NewigResilience Alliancearticlecomparative researchenvironmental governanceimplementationpublic participationwater framework directiveBiology (General)QH301-705.5EcologyQH540-549.5ENEcology and Society, Vol 26, Iss 1, p 22 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	comparative research environmental governance implementation public participation water framework directive Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	comparative research environmental governance implementation public participation water framework directive Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 Elisa Kochskämper Tomas M. Koontz Jens Newig Systematic learning in water governance: insights from five local adaptive management projects for water quality innovation
description	Adaptive management has been proliferating since the 1970s as a policy approach for dealing with uncertainty in environmental governance through learning. Learning takes place through a cyclical approach of experimentation and (possible) adjustment. However, few empirical studies exist that cover full iterations of adaptive management cycles. We report on five adaptive management projects on water quality enhancement, of which four led to innovations in the small-scale management of waterways in northern Germany. We trace processes as well as outcomes, to identify factors affecting learning, environmental improvement, and the successful delivery of a project throughout a management cycle. Our findings point to a key difference between two kinds of uncertainty in the studied processes: ecological uncertainty (whether and how interventions will be effective in improving water quality) and what we term "social uncertainty" (how stakeholders will respond to interventions). We find that those managers performed better who addressed both kinds of uncertainty. Factors for dealing with social uncertainties were usually rather different than the ones linked to knowledge gain for the results in the rivers, and their acknowledgment was decisive for successful project delivery. On a conceptual level, our findings suggest that the model of a dual feedback cycle, including both types of uncertainties, allows for more clear-cut conceptual differentiation and empirical outcome measurement of adaptive management processes.
format	article
author	Elisa Kochskämper Tomas M. Koontz Jens Newig
author_facet	Elisa Kochskämper Tomas M. Koontz Jens Newig
author_sort	Elisa Kochskämper
title	Systematic learning in water governance: insights from five local adaptive management projects for water quality innovation
title_short	Systematic learning in water governance: insights from five local adaptive management projects for water quality innovation
title_full	Systematic learning in water governance: insights from five local adaptive management projects for water quality innovation
title_fullStr	Systematic learning in water governance: insights from five local adaptive management projects for water quality innovation
title_full_unstemmed	Systematic learning in water governance: insights from five local adaptive management projects for water quality innovation
title_sort	systematic learning in water governance: insights from five local adaptive management projects for water quality innovation
publisher	Resilience Alliance
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/602aca6dcb6c484a95f78ed9f886c2a5
work_keys_str_mv	AT elisakochskamper systematiclearninginwatergovernanceinsightsfromfivelocaladaptivemanagementprojectsforwaterqualityinnovation AT tomasmkoontz systematiclearninginwatergovernanceinsightsfromfivelocaladaptivemanagementprojectsforwaterqualityinnovation AT jensnewig systematiclearninginwatergovernanceinsightsfromfivelocaladaptivemanagementprojectsforwaterqualityinnovation
_version_	1718391489367638016

Systematic learning in water governance: insights from five local adaptive management projects for water quality innovation

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