Effects of Policy and Functional (In)coherence on Coordination

A comparative analysis of cross-sectoral water management problems

Publication: Article
Citation: Dombrowsky, Ines et. al. 2022: Effects of policy and functional (in)coherence on coordination – A comparative analysis of cross-sectoral water management problems. In: Environmental Science & Policy, Volume 131, 118-127 pp.

This article explores how (in)coherence in policies and responsibilities affects coordination at process and outcome level. It presents a rigorous comparative study of cross-sectoral coordination in six river basins worldwide. The authors, among them Ecologic Institute's Dr. Ulf Stein, observe that coherence can favor coordination at the process level, but it remains difficult to establish causality. Coherence of policies and responsibilities does not change the relationship between process-level and outcome-level coordination.

Incoherence can both hinder and promote process-level coordination.

Introducing the Diagnostic Water Governance Tool

Year 2020

Publication:Article

This article written by several researchers from Ecologic Institute provides a review of different digital tools and resources available to support related decision-making processes in the search for solutions for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). Furthermore, it introduces the Diagnostic Water Governance Tool (DWGT) that builds on a clear diagnosis-therapy-logic.

The Diagnostic Water Governance Tool

Supporting cross-sectoral cooperation and coordination in water resources management

Year 2022

Publication:Web Application

Ecologic Institute has recently launched the Diagnostic Water Governance Tool, which is aimed at both water governance practitioners and researchers around the world. The tool provides a diagnosis of case-specific water governance as well as recommendations for appropriate instruments, with a focus on coordination and cooperation improvement.

The STEER Diagnostic Water Governance Tool

Year 2020

Publication:Article

Cover of the magazine Korrespondenz Wasserwirtschaft 12/2020

Climate change is already causing an increase in extreme weather events, including an increase in the frequency and duration of periods of dry and drought conditions. In this paper, colleagues of the Emschergenossenschaft and Ecologic Institute summarize discussions on coordination and cooperation approaches for low water management and prevention at a workshop in the Emscher region.

Niedrigwasser und Trockenheit: Herausforderungen und Entwicklung sektorenübergreifender Anpassungsmaßnahmen auf Flussgebietsebene

Year 2020

Publication:Article

This Briefing Paper examines coordination and implementation challenges between the water and agricultural sectors in relation to water quantity in the context of WFD implementation in the Spanish Guadalquivir river basin. The challenges are interlinked by the underlying difficulty of imposing unpopular decisions against the will of powerful actors in the agricultural sector. To address these challenges, the authors suggest various coordination instruments based on incentives, voluntary cooperation, persuasion and information exchange.The Briefing Paper presents one of six analyses of cross-sectoral coordination challenges that were conducted as part of the STEER research project and on which separate Briefing Papers are available.

Strengthening Coordination in River Basin Governance in Southern Spain

cooperation, incentives and persuasion

Year 2020

Publication:Article

The completed governance analysis shows that coordination in the Emscher catchment area is already effective. There is room for improvement when it comes to involving citizens and planning processes should also be characterised by a higher degree of flexibility. The analysis provides recommendations. This paper constitutes one of six analyses of cross-sectoral challenges in water governance. These have been conducted as part of the STEER research project and results are published in separate analyses and position papers.

Coordination and Cooperation of Water Management, Nature Conservation and Open Space Development in the Emscher Restoration

Year 2020

Publication:Article

In this paper the authors, among them Ecologic Institute's Ulf Stein, focus on the governmental bottlenecks in the Implementation of the European Water Framework Directive. The lack of horizontal, inter-sectoral communication; the insufficient land reserves; human resources and; the lack of financing were the areas that emerged as the most pressing issues. Further evidence suggests that the interaction of the WFD with other policy areas regulated at the European level might require closer inspection.

Perception of Bottlenecks in the Implementation of the European Water Framework Directive

Year 2020

Publication:Article

Despite numerous efforts to promote and implement more integrated approaches, coordination problems persist and impede sustainable water governance and management. This paper introduces a framework for guiding a transdisciplinary diagnostic approach (i.e. a context-sensitive assessment of multi-level water governance, which is combined with a change management process) to address such coordination problems. The approach aims at addressing some of the challenges identified in scientific scholarship and water governance practice by combining context-specific participatory assessments of individual cases with comparative case analysis guided by a generic conceptual framework.

Enhancing the Capacity of Water Governance to Deal with Complex Management Challenges

A framework of analysis

Year 2020

Presentation:Speech

On 22 February 2020, Benedict Bueb of Ecologic Institute was invited to speak on Environmental Inequality at the International Alumni Center (iac) of the Robert Bosch Stiftung. During the workshop "Inequality: From grassroots to policy-making" he presented different perspectives on the topic. He highlighted that not only the social effects of environmental changes and environmental policy decisions, but also access to environmental policy decision-making are often very unequally distributed.

Environmental Inequality: Dimensions and Policy Options

22 February 2020
Benedict Bueb

Language: English
Authorship: Dr. Ulf Stein

Evelyn Lukat

Ines Dombrowsky

Andrea Lenschow

Franziska Meergans

Nora Schütze
Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany
Published in: Environmental Science & Policy, Volume 131
Published by: Elsevier, International
Year: 2022
Dimension: 10 pp.
ISSN: 1462-9011
DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2022.01.019
Project: Increasing Good Governance for Achieving the Objectives of Integrated Water Resources Management (STEER)
Project ID: 2290
Table of contents: Click to show full table of contents

    Highlights
    Abstract
    Keywords
    1. Introduction
    2. Conceptual foundations and causalities explored
        2.1. Conceptual foundations
        2.2. Causalities explored
    3. Case studies and methods
        3.1. Focus and selection of cases
        3.2. Methodology
    4. Case study findings
        4.1. Functional coherence
            4.1.1. Functional coherence and coordination at process level
            4.1.2. Functional coherence and coordination at outcome level
        4.2. Policy coherence
            4.2.1. Policy coherence and coordination at process level
            4.2.2. Policy coherence and coordination at outcome level
    5. Discussion and conclusions
    CRediT authorship contribution statement
    Declaration of Competing Interest
    Acknowledgments
    Appendix A. Supplementary material
    References
Keywords: Governance

Water

water resources, river basins, water governance, water management, coordination gaps, FONA, Research for Sustainable Development

Germany, South Africa, Mongolia, Spain, Europe, Africa, Asia, Emscher, Guadalquivir, Kharaa, uMngeni, Weser-Ems