Adaptive Water Governance: Assessing the Institutional Prescriptions of Adaptive (Co-)Management from a Governance Perspective and Defining a Research Agenda

Adaptive Water Governance: Assessing the Institutional Prescriptions of Adaptive (Co-)Management from a Governance Perspective and Defining a Research Agenda

Huitema, D.
Mostert, E.
Egas, W.
Moellenkamp, S.
Pahl-Wostl, C.
Yalcin, R.

Civil Engineering and Geosciences

Water Management

2009-01-01

This article assesses the institutional prescriptions of adaptive (co-)management based on a literature review of the (water) governance literature. The adaptive (co-)management literature contains four institutional prescriptions: collaboration in a polycentric governance system, public participation, an experimental approach to resource management, and management at the bioregional scale. These prescriptions largely resonate with the theoretical and empirical insights embedded in the (water) governance literature. However, this literature also predicts various problems. In particular, attention is called to the complexities associated with participation and collaboration, the difficulty of experimenting in a real-world setting, and the politicized nature of discussion on governance at the bioregional scale. We conclude this article by outlining a common research agenda that invites the collaborative efforts of adaptive (co-)management and governance scholars.

adaptive governance
bioregional perspective
experimentation
polycentric governance
public participation
water management

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a88313ee-d97b-4c03-bd7b-c4ea3b57fe92

Resilience Alliance

1708-3087

http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol14/iss1/art26/

Ecology and Society, 14 (1), 2009

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2009 The Author(s)
Published under license by the Resilience Alliance