Unleashing or domesticating the vitality of citizens' initiatives? The paradoxical relationship between governments and citizens' initiatives in the energy transition

In their quest to create vital cities, West European city governments stimulate citizens to self-organize in citizens' initiatives. This trend it accompanied by conflicting scientific and governmental discourses: on the one hand, citizens' initiatives are praised for giving ‘power to the people’, on the other hand, citizens' initiatives are...

Mismatches between policy planning and implementation on the actively living with flood approach in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta

Based on a qualitative case study in An Giang province, Vietnam, we mapped the understanding of the ‘Living with Floods’ (LWF) concept and the implementation of three projects to explain the effectiveness of water governance in Vietnam. We have demonstrated how perceptions on the LWF concept differ per government level and the limits of water...

The Netherlands as a global hydro-hub

On 1 November 2021, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte delivered a speech at COP-26 in Glasgow, Scotland. He stressed the history of the Netherlands in “battling the elements for centuries. From North Sea floods to Caribbean storms” (GoN, 2021). He further stated that “(climate) adaptation is in our DNA” and stressed that...

From national vision to implementation: governance challenges in sustainable agriculture transitions in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta region

This study identifies how the governance of the transition to sustainable agriculture in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta is constrained by a lack of leadership, coordination, and funding. The Vietnamese Mekong Delta region is an important agricultural region yet highly vulnerable to climate change. In 2017, the Government of Vietnam issued...

Resolving impasses in policy translation: Shall we adjust the idea or the process?

This study explains how contrasting perspectives on resolving impasses in policymaking exist among all relevant actors in a case of transferring Dutch flood management policy to Jakarta, Indonesia. It does so by introducing Q methodology as a novel method in policy transfer and policy mobility studies. International policy transfer requires a...

Co-designing an interactive data platform for contextualizing the role of citizens on energy and low-carbon transitions

Citizens are expected to play a significant role to the current energy transition in Europe, such as through prosumerism and collective initiatives for energy efficiency. While there are many platforms for domestic energy analytics and for engaging citizens and transition stakeholders on energy topics, context-specific information is frequently...

Un-Dutching the Delta Approach: network management and policy translation for effective policy transfer

This study identifies network management as a facilitator of effective policy transfer. We reconstruct the unconventional collaboration between Dutch private-sector experts and national governments of Vietnam and Bangladesh to develop multi-sectoral, long-term strategies (‘delta plans’). We identify the network management strategies used by the...

Strategies for climate change adaptation: lessons learnt from long-term planning in the Netherlands and Bangladesh

This paper evaluates long-term climate change adaptation strategies in the Netherlands and Bangladesh using the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Principles of Good Water Governance. Deltas face complex challenges, and adequate long-term planning is essential for these regions. However, experience with these long...

Q-methodologie als methode om beleid te beschrijven, te ontwikkelen of te evalueren

Q-methodologie is een nog relatief onbekende onderzoeksmethode, met veel potentieel voor beleidsonderzoek en -analyse. De benaderingen, doelen en onderzoeksvragen in verschillende toepassingen lopen uiteen, maar vertonen ook duidelijke overeenkomsten. In dit artikel beschrijven we de belangrijkste theoretische en analytische bouwstenen van de...

Emotional policies: Introducing branding as a tool for science diplomacy

This article seeks to expand the science diplomacy (SD) discourse by introducing the concept of branding, focusing on its use as a tool for nation state decision makers. Although the current literature on SD has explored the relation between science and diplomacy, the question of how individual science projects can effectively aid SD has been...

How to get and keep citizens involved in mobile crowd sensing for water management?: A review of key success factors and motivational aspects

Citizen science and particularly mobile crowd sourcing (MCS) has large potential in water resources management for data collection and awareness raising. Concerns about data quality, and initiating and sustaining citizen involvement hamper incorporation of citizen science in water monitoring, together with a lack of practical guidance how to set...

Practitioners' viewpoints on citizen science in water management: a case study in Dutch regional water resource management

In recent years, governmental institutes have started to use citizen science as a form of public participation. The Dutch water authorities are among them. They face pressure on the water governance system and a water awareness gap among the general public, and consider citizen science a possible solution. The reasons for practitioners to engage...

Reading water quality variables with a smartphone

Citizen Science in Water Quality Monitoring: Developing Guidelines for Dutch Water Authorities for Contributory Mobile Crowd Sensing

The Dutch water management system is confronted with a lack of awareness among citizens and further faces the consequences of climate change and urbanisation. New governance structures with high levels of citizen participation are required to be fit for the future. An implementation of participation could be citizen science, which is rather...