Back to preliminary programme Policy Implications of Adaptive River Basin Management Adaptive management can be defined as a systematic and systemic process for improving management policies and practices by learning from the outcomes of implemented management strategies and by taking into account changes in external factors in a pro-active manner. By doing so it explicitly recognizes uncertainty and complexity. Profound changes in water resources management are mandatory to develop the capacity to deal with the potential impacts of climate change and the associated uncertainties. Implications: - New attitude towards uncertainty needed: “Learning to live with uncertainty and being comfortable with it”.
- Probability based risk management styles should be complemented or even replaced by integrated risk management and robust and adaptive policies.
- Management strategies should be robust and perform well under a range of possible but initially uncertain future developments.
- An increase in, and maintenance of, the flexibility and adaptive capacity of resource management regimes should be a primary management goal.
- The design and sustained execution of transparent and open social learning processes is a key requirement to support double and triple loop learning (reframing and transforming) to address uncertainties and develop the capacity to respond to new insights and surprise.
Such considerations would for example imply major changes in the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive. The interactive session will address these issues based on examples from the NeWater case study basins and the challenges they face in the implementation of water policies and in overcoming barriers to new management styles. The session is organized in cooperation with the project RiskBase. Therefore, it will focus on examples for integrated risk management leading to specific suggestions for the implementation of European Water Policy. The presentations of the session can be found below.
Session organizer: Claudia Pahl-Wostl (USF)
| 
