Fragmentation and the problem of fit in the governing of flood risk mitigation
Becker, Per LU
(2020)
V International Congress on Risk
- Abstract
- Flood risk is a great global concern that is not only affecting developing countries, but threatens to undermine sustainable development also in the most affluent advanced liberal democracies. While political inertia is delaying much needed global change, efforts to reduce risk and adapt to a changing climate are growing on more local levels. However, floods tend not to be bounded by geopolitical, administrative, organizational, or other socially constructed borders. This requires flood risk to be jointly governed by networks of actors. The patterns of social relations among these actors are fundamental for society’s capacity to reduce risk and influential voices argue the importance of fit between the biophysical basis of an issue and the... (More)
- Flood risk is a great global concern that is not only affecting developing countries, but threatens to undermine sustainable development also in the most affluent advanced liberal democracies. While political inertia is delaying much needed global change, efforts to reduce risk and adapt to a changing climate are growing on more local levels. However, floods tend not to be bounded by geopolitical, administrative, organizational, or other socially constructed borders. This requires flood risk to be jointly governed by networks of actors. The patterns of social relations among these actors are fundamental for society’s capacity to reduce risk and influential voices argue the importance of fit between the biophysical basis of an issue and the institutional arrangements of actors engaging in its governance.
The paper investigates this “problem of fit” in the governing of flood risk, based on a case study of flood risk mitigation in Höje River catchment area in Southern Sweden. This level of analysis delineates the issue of flood risk hydrologically, allowing for the inclusion of actors across horizontal and vertical boundaries. The catchment area comprises 316 km2 divided in three hydrologically relevant and rapidly developing municipalities; Lomma, Lund, and Staffanstorp.
Applying a single-case study research design with multiple embedded units of analysis, the paper draws on a unique dataset comprising 217 interviews with all individual formal actors actively engaged in flood risk mitigation in the catchment area, as well as maps, legislation, policies, court rulings, strategies, plans, and consultation minutes. It integrates structural and interpretive analysis, since the roles of actors are defined both by their social relations and by the institutional context they are embedded into.
The results demonstrate a clear rift between the hydrological system behind flood risk and the institutional arrangements for its governing. This rift is not only visible along the borders of the municipalities composing the catchment area, but also between the spatial planning areas within them, between actors implementing different but tightly coupled policies within municipal administrations, between administrative levels, between actors engaged in different temporal phases of activities, between different types of flood risk, and over artificially defined rainfall intensities. If not addressed, this fragmentation causes a “problem of fit” that continues to undermine society's ability to anticipate and adapt to the expected escalation of flood risk in a changing climate.
(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/5d2df12a-2a97-451f-829e-abc1e3c71015
- author
- Becker, Per
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2020-10-13
- type
- Contribution to conference
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- flood risk; governance; fragmentation; institutional fit; Sweden
- conference name
- V International Congress on Risk
- conference location
- Coimbra, Portugal
- conference dates
- 2020-10-12 - 2020-10-16
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 5d2df12a-2a97-451f-829e-abc1e3c71015
- alternative location
- https://vcir.riscos.pt/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/eBook_Resumos_VCIR_v2.pdf
- date added to LUP
- 2020-11-08 14:24:05
- date last changed
- 2021-03-18 02:27:22
@misc{5d2df12a-2a97-451f-829e-abc1e3c71015,
abstract = {{Flood risk is a great global concern that is not only affecting developing countries, but threatens to undermine sustainable development also in the most affluent advanced liberal democracies. While political inertia is delaying much needed global change, efforts to reduce risk and adapt to a changing climate are growing on more local levels. However, floods tend not to be bounded by geopolitical, administrative, organizational, or other socially constructed borders. This requires flood risk to be jointly governed by networks of actors. The patterns of social relations among these actors are fundamental for society’s capacity to reduce risk and influential voices argue the importance of fit between the biophysical basis of an issue and the institutional arrangements of actors engaging in its governance.<br/><br/>The paper investigates this “problem of fit” in the governing of flood risk, based on a case study of flood risk mitigation in Höje River catchment area in Southern Sweden. This level of analysis delineates the issue of flood risk hydrologically, allowing for the inclusion of actors across horizontal and vertical boundaries. The catchment area comprises 316 km2 divided in three hydrologically relevant and rapidly developing municipalities; Lomma, Lund, and Staffanstorp.<br/><br/>Applying a single-case study research design with multiple embedded units of analysis, the paper draws on a unique dataset comprising 217 interviews with all individual formal actors actively engaged in flood risk mitigation in the catchment area, as well as maps, legislation, policies, court rulings, strategies, plans, and consultation minutes. It integrates structural and interpretive analysis, since the roles of actors are defined both by their social relations and by the institutional context they are embedded into.<br/><br/>The results demonstrate a clear rift between the hydrological system behind flood risk and the institutional arrangements for its governing. This rift is not only visible along the borders of the municipalities composing the catchment area, but also between the spatial planning areas within them, between actors implementing different but tightly coupled policies within municipal administrations, between administrative levels, between actors engaged in different temporal phases of activities, between different types of flood risk, and over artificially defined rainfall intensities. If not addressed, this fragmentation causes a “problem of fit” that continues to undermine society's ability to anticipate and adapt to the expected escalation of flood risk in a changing climate.<br/>}},
author = {{Becker, Per}},
keywords = {{flood risk; governance; fragmentation; institutional fit; Sweden}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{10}},
title = {{Fragmentation and the problem of fit in the governing of flood risk mitigation}},
url = {{https://vcir.riscos.pt/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/eBook_Resumos_VCIR_v2.pdf}},
year = {{2020}},
}