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Adaptive Governance of River Deltas Under Accelerating Environmental Change

Paauw, Mandy ; Scown, Murray LU ; Triyanti, Annisa ; Du, Haomiao and Garmestani, Ahjond (2022) In Utrecht Law Review 18(2). p.30-50
Abstract

Many deltas are increasingly threatened by environmental change, including climate change-induced sea-level rise, land subsidence and reduced sediment delivery. Dealing with these challenges is a pressing necessity because deltas are home to many people and are important centres for economic and agricultural development. Successfully adapting to climate change requires a social-ecological system (SES) perspective, emphasising that social and ecological components of deltas are intertwined. Various modes of governance have been suggested to deal with uncertainty associated with environmental change in SESs, such as adaptive governance. Adaptive governance underlines the need for governance systems to be flexible enough to adapt to... (More)

Many deltas are increasingly threatened by environmental change, including climate change-induced sea-level rise, land subsidence and reduced sediment delivery. Dealing with these challenges is a pressing necessity because deltas are home to many people and are important centres for economic and agricultural development. Successfully adapting to climate change requires a social-ecological system (SES) perspective, emphasising that social and ecological components of deltas are intertwined. Various modes of governance have been suggested to deal with uncertainty associated with environmental change in SESs, such as adaptive governance. Adaptive governance underlines the need for governance systems to be flexible enough to adapt to variable degrees of uncertainty in SESs. In this paper, we analyse the Dutch Delta Programme (DDP) and the Mekong Delta Plan (MDP) to explore their strengths and limitations relating to nine principles for adaptive governance proposed by DeCaro and others. We evaluate the suitability of this framework for the Rhine and Mekong deltas and contribute to the current understanding of delta governance in light of climate change. Most of the principles outlined by DeCaro and others are present in the DDP and MDP. However, adaptive governance is context dependent. The Rhine and Mekong deltas display different obstacles to adaptive governance, some of which are not sufficiently emphasised in this academic adaptive governance framework.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
adaptive governance, climate change, deltas, Governance, social-ecological systems
in
Utrecht Law Review
volume
18
issue
2
pages
21 pages
publisher
Igitur, Utrecht Publishing and Archiving Services
external identifiers
  • pmid:37223264
  • scopus:85159190041
ISSN
1871-515X
DOI
10.36633/ulr.803
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d41e6cdd-df52-46b5-b0f2-b96ddc5fb3c2
date added to LUP
2023-08-16 13:41:12
date last changed
2024-04-20 00:47:07
@article{d41e6cdd-df52-46b5-b0f2-b96ddc5fb3c2,
  abstract     = {{<p>Many deltas are increasingly threatened by environmental change, including climate change-induced sea-level rise, land subsidence and reduced sediment delivery. Dealing with these challenges is a pressing necessity because deltas are home to many people and are important centres for economic and agricultural development. Successfully adapting to climate change requires a social-ecological system (SES) perspective, emphasising that social and ecological components of deltas are intertwined. Various modes of governance have been suggested to deal with uncertainty associated with environmental change in SESs, such as adaptive governance. Adaptive governance underlines the need for governance systems to be flexible enough to adapt to variable degrees of uncertainty in SESs. In this paper, we analyse the Dutch Delta Programme (DDP) and the Mekong Delta Plan (MDP) to explore their strengths and limitations relating to nine principles for adaptive governance proposed by DeCaro and others. We evaluate the suitability of this framework for the Rhine and Mekong deltas and contribute to the current understanding of delta governance in light of climate change. Most of the principles outlined by DeCaro and others are present in the DDP and MDP. However, adaptive governance is context dependent. The Rhine and Mekong deltas display different obstacles to adaptive governance, some of which are not sufficiently emphasised in this academic adaptive governance framework.</p>}},
  author       = {{Paauw, Mandy and Scown, Murray and Triyanti, Annisa and Du, Haomiao and Garmestani, Ahjond}},
  issn         = {{1871-515X}},
  keywords     = {{adaptive governance; climate change; deltas; Governance; social-ecological systems}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{30--50}},
  publisher    = {{Igitur, Utrecht Publishing and Archiving Services}},
  series       = {{Utrecht Law Review}},
  title        = {{Adaptive Governance of River Deltas Under Accelerating Environmental Change}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.36633/ulr.803}},
  doi          = {{10.36633/ulr.803}},
  volume       = {{18}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}