Crossing the river while feeling for stones : Challenges of river basin governance in Vietnam
(2024) COSM40 20241Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University
- Abstract
- Water scarcity is increasing across different geographical regions of Vietnam. Central drivers of scarcity include population growth and climate change which increase demand and sectoral competition. The legal system is keeping pace to address this trend, but gaps remain in terms of implementation and enforcement. This purpose of this study was to improve the understanding of those gaps via polycentric governance analysis at river-basin level in Vietnam, using a theoretical framework designed for determining functionality of polycentric governance systems. The results, based on semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, suggest that the water governance system in Vietnam is polycentric to a high degree, but with limited... (More)
- Water scarcity is increasing across different geographical regions of Vietnam. Central drivers of scarcity include population growth and climate change which increase demand and sectoral competition. The legal system is keeping pace to address this trend, but gaps remain in terms of implementation and enforcement. This purpose of this study was to improve the understanding of those gaps via polycentric governance analysis at river-basin level in Vietnam, using a theoretical framework designed for determining functionality of polycentric governance systems. The results, based on semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, suggest that the water governance system in Vietnam is polycentric to a high degree, but with limited functionality. They also imply that the benefits predicted by the polycentric governance model are based on assumptions that should be adjusted and evaluated against the context to which it is applied. The emphasis of relationships between decision-making centres in the polycentric system provides a new angle of insight to water tenure arrangements. The thesis argues that a deeper and more deliberate understanding of the nature of the governance system in Vietnam can improve capacities for institutional design choice according to different boundaries, priorities, and national characteristics. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9167546
- author
- Bäckman, Joel
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- COSM40 20241
- year
- 2024
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Vietnam, water governance, river basin organisations, adaptive governance, polycentric governance, bioregional governance, commons governance, water tenure
- language
- English
- id
- 9167546
- date added to LUP
- 2024-06-24 09:35:53
- date last changed
- 2024-06-24 09:35:53
@misc{9167546, abstract = {{Water scarcity is increasing across different geographical regions of Vietnam. Central drivers of scarcity include population growth and climate change which increase demand and sectoral competition. The legal system is keeping pace to address this trend, but gaps remain in terms of implementation and enforcement. This purpose of this study was to improve the understanding of those gaps via polycentric governance analysis at river-basin level in Vietnam, using a theoretical framework designed for determining functionality of polycentric governance systems. The results, based on semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, suggest that the water governance system in Vietnam is polycentric to a high degree, but with limited functionality. They also imply that the benefits predicted by the polycentric governance model are based on assumptions that should be adjusted and evaluated against the context to which it is applied. The emphasis of relationships between decision-making centres in the polycentric system provides a new angle of insight to water tenure arrangements. The thesis argues that a deeper and more deliberate understanding of the nature of the governance system in Vietnam can improve capacities for institutional design choice according to different boundaries, priorities, and national characteristics.}}, author = {{Bäckman, Joel}}, language = {{eng}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, title = {{Crossing the river while feeling for stones : Challenges of river basin governance in Vietnam}}, year = {{2024}}, }