Within the water management and governance theme we seek to understand and advance scientific and societal efforts in ensuring the sustainability and resilience of water resources and water services. Our research brings together cutting-edge and interdisciplinary studies across three main topics, covering both the Global South and the Global North: (1) nature-based solutions to water and climate change challenges, (2) assessment of water governance regimes and water policy instruments, and (3) climate change adaptation and resilience.
The diversity and interdependency of sectors, scales and timeframes that characterize societies prevail in all water systems. The question of how to cope with these complexities and dynamics by governance strategies enabling boundary spanning and collaboration is the core of the scientific focus of this research theme. This manifests in research projects on behavioural, organizational and institutional drivers for transitional change in water systems, water uses and water technologies. We engage with multiple theoretical frameworks and concepts, including theories on the policy process, network analysis, institutional analysis, multi-level governance, innovation and diffusion theory, and public participation.
Adopting a transdisciplinarity approach, our research projects often involve collaboration with governmental authorities, communities and the industry. We cooperate with internal and external stakeholders making the UT a ‘civic university’, through regional experimentation and innovation with stakeholder platforms and similar configurations in local, national, regional and international networks.
Our educational commitment involves training next generation change agents in the water track of the international Master’s in Environmental and Energy Management (MEEM), with students from all over the world. This contributes to capacity development for responsible and sustainable solutions, building on UT Shaping 2030 mission and targeting both urban and rural water management from a multi-level, multi-sectoral approach.
Key publications
Aukes, E. J. , Lulofs, K. R. D. , & Bressers, H. T. A. (2020). (Mis-)matching framing foci: Understanding policy consensus among coastal management frames. Ocean and Coastal Management, 197, 105286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2020.105286
Özerol, G., Dolman, N., Bormann, H. , Bressers, H. , Lulofs, K., & Böge, M. (2020). Urban water management and climate change adaptation: A self-assessment study by seven midsize cities in the North Sea Region. Sustainable Cities and Society, 55, 102066. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2020.102066
Lordkipanidze, M. , Lulofs, K. , & Bressers, H. (2019). Towards a new model for the governance of the Weerribben-Wieden National Park. Science of the Total Environment, 648, 56-65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.121
Current projects
- Cluster for Cloud to Coast Climate Change Adaptation (C5a), 2019-2022
The North Sea Region is facing a significant increase in the frequency and severity of floods in response to climate change. Flood management approaches need to urgently adapt to this new reality to keep people safe, the environment healthy and our economies prosperous. To respond to this challenge, the project 'Cluster for Cloud to Coast Climate Change adaptation' (C5a) aims to deliver a cloud-to-coast approach for the management of flood risk, known as the C2C approach. Combining the outcomes of seven ongoing Interreg North Sea Region projects, the C5a project will ensure an approach that is both evidence-based and practice-based. Project partners include ten partners from six countries, and the project runs from 2019 to 2021. The project is co-funded by the North Sea Region Programme 2014 - 2020. CSTM contributes to lead the work package on applying the C2C approach in practice through the seven case studies in Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and the UK. In the project, Dr. Gül Özerol, Prof. Hans Bressers and Dr. Erwin Nugraha represent the CSTM.
For more information, please see: https://northsearegion.eu/c5a/
Selection of past projects
- Benefits of governance in drought adaptation (DROP), 2012-2015
Water scarcity and drought are on the increase and expected to aggravate further due to climate change. Early actions are required to adapt to these changes. The transnational project ’Benefit of governance in DROught adaPtation (DROP)’ aims to enhance the preparedness and resilience of Northwest European (NWE) regions to such periods of drought and water scarcity. Transnational collaboration helps to achieve these objectives by developing better solutions in a more efficient manner. DROP is a transnational project and integrates knowledge from science, policy and practice. The project was implemented through collaboration between six regional water authorities (practice partners) and five knowledge institutes (knowledge partners). - Nature-driven nourishment of coastal systems (NatureCoast), 2012-2017
The Sand Motor pilot project is a concentrated 21 Mm3 shore nourishment (i.e. sand deposition) at the Delfland coast (NL). This unprecedented experiment aims to protect the hinterland from flooding by letting natural processes distribute sand over shoreface, beach and dunes, thus constituting a climate-robust and environmentally friendly way of coastal protection.
