HOW TO OVERCOME THE TRADE-OFFS BETWEEN HUMAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL WATER NEEDS IN TIMES OF GLOBAL CHANGE? The role of ecosystem services (ES) and environmental hazards (EH) across river basins Dr. Kathrin Knüppe, Prof. Claudia Pahl-Wostl, Elisabeth Ehling Institute of Environmental Systems Research, University of Osnabrück 21-24 May 2013 GWSP Conference ‘Water in the Anthropocene’ This project received funding from RESEARCH BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION • Water crises and alarming trends • Focus on technological or institutional panaceas rather than embracing complexity and context dependence • Impacts of ES on adaptive capacity and resilience of socialecological-systems is often undervalued or neglected • Favoring provisioning over regulating, supporting or cultural ES (= trade-offs) • Complex systems require interdisciplinary approaches 19.06.2013 1/12 OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROJECT Critical knowledge gap • Linkages between characteristics of governance systems, recognition of ES and sustainable management of water How to tackle these research challenges? Exploring governance systems, ES and EH in the field of water resources • Requirements for a transition towards sustainable water governance and management • Barriers supporting and sustaining change and higher levels of learning • Integration/ interactions of governance modes (hierarchies, markets and networks) 19.06.2013 2/12 HYPOTHESES 1. Reframing of water management objectives in terms of an integrated perspective on ES and EH supports transitions of WGMS and a reduction in trade-offs. 2. Barriers towards effective implementation lie in barriers to support and sustain change and higher levels of learning rather than in a lack of knowledge about eco-hydrological processes and how they are impacted by human activities. 3. Sustaining change and stabilizing an adaptive and integrated governance and management approach require an integration of governance modes. 19.06.2013 3/12 RESEARCH DESIGN Action Situations Actors influence Context Characteristics WGMS Institutions Performance + Develop (analytical) indicators Activities Outcome impact Identify case studies + + generate Ecological System Societal System Technical Infrastructure Explore water management processes (over time) Change/transformation Policy /learning processes 19.06.2013 4/12 CASE STUDY REGIONS Germany Netherlands Rhine - Gelderland Rhine – North Rhine Westphalia South Africa Orange – Northern Cape Province 19.06.2013 Spain Hungary China Yellow – Inner Mongolia Yangtze – Hubei Tizsa– North Great Plain Guadiana– Castilla-La Mancha Australia Lachlan (MDB) – New South Wales Source: www.cia.gov 5/12 Context INDICATORS AND SYSTEM LINKAGES Characteristics WGMS CONTEXT WGMS CHARACTERISTICS PERFORMANCE MEASURES Ecological system Institutional settings Ecosystem services and trade-offs Water availability Precipitation Basin modification Climatic changes Societal system Societal development (HDI) GDP per capita Social equity (GINI Index) Efficiency of formal institutions (CPI) 19.06.2013 e.g., legal frameworks Performance Actor networks e.g., environmental flow requirements Multi-level structures Societal impacts of floods and droughts e.g., cross-sectoral cooperation e.g., degree of vertical integration Governance modes e.g., economic damage Response to climatic changes Role/interactions of bureaucratic e.g., state of development of hierarchies, markets and climate change adaptation plans networks 6/12 ANALYTICAL APPROACH EXPLORING WATER MANAGEMENT PROCESSES Management and Transition Framework (Pahl-Wostl et al. 2008, 2010; Knüppe & Pahl-Wostl 2012) • Analyze structures and dynamics of water management processes of change towards sustainability • Innovative and unique conceptual and methodological framework – – – – water resources management and multi-level governance structures interactions/dynamics between and within ecological and societal systems transformation, policy and societal learning processes integration of the ES and EH to characterize the interface between the societal and the ecological system • Standardized language that can be tailored to specific research questions 19.06.2013 7/12 MANAGEMENT AND TRANSITION FRAMEWORK Class Diagram • Formalized representations of structural elements (‘classes’) • Properties/ characteristics impact the linkages between different classes -> management dynamics • Management processes are represented as a network of Action Situation: • structured social interaction context System database approach • Standardized relational database (MS Access) • Systematic comparison of cases and their contexts • Organizes and structures data – • Calculation of quantitative indicators to characterize WGMS ; e.g.: • • Processes (e.g., Action Situations) and structures (e.g., ecosystem services) Participation of actors in different phases of a management process Management dynamics over time and space – Identification of change and transformation Source: Pahl-Wostl et al., 2010 19.06.2013 8/12 APPLICATION OF THE RESEARCH DESIGN 1. Case study Sandveld (South Africa) Intensive irrigation vs. ecological integrity (Source: Münch & Conrad, 2006) Trade-offs Source: GEOSS, 2005 19.06.2013 9/12 APPLICATION OF THE RESEARCH DESIGN 1. Case study Sandveld (South Africa) 2. Analytical indicators 3. Management processes WGMS characteristics: • Institutional settings • Multi-level governance • Actor networks Groundwater and ecosystem services Performance measures: • State of ES and trade-offs • Adaptation to climate change Dealing with trade-offs at different levels • Actors and sectors • Institutions (Source: Münch & Conrad, 2006) • Interviews, literature research -> network of Action Situations (1990-2011) -> identification of change and transformation towards integrative management 19.06.2013 10/12 SOME CONCLUSIONS TOWARDS INTEGRATIVE MANAGEMENT OF ES? • Raise the awareness of different ecosystem services – still major trade-offs between irrigation and environmental needs • Open up the political arena towards environmental perspectives including ES and EH • Increase the quality of water and environmental institutions but implementation remains slow – Shortages of expertise/leadership, adequate data and financial resources – Misallocation of roles and responsibilities – Lack of communication between different authorities/sectors 19.06.2013 11/12 WAY FORWARD → Improvement of the research design • Linkages between WGMS, ES and EH – Combination of quantitative and qualitative methods – Interdisciplinary research – Comparative case study analysis (in depth) • Integrating ES concept into practice – Find adaptation strategies for water managers • Political and institutional requirements • Across levels and sectors →Strengthen the science-policy-interface 19.06.2013 12/12 THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND INTEREST [email protected] www.WaterNeeds.UOS.de 19.06.2013