Comparative studies of water governance: A systematic review

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Authors

  • Gül Özerol
  • Joanne Vinke-De Kruijf
  • Marie Claire Brisbois
  • Cesar Casiano Flores
  • Pranjal Deekshit
  • Corentin Girard
  • Christian Knieper
  • S. Jalal Mirnezami
  • Mar Ortega-Reig
  • Pranay Ranjan
  • Nadine Schröder
  • Barbara Schröter

Governance is key to tackling water challenges and transforming water management under the increasing pressures of competing water uses and climate change. Diverse water governance regimes have evolved in different countries and regions to regulate the development and management of water resources and the provision of water services. Scholars and policy analysts have been comparing these water governance regimes to analyze elements and processes, to assess performance, or to draw lessons. Although the number of such studies has increased since the 1980s, no comprehensive synthesis exists. We present such a synthesis by conducting a systematic review of the emerging field of comparative water governance studies, and we critically reflect on how water governance is defined, conceptualized, and assessed in different contexts. Based on the resultant insights, we identify four areas for future research: (1) improving the balance between small-, medium-, and large-N studies that are used in comparative studies of water governance; (2) conducting longitudinal comparisons of water governance to identify temporal governance trends and patterns; (3) expanding the geographical coverage of the comparisons to include underrepresented countries and regions, focusing more broadly on the global South; and (4) addressing the issues of justice, equity, and power, which are becoming increasingly important in tackling the water governance challenges that are exacerbated by the effects of climate change, industrialization, and urbanization.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Aufsatznummer43
ZeitschriftEcology and Society
Jahrgang23
Ausgabenummer4
Anzahl der Seiten28
ISSN1708-3087
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 01.12.2018

Bibliographische Notiz

Funding Information:
We thank Tahmina Yasmin, who contributed to data gathering, and the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments. This publication is a follow-up of the Autumn School “Concepts, Frameworks and Methods for the Comparative Analysis of Water Governance,” which took place 28 October–6 November 2015 in Jülich, Germany. The Autumn School was attended by 11 authors, except the first author. We are grateful to the German Volkswagen Foundation for funding and to The Integrated Assessment Society and Osnabrück University for organizing the event. We also thank Claudia Pahl-Wostl, who was one of the driving forces behind the organization of the event. All authors actively con‏t‏ributed to various stages of the review and‏ ‏writing proce‏s‏s. The first author initiated the review process, and the first and second authors coordinated the overall process. The other authors made equal contributions to various stages of the review and writing process and are therefore listed in alphabetical order.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 by the author(s).

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