Papers by Arwin van Buuren
Beleid en Maatschappij
The factor time is an often neglected issue in the literature on network governance. In this arti... more The factor time is an often neglected issue in the literature on network governance. In this article we analyze the differences in perceptions on time between actors involved in water governance and describe the managerial interventions aimed at synchronizing time horizons, managing the available amount of time and the tempo of the governance process. Two case studies of governance processes in the district of Water Board Delfland are included to provide insight in the question how the factor time influences the governance processes and how aspects of time are managed. The case studies show that different perceptions of time may cause tensions in collaborative relationships, and even cause the end of collaborations. This underscores the importance of time-sensitive governance.
Climatic Change, 2020
There are many normative answers on the question how to realize climate adaptation, ranging from ... more There are many normative answers on the question how to realize climate adaptation, ranging from pleas for the government to play a decisive role, to calls for refraining from action and relying upon spontaneous adaptation of both government and non-governmental actors. In this article, we present a Q methodological study, aimed at investigating the governance preferences among non-governmental actors in the Netherlands and the “narratives” they use to motivate these preferences. Our empirical results underline the fact that the question “how to organize adaptation”, is a controversial one. The results resemble the various positions in the current academic debate about the governance of adaptation, and add important insights and nuances to it. Many respondents feel that the current climate adaptation policy is too non-committal. The dominant viewpoint underscores a need for more rules and norms and the possibility to sanction organizations that do not adapt. Minority viewpoints show...
European Planning Studies, 2020
Programme management is increasingly used in The Netherlands to realize more integrated regional ... more Programme management is increasingly used in The Netherlands to realize more integrated regional development, where different sectoral policy objectives are combined. To understand how integration of different objectives is realized in programme management approaches, it is important to have in depth knowledge on how actors manage social, cognitive and physical boundaries. Therefore, this article analyses how actors manage boundaries in a regional integrative programme. Within this case we focus on two integration attempts: one which has succeeded relatively well and one which was less successful. The analysis shows the importance of boundary spanning actions, such as jointly working on strategy documents, organizing events where actors can formally and informally interact, and the activities of a political change agent. Adding to previous insights, we find four additional explanations for successful integration which shed new light on how boundaries can be best managed in future programmatic approaches: the influence of contextual factors on boundary management and its success, the need to address both the social and cognitive dimension of boundaries, the need to make the programme attractive for the actors governing the issues it wants to integrate with, and the role of boundary drawing to create an understanding and respect for boundaries.
International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2019
This introductory article discusses the proliferation of different forms of participation in wate... more This introductory article discusses the proliferation of different forms of participation in water governance. It is argued that creating public value through participation can only succeed when effective cocreation between public authorities and communities emerges. However, challenges to realizing co-creation are manifold, and differ among the various types of participation. In this respect, we introduce a typology of different forms of participation, based on the distinction between top-down (invited) and bottom-up (created) participation. We use this distinction to analyze different dynamics in participatory water governance and to delve deeper into the dilemmas and trade-offs. Lastly, the various contributions to this special issue are introduced.
International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2019
Community-based initiatives (CBIs) are emerging in many domains such as care, sustainable energy ... more Community-based initiatives (CBIs) are emerging in many domains such as care, sustainable energy and water management. This paper examined three initiatives in Dutch water management, focusing on their relationship with water boards. CBIs present issues that water boards find difficult to respond to because of two reasons. First, CBIs are demarcated very differently from the formal tasks that water boards pursue. This calls for internal alignment within water boards to respond adequately. Second, CBIs necessitate external alignment with other water-managing governments. Water boards must therefore implement double helix alignment to relate productively to initiatives emerging in society.
Evidence and Policy, 2017
In dealing with wicked problems, policymakers increasingly are confronted with three competing ‘k... more In dealing with wicked problems, policymakers increasingly are confronted with three competing ‘knowledge claims’: the notion of evidence-based policy, alternative ‘commons knowledge’ created by citizens, and ‘fact-free’ politics. Consequently, the knowledge base for dealing with wicked problems is becoming increasingly contested. This paper analyses the ways in which these three competing knowledge claims interact, and the consequences of their interaction, through a case study of the dynamics of knowledge claims in Dutch climate policy. The paper concludes that the quest for evidence-based policy may constitute an impediment to progress in finding common ground in practical policies.
ABSTRACT Governments all over the world are struggling with the question of how to adapt to clima... more ABSTRACT Governments all over the world are struggling with the question of how to adapt to climate change. They need information not only about the issue and its possible consequences, but also about feasible governance strategies and instruments to combat it. At the same time, scientists from different social disciplines are trying to understand the dynamics and peculiarities of the governance of climate change adaptation. This book demonstrates how action-oriented research methods can be used to satisfy the need for both policy-relevant information and scientific knowledge. Bringing together eight case studies that show inspiring practices of action research from around the world, including Australia, Denmark, Vietnam and the Netherlands, the book covers a rich variety of action-research applications, running from participatory observation to serious games and role-playing exercises. It explores many adaptation challenges, from flood-risk safety to heat stress and freshwater availability, and draws out valuable lessons about the conditions that make action research successful, demonstrating how scientific and academic knowledge can be used in a practical context to reach useful and applicable insights. The book will be of interest to scholars and students of climate change, environmental policy, politics and governance. http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9781138017603/
Beleid En Maatschappij, 2010
Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 2014
ABSTRACT While adaptation tends to be approached as an issue for policy analysis, framing and pow... more ABSTRACT While adaptation tends to be approached as an issue for policy analysis, framing and powering strongly interact with policy analysis (puzzling) and are at least as important for adequate outcomes in such an ambiguous context. The present contribution compares and analyzes two Dutch adaptation strategies in the Central Netherlands: (1) realizing a flood bypass channel near the town of Kampen and (2) exploring possibilities to raise the water level of Lake IJssel, enhancing the country’s freshwater storage capacity. The article concludes that in both trajectories there is an important role for policy analysis (puzzling) but the cases differ strongly in the way actors frame the intervention, their corresponding powering strategies and the policy outcomes.
Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 2014
The discursive framing of projects is an oft-used strategy to claim legitimacy and create support... more The discursive framing of projects is an oft-used strategy to claim legitimacy and create support for proposed measures. By giving a project an appealing ‘label’, politicians and policy makers try to prevent criticism. However, policy labels are thrown out like ‘boomerangs' with a view to gaining leverage, resources, and legitimacy. The thrower, however, cannot control how the boomerang comes back. This paper sheds light on the consequences of these ‘backfiring labels' with the help of two illustrative case studies: a ‘calamity polder’ for controlled flood storage (Ooijpolder) and a ‘bypass' for the river IJssel near Kampen, respectively. Interestingly, the wider frames from which these labels originate differ and give rise to different dynamics, but with the same outcome: the label reaped the opposite effect. We analyze the way in which this process of strategic ‘labelling’ takes place, its discursive power, its impact on the governance process in question, and how poli...
International Journal of Water Governance, 2013
Dutch water management has experienced a gradual evolution in which integration has become an imp... more Dutch water management has experienced a gradual evolution in which integration has become an important objective. Recently, over a short period, the pace has quickened in the integration of water management and land-use planning practices in the Netherlands. In this article, we describe the historical evolution of integrated water resources management (IWRM) with regard to its functional dimension (the substantive dimension: the functions included in the dominant definition of water management) and its vertical dimension (the governance levels and actors involved). We compare a historical description with actual practices of integration in the context of the recently launched water management policy, the national Delta Program, aimed at improving the climate robustness of the Dutch delta. To understand the challenge of integration, we first provide a theoretical elaboration of the integration challenge in the context of IWRM. Then, we describe the evolution of integration within Dutch water management. Subsequently, we describe the Delta Program as an actual case of IWRM. Because of various political and economic conditions, this program can be seen as an interruption of the gradual trend towards more integration, both functional and vertical, in Dutch water governance.
Verschillende rapporten over participatie, zoals van de Commissie Elverding, de Ombudsman en de W... more Verschillende rapporten over participatie, zoals van de Commissie Elverding, de Ombudsman en de WRR, bevelen overheden aan de participatie te versterken. Maar wat wordt er eigenlijk bedoeld met participatie? In dit artikel wordt burgerparticipatie benaderd vanuit een empirisch juridisch perspectief. Er worden twee casestudies geanalyseerd in het waterdomein waarin relatief veel aandacht is besteed aan participatie. De casestudies laten zien dat de overheid niet bereid was om macht te delen bij de keuze voor het doel, maar wel bij de uitwerking van de maatregelen, ingegeven door de noodzaak om draagvlak te verwerven. Zij laten zien dat vroegtijdige en uitgebreide participatie overheden winst oplevert in termen van tijd, draagvlak en kwaliteit. Het opnemen van een juridische verplichting tot vroegtijdige participatie in de nieuwe Omgevingswet of in Afdeling 3.4 Awb is het overdenken waard.
ABSTRACT The governance of adaptation to climate change is beset by many complex challenges. As i... more ABSTRACT The governance of adaptation to climate change is beset by many complex challenges. As it is a relatively new policy terrain, policy agendas, instruments, and arrangements are still under construction. This implies a strong perceived need for application-oriented knowledge, as well as for policy advice on how to govern climate change adaptation and deal with the specific challenges that it poses. In other words, applicable knowledge is needed on how to govern adaptation to climate change. As discussed in the first chapter, action research methods seem promising to realize this ambition. This book therefore aims to further the application of action-oriented research approaches in general, and in the domain of climate change adaptation in particular. It aims to do so by learning from applications in different institutional contexts and with different methods. In the previous chapters, different approaches to action research in the field of governance of adaptation to climate change are presented, describing how action research works in such a complex and relatively new context, and highlighting potentials and pitfalls for action-oriented research approaches in this emerging domain. Building on the rich information in the case study chapters, this final chapter aims to provide an overall reflection on the use of action research in the field of governance of climate change adaptation, on the basis of three research questions: • What forms of action research are applied in the context of governance of adaptation to climate change and how do they work? • What are the main potentials and pitfalls for action-oriented research in this domain? • What did our research teach us about the characteristics of governance of climate change adaptation?
International Review of Administrative Sciences, 2014
Time is often considered to be an inert background against which governance processes evolve. Ins... more Time is often considered to be an inert background against which governance processes evolve. Instead, this article approaches time as a factor that influences the development of innovation processes in water governance. Drawing on two Dutch cases, we analyse perceptions of time and the management of time. Public managers manage time by trying to fix deadlines, by synchronizing different timelines or by imposing their time horizon on the process. Different actors' timeframes may interfere with one another, and this may hinder governance processes. The analysis of time helps to explain the dynamics of governance processes, and this article shows that the alignment of timeframes is a crucial activity in realizing innovations in governance. Points for practitioners Time is a crucial factor in innovation processes. Actors often have different perceptions of time, including different time horizons and deadlines. Classic time management mainly aims at budgeting time. This article argu...
Revue Internationale des Sciences Administratives, 2014
Distribution électronique Cairn.info pour I.I.S.A.. Distribution électronique Cairn.info pour I.I... more Distribution électronique Cairn.info pour I.I.S.A.. Distribution électronique Cairn.info pour I.I.S.A.. La reproduction ou représentation de cet article, notamment par photocopie, n'est autorisée que dans les limites des conditions générales d'utilisation du site ou, le cas échéant, des conditions générales de la licence souscrite par votre établissement. Toute autre reproduction ou représentation, en tout ou partie, sous quelque forme et de quelque manière que ce soit, est interdite sauf accord préalable et écrit de l'éditeur, en dehors des cas prévus par la législation en vigueur en France. Il est précisé que son stockage dans une base de données est également interdit. Article disponible en ligne à l'adresse Article disponible en ligne à l'adresse https://www.cairn.info/revue-internationale-des-sciences-administratives-2014-2-page-417.htm Découvrir le sommaire de ce numéro, suivre la revue par email, s'abonner... Flashez ce QR Code pour accéder à la page de ce numéro sur Cairn.info.
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Papers by Arwin van Buuren