Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GOVAQUA (Governance innovations for a transition to sustainable and equitable water use in Europe)
Berichtszeitraum: 2023-02-01 bis 2024-07-31
GOVAQUA project identifies, assesses, develops and validates innovative governance instruments, approaches and arrangements that support and accelerate a transition towards sustainable and equitable water use in Europe. The project analyses and compares existing water governance systems, focusing on water use and its impacts in agriculture, industries, energy production, water utilities and the role of citizens. GOVAQUA conceptualises for the first time sustainability transition in water governance, and creates associated criteria and indicators for its assessment. To respond to the systemic development needs for the transition, the project covers promising niche governance innovations in 1) legislation and regulation, 2) multi-stakeholder participation and collaboration, 3) economics and finance, and 4) digital solutions for information sharing. Good practices related to them are systematically reviewed, analysed and compared, and further co-developed, assessed and validated with key stakeholders in real-world action situations of six Living Labs in France, Finland, Spain, the UK and Romania, and transnationally between Finland and Sweden.
GOVAQUA delivers new knowledge, participatory tools and good practice guidelines laying out pathways towards sustainable and equitable water future, applicable across diverse contexts at river basin, national and EU levels. The project results will be disseminated in a strategic and targeted manner to EU and national policy makers and officials, European river basin management community, water and water using sectors, NGOs and water governance expert organisations, and communicated to empower citizens in the consortium partner countries and beyond. GOVAQUA engages in clustering activities with InnWater project applying social innovation and RETOUCH NEXUS project adopting a cross-sectoral nexus-approach, the three projects complementing each other and working together for strengthened impact.
GOVAQUA delivers new knowledge, participatory tools and good practice guidelines laying out pathways towards sustainable and equitable water future, applicable across diverse contexts at river basin, national and EU levels. The project results will be disseminated in a strategic and targeted manner to EU and national policy makers and officials, European river basin management community, water and water using sectors, NGOs and water governance expert organisations, and communicated to empower citizens in the consortium partner countries and beyond. GOVAQUA engages in clustering activities with InnWater project applying social innovation and RETOUCH NEXUS project adopting a cross-sectoral nexus-approach, the three projects complementing each other and working together for strengthened impact.
The first version of the GOVAQUA Conceptual framework for sustainability transition in water governance has been built. It will next be applied and tested in the case studies, Living Labs and systemic comparison analyses in the project, after which it will be finalised reflecting those empirical results.
GOVAQUA Assessment tool for water governance innovations intended for water managers and other basin, catchment and national level decision makers has also been finalised. The tool has been co-created with and it will be applied by the six Living Labs of the project in 2024-2026, providing empirical insights not only for developing the innovations and the broader governance arrangements in question, but also for the further refinement and finalisation of the tool.
Identification of niche governance innovations to be studied more-in depth in the case studies has been completed, with national policy analyses on legislation and regulation on water allocation, eflows and water-related value chains; reviews of innovations in multi-stakeholder collaboration, public participation and engagement of private companies; reviews of innovative economic and financial instruments; and comprehensive mapping of innovative digital solutions across different levels and scales of water governance.
The work in the GOVAQUA Living Labs of water governance innovations has begun with a development of a four-phase Living Lab process design. All the Labs have completed the first Initiation and preparation phase and made preparations for starting intensive stakeholder engagement in autumn 2024 in the Exploration phase. In the Exploration phase the Labs apply the GOVAQUA Assessment tool and select and refine the innovation to be tested during the following Experimentation phase. For the purpose of the latter, the Labs will be provided in early autumn 2024 with the first versions of “good practice” descriptions of the most promising water governance innovations that have been identified in the national policy analyses, reviews and mapping exercises.
GOVAQUA Assessment tool for water governance innovations intended for water managers and other basin, catchment and national level decision makers has also been finalised. The tool has been co-created with and it will be applied by the six Living Labs of the project in 2024-2026, providing empirical insights not only for developing the innovations and the broader governance arrangements in question, but also for the further refinement and finalisation of the tool.
Identification of niche governance innovations to be studied more-in depth in the case studies has been completed, with national policy analyses on legislation and regulation on water allocation, eflows and water-related value chains; reviews of innovations in multi-stakeholder collaboration, public participation and engagement of private companies; reviews of innovative economic and financial instruments; and comprehensive mapping of innovative digital solutions across different levels and scales of water governance.
The work in the GOVAQUA Living Labs of water governance innovations has begun with a development of a four-phase Living Lab process design. All the Labs have completed the first Initiation and preparation phase and made preparations for starting intensive stakeholder engagement in autumn 2024 in the Exploration phase. In the Exploration phase the Labs apply the GOVAQUA Assessment tool and select and refine the innovation to be tested during the following Experimentation phase. For the purpose of the latter, the Labs will be provided in early autumn 2024 with the first versions of “good practice” descriptions of the most promising water governance innovations that have been identified in the national policy analyses, reviews and mapping exercises.
Three key outputs of GOVAQUA thus far exemplify results beyond the state of the art. First, the Conceptual framework for sustainability transition in water governance is first of its kind, bringing together the water governance and sustainability transitions scholarship. Second, the GOVAQUA Assessment tool is novel in its broad coverage of water governance aspects and focus on innovative approaches and their transformative potential. Third, the Process design for Living Labs of water governance innovations is groundbreaking in its attention to the diversity of stakeholders, focus on social and institutional innovations going beyond the predominant technology focus of Water-Oriented Living Labs, and its close integration of the innovation and co-creation processes to water policy planning and implementation.