From Flood Protection to Flood Risk Management: Insights from the Rhine River in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Fabian Thomas () and Kathrin Knüppe ()
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Fabian Thomas: University of Osnabrück
Kathrin Knüppe: University of Osnabrück

Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), 2016, vol. 30, issue 8, No 13, 2785-2800

Abstract: Abstract This article introduces an analytical framework to identify and structure paradigm shifts from flood protection towards flood risk management. The framework is divided into three levels of analysis: (i) the governance level, (ii) the institutional level, and (iii) the operational level. Each of these levels plays an important role during the development and operationalization of a paradigm shift. The framework allows scholars and practitioners to organize a large amount of data and information relating to such a shift in a given river basin. To illustrate the potential of the framework, it is applied to the case of the Lower Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The results demonstrate how the different levels interact with each other and which elements constitute a barrier or driver influencing a paradigm shift. While institutions developed at higher management levels support a paradigm shift, the overall dominance of technical flood protection measures at the operational level constitutes a barrier to integrated flood risk management. Furthermore, a lack of joint action and multi-level cooperation constitutes a barrier at the governance level.

Keywords: Flood risk management; Governance and management regime; Paradigm shift; Rhine (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1007/s11269-016-1323-9

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