Belgian flood risk governance: explaining the dynamics within a fragmented governance arrangement

Mees, Heleen; Crabbé, Ann; Suykens, Cathy

doi:10.1111/jfr3.12330

Cited by 22 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 12 publications

(17 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Importantly, these three countries show flood-related policies and strategies across national and local levels, for example, Egypt's National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change and DRM 2011, and Nigeria's National Erosion and Flood Control Policy 2011 and National Policy on Climate Change and Response Strategy 2013 (Osumgborogwu & Chibo, 2017). Belgium, in turn, is an example of a federal government system, where the governance and responsibility for FRM sit within the three distinct regions of Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia, and not with the federal government (Mees et al, 2016(Mees et al, , 2018. This means that, while there is no national law on flood or climate adaptation in Belgium, flood risk governance is organized through many regional regulations for flood and coastal risk management in these three regions (Castanheira et al, 2017).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

National laws for enhancing flood resilience in the context of climate change: potential and shortcomings

Mehryar

Surminski

2020

Climate Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Flood risk is increasing across the world due to climate change and socioeconomic development, calling for a shift from traditional protection and post-event activism towards a forward-looking, risk-aware, and more holistic resilience approach. The national legal system of countries can play an important role in creating and encouraging such a shift. In this study, we explore the potentials and shortcomings of national laws in managing flood risk and increasing flood resilience in the context of climate change. We analyze 139 laws from 33 countries collected from the Climate Change Laws of the World and Disaster Law databases and underpin this with case studies to gain insights on the interplay between national laws and resilience processes. We find: (1) a shift in flood laws from focusing on flooding as a natural resource and water resource management issue towards a broader consideration of disaster risk management (DRM) and climate adaptation policy; (2) a significant lack of climate change recognition in laws regulating decisions and actions for future flood risks, especially in DRM; (3) a prevailing focus on response and recovery strategies and a lack of recognition of risk reduction strategies and proactive flood risk governance approaches; and (4) little recognition of natural capital (comparing to physical capital) and its role in increasing flood resilience. Key policy insights. Flood-related laws around the world lack consideration of future risks. Disaster risk management and climate change are often considered as separate issues in national laws, which can lead to gaps in institutional ownership, responsibilities, and allocated budgets.. Flood-related laws are mainly created after major events, most of which are focused on reactive strategies (i.e. response and recovery). Laws can facilitate the shift from post-event response to anticipatory actions by encouraging proactive flood risk management (FRM) activities (i.e. risk reduction).. Nature-based solutions often remain unrecognized in national laws due to the dominant focus on hard engineering measures. FRM should be treated as a holistic concept in laws: ensuring all the necessary human, social, physical, natural and financial systems are in place to support it.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

National laws for enhancing flood resilience in the context of climate change: potential and shortcomings

Mehryar

Surminski

2020

Climate Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Some examples are the water assessment and the flood information in real estate transactions in the region of Flanders [7]. The water assessment requires advice from the water manager on the impact of a permit, plan or program on the water system [42]. At the same time, the "duty to inform" instrument requires the dissemination of information regarding the vulnerability to flooding in every real estate transaction [82].…”

Section: Case Of Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to strengthen the role of the Flemish government, the region of Flanders has undergone reforms in the last decade to increase the capacities of the region in water management and spatial planning. The 2014 reform allowed municipalities to transfer competencies for their watercourses to the provinces [42]. These reforms have helped to decrease fragmentation in water management and spatial planning [42].…”

Section: Case Of Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The 2014 reform allowed municipalities to transfer competencies for their watercourses to the provinces [42]. These reforms have helped to decrease fragmentation in water management and spatial planning [42].…”

Section: Case Of Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies that focus on subnational governments' role are important because subnational levels are taking responsibilities from federal and local governments in environmental areas [18,41]. An example in Europe is Flanders, where flood policy has experienced a recentralization at the regional level, which overtook the steering role from the federal level, becoming the main policy entrepreneur [42].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Assessing the Governance Context Support for Creating a Pluvial Flood Risk Map with Climate Change Scenarios: The Flemish Subnational Case

Flores

Crompvoets

2020

IJGI

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate change has increased pluvial flood risks in cities around the world. To mitigate floods, pluvial risk maps with climate change scenarios have been developed to help major urban areas adapt to a changing climate. In some cases, subnational governments have played a key role to develop these maps. However, governance research about the role of subnational governments in geospatial data development in urban water transitions has received little attention. To address this gap, this research applies the Governance Assessment Tool as an evaluative framework to increase our understanding of the governance factors that support the development of pluvial flood risk maps at the subnational level. For this research, we selected the region of Flanders in Belgium. This region is considered among the frontrunners when it comes to the creation of a pluvial flood risk map with climate change scenarios. Data have been collected through in-depth interviews with steering committee actors involved in the development process of the map. The research identified that the current governance context is supportive of the creation of the flood risk map. The government of Flanders plays a key role in this process. The most supportive qualities of the governance context are those related to the degree of fragmentation (extent and coherence), while the less supportive ones are those related to the “quest for control” (flexibility and intensity). Under this governance context, government actors play the primary role. The Flemish government led the maps’ creation process and it was supported by the lower governmental levels. As the provincial government was an important actor to increase local participation, collaboration with private and non-governmental actors in the steering committee was more limited. The financial resources were also limited and the process required a continuous development of trust. Yet, the Flemish Environmental Agency, with the use of technology, was able to increase such trust during the process.

show abstract

Addressing the Homeowners’ Barriers to Property-Level Flood Risk Adaption: A Case Study of Tailored Expert Advice in Belgium

Davids

2022

Homeowners and the Resilient City

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Belgian flood risk governance: explaining the dynamics within a fragmented governance arrangement

Cited by 22 publications

References 12 publications

National laws for enhancing flood resilience in the context of climate change: potential and shortcomings

National laws for enhancing flood resilience in the context of climate change: potential and shortcomings

Assessing the Governance Context Support for Creating a Pluvial Flood Risk Map with Climate Change Scenarios: The Flemish Subnational Case

Addressing the Homeowners’ Barriers to Property-Level Flood Risk Adaption: A Case Study of Tailored Expert Advice in Belgium

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About