Water Management and Water Governance in a Changing Climate: Experiences and insights on climate change adaptation in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia

Modern societies are confronted with persistent problems of great complexity and unpredictability. These problems lead to critical situations, such as energy, food, water and climate crises. Adaptive management and adaptive governance are becoming leading concepts and key mechanisms to cope with and survive these crises. This book strengthens the conceptual foundations and practical value of adaptive approaches to water management and water governance in a changing climate. On the basis of a broad comparative analysis of policies and practices in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, it focuses on the capacity of management regimes to cope with the two most common extreme weather events: floods and droughts. "Patrick Huntjens has transcended in his work conceptual and methodological boundaries and developed a comprehensive approach to derive unique insights into the dynamics of water governance and management in the context of climate change." Prof. Dr. Claudia Pahl-Wostl, Institute of Environmental Systems Research (USF), University of Osnabrück, Germany "There is a wide range of interesting findings, representing a major contribution to a wide set of literature. Simultaneously, it has significant and accurately articulated relevance for practice." Prof. Dr. John Grin, Department of Political Sciences, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands "I am very happy to add my endorsement to this great work!" Prof. Dr. Elinor Ostrom – Nobel Prize Winner in Economics 2009, Indiana University, Unites States

Patrick Huntjens (1974) knows the international field of water management and water governance in practice from different points of view: government, consultancy, non-profit and academic sector. He has been working in more than 30 countries, assigned by a wide variety of clients (e.g. European Commission, United Nations, World Bank, national governments and NGO’s). He has a multi-disciplinary background with Master degrees in Biology and Political Sciences (cum laude). This book is based on his PhD research (magna cum laude, 2010) in Complex System Sciences from the University of Osnabrück, Germany.