SOAS, University of London (The School of Oriental and African Studies)

7th ECPR General Conference - Water Panels

Deadline for submission of abstracts: 1 February 2013

Conference web site: ECPR General Conference

Four panels under:

Water Management Across Borders, Scales and Sectors: How to Address Recent Developments and Future Challenges in Water Policy Analysis?

Section Chair: Karin Ingold,  Universitaet Bern
Section Co-Chairs: Hans Bressers, Universiteit Twente and Manuel Fischer, University of Geneva

Abstract:

For decades, Water Management research has been one of the core domains in Environmental Policy Analysis. Policy Process, Design and Evaluation Scholars have considerably contributed to new developments in the field: through the analysis of water regulation and management over time, space, sectors, and scales evidence about integrated and basin-related approaches was enhanced. Today, after the introduction of the European Water Framework Directive and the broad recognition of the principle of Integrated Water Resource Management, water policy analysis and resource management face new challenges. This section offers a platform to water policy analysts and governance scholars dealing with recent developments in water management and regulation. Crucial questions can read as follows: How to define the appropriate scale of catchment areas? How to design integrated processes and implement collaborative management forms? Does integration lead to enhanced participation and better outputs? What impact do public-private management forms have on water pricing and quality? How does transboundary water management influence domestic policy processes and outputs? Besides giving an overview of the state of the art in water policy analysis, the additional goal of this section is to collectively think about further research developments in the field. Therefore, we invite scholars that contribute to water policy analysis and environmental governance literature relying on interdisciplinary, new and innovative concepts, methods and empirical research.

1. Who Wants to be Part of IWRM? The Politics of Scale in Basins and Catchments
Panel Chair: Peter Mollinga, SOAS, University of London

Abstract:

Integrated Water Resource Management is a principle introduced to coordinate the diverse use and protection aims that appear when regulating the resource water. It takes into consideration demands from other resources and impacts from various sectors; in the European context the primary goal is to ensure the sustainability of vital ecosystems. In other parts of the world it is (additionally) mobilised as a framework or approach for redressing historical inequities in water allocation, for democratising water resources governance, for providing a platform for international water negotations, for increasing efficiency and productivity of water use, for addressing water conflicts, or for other stated objectives. Unstated objectives may include attracting international development funding, centralisation of water governance and others. Given that IWRM is discursively widely accepted and introduced as a concept within international, national and regional water management guidelines, there are several open questions related to its concrete implementation and the various ways in which the concept has been appropriated. One major challenge is to think appropriate scale, by defining regulation boundaries, and identifying catchment areas and river basin dimensions. Boundaries are permeable and fuzzy in multiple ways. For example, pollution in rivers and surface water can be transboundary in nature where the physical, biological and chemical extent of pollution may transcend jurisdictions and transverse borders. Socio-political networks of governance and management may have a network character rather than be confined to geographical/hydrological space. Social scientists in general, and policy analysts in particular, are invited to contribute to addressing the question how to define appropriate water management scales. We therefore invite scholars to present their current research about cross-boundary water management, in the broadest sense of that term, with specific interest in multi-level decision-analysis, the identification of so-called functional spaces, the design of innovative instruments in water policy, and how scale is made and remade in water resources governance and management.

2. Collaborative Water Resource Management: Defining/Evaluating Policy Process “Integration” for Effective Participation and Efficient Policy Outputs
Panel Chair: Cheryl De Boer, Universiteit Twente

Abstract:

Water Policy and Management means more than environmental protection. To satisfy material and immaterial needs, water regulation should reflect the interactions between various resources and the link between the use and the protection of the resource water. Water Resource Management thus concerns various sectors and transcends different decisional and implementation levels while collaborative modes integrating various stakeholders were designed to take this complexity into consideration. In Policy Analysis and Governance literature, conceptual tools have been developed to study such collaborative modes of governing within multiple levels. Scholars talk about horizontal actors’ integration where political authority can be reallocated sideways from the state to non-state actors, often through non-hierarchical and negotiated exchanges between different types of actors. Still the questions remain how to assess “integration” in water policy processes and what impact “integration” has on policy outputs and outcomes. This panel invites scholars conceptually, methodologically and empirically addressing the question of “policy process and interest integration” in water policy processes. We enhance the discussion about the state of the art as well as future developments in water policy research with a special focus on collaborative governance modes, the integration of local communities, and sustainable resource management.

3. Privatisation and Pricing in Water Supply and Treatment: What Impact do New Management Forms (such as Public-Private Partnerships) have on Water Prices, Policy Outputs and Outcomes?
Panel Chair: Kate Bayliss, SOAS, University of London

Abstract:

The privatization of water supply and wastewater treatment has often been propounded as a viable means for improving the quality of services and lowering prices. Indeed, some studies indicate that water quality has increased with privatization. However, privatization has not consistently led to the intended results in terms of lowering water prices and increasing quality. Indeed, some studies argue that privatization reforms lead to increased prices and lack of quality improvements. On the one hand, there may be many reasons for price increases, such as costs that were unaccounted for or covered via taxation, the need for investment, inflation or an increase in quality standards etc. On the other hand, the relationship between increasing prices and a purported lack of quality improvement remains an open question. A criticism of privatization reforms is the emphasis on economic performance and the subsequent neglect of other interests, such as social and environmental concerns. Accordingly, relating the impact of privatization reforms to the quality and price of water supply and treatment provides fertile grounds for investigation. This panel thus invites scholars to present their current research on the impact of new management forms such as public-private partnerships (as well as other forms involving private actors) on water supply and wastewater treatment services in terms of pricing, quality, access, and other policy outputs and outcomes.

4. Hydropolitics and Peacebuilding in the Middle East
Panel Chair: Karin Aggestam, Lunds Universitet

Abstract:

This panel addresses hydropolitics and peacebuilding in the Middle East. The region is one of the most vulnerable one in the world and is confronted with serious water scarcity. With large population growth, this serious shortage may result in acute water crisis, which either leads to increased transboundary cooperation or augmented risks of conflict escalation. The sustainability of water resources is also affected by climate change and complex political changes, which may challenge states’ capacity to meet ever increasing demands for water along with the potential challenges it poses to states’ legitimacy and security. Land acquisition may affect transboundary water management since it relates to food and energy. Also in many arid areas, the economy of water in public discourses involves debates on the possibilities of restructuring the economy away from inefficient water-intensive agriculture towards industry and service sectors. Hence, from various interdisciplinary perspectives, methodological approaches and empirical analyses, this panel will explore the problematique of water scarcity, hydro-security and peacebuilding efforts, including assessing the roles played by the international community in facilitating such processes.