From applying panaceas to mastering complexity: Toward adaptive water governance in river basins

Wednesday, 26 September 2012

Major results from Twin2Go's comparative analysis of water gorvernance regimes in 29 case studies have been recently published in the article 'From applying panaceas to mastering complexity: Toward adaptive water governance in river basins' in the journal Environmental Science & Policy.

Water governance database and Twin2Go newsletter now on-line

Thursday, 06 October 2011

Twin2Go has just published the fourth and last issue of its newsletter "Synthesising research for adaptive water governance". It provides a summary of Twin2Go’s main policy lessons around adaptive water governance in the context of climate change and highlights recommendations regarding the implementation and transfer of water governance practices across basins. The newsletter further gives an overview of the Twin2Go’s main outputs and publications. You can download it from this website here.

We are also happy to announce the Twin2Go online database! The database provides systematic access to the data on 29 water governance systems in river basins collected within Twin2Go. The aim is to continue Twin2Go’s research beyond the project’s end by including additional case studies. This growing pool of data will give project partners the opportunity to continue and enhance the comparative study of water governance systems started in Twin2Go. You can access the database through this website here and on www.watergovernance.uos.de. If you are interested in collaboration and consider adding a new case study, please contact the database team at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Twin2Go at the 9th Global Water Partnership Southern Africa Consulting Partners Meeting

Thursday, 08 September 2011

The fourth in the series of Twin2Go policy workshops will take place on 14 September at the 9th Global Water Partnership (GWP) Southern Africa Consulting Partners Meeting, which will be held in Gauteng, South Africa. The meeting will bring together delegates of Country Water Partnerships from Southern Africa as well as representatives from river basin organisations and regional GWP programmes.

The Twin2Go sessions will focus on the attributes of governance systems that increase performance of river basin management, especially within the context of climate change. More specifically, Twin2Go recommendations on transfer and implementation of good practices and innovative tools in river basin management will be shared and discussed.

Annika Kramer from adelphi research in Germany will start the session with a presentation on methods and results of the Twin2Go analysis of governance systems in 29 basins around the world. In a subsequent panel discussion, representatives from river basin organisations, GWP, national governments and academia will provide feedback on the results presented and engage in an open discussion with the audience.

After lunch, a presentation on the Twin2Go Best Practice Guidelines will be held by Palle Lindgaard-Jorgensen from DHI Denmark, followed by an interactive working group session. Workshop participants will reflect on how good practices can be adapted to local contexts, how coordination in implementing new practices can be improved, and what capacities need to be developed to support implementation of adaptive water government good practices. The working groups’ rapporteurs will share the results with the plenary and initiate a facilitated discussion with the audience.

For further details on the workshop date and location please see the Policy Workshop section of this website.

Governing Water Wisely: Twin2Go seminar at the World Water Week

Friday, 05 August 2011

On 25 August the third in a series of Twin2Go policy workshops will take place at the Stockholm World Water Week. Twin2Go is working with the  Global Water System Project (GWSP), the Global Water Partnership (GWP), and UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (IHP) to organise this event. Complementing the knowledge and experience of these initiatives, the seminar will share and discuss insights gained from Twin2Go with policy and decisions makers as well as practitioners and researchers.

Failures of governance systems are one of the most important reasons for poor performance of water management under changing conditions – such as climatic change and rapid urbanisation. Where uncertainty cannot be reduced, or where policy decisions cannot be postponed until better knowledge is available, adaptive approaches to water resources management are required that are able to respond flexibly and accommodate conflicting interests. The 25 August seminar “Governing Water Wisely: Adaptive Approaches to Water Resources Management” will thus discuss ways in which water governance systems could be designed in order to cope with complexity and uncertainty; what characteristics make approaches transferable across different basins and governance levels; and how a transition towards adaptive water governance could be included in existing policy processes.

Prof Claudia Pahl-Wostl from the University of Osnabrueck in Germany will start the workshop with a discussion on context sensitive analyses of adaptive governance in river basins. Speakers from UNESCO-IHP, GWP, the UNECE Water Convention Secretariat, the Okavango River Basin Commission, the Indian Water, Climate and Hazard Programme, and many more will then continue the conversation on policies and programmes for adaptive water governance and on facilitating transferability of best practices.

For further details on the workshop date and location please see the Policy Workshop section of this website.