Chapter 7
Flanders: Regional Organization of Water
and Drought and Using Data as Driver
for Change
Jenny Tröltzsch, Rodrigo Vidaurre, Hans Bressers, Alison Browne,
Isabelle La Jeunesse, Maia Lordkipanidze, Willem Defloor,
Willem Maetens and Kris Cauwenberghs
7.1 Introduction
This chapter presents a summary of the analysis results of the governance of
drought-related issues in the Flanders region of Belgium. In the context of the
Interreg IV-B project DROP, a team of researchers from four universities and
knowledge institutes visited Flanders twice to perform interviews with authorities
and stakeholders (October 2013 and May 2014). The visit was supported by colleagues at the Flemish Environment Agency (Vlaamse Milieumaatschappij, VMM).
The exchange was held in the form of individual and group interviews and
workshops with stakeholders including representatives from different institutions
and sectors, e.g. from the drinking water company, national and local nature protection organizations, local farmers and local and national farmers organizations,
the Flemish Environment Agency, different provinces, e.g. Province
Vlaams-Brabant, and local municipalities, e.g. Kortemark Municipality. The analysis was guided by the drought-related Governance Assessment Tool
(GAT) developed for the project. The GAT contains five governance dimensions
(levels and scales, actors and networks, problem perceptions and goal ambitions,
strategies and instruments, responsibilities and resources) and four governance
J. Tröltzsch (&) Á R. Vidaurre
Ecologic Institute, Pfalzburger Strasse 43/44, 10717 Berlin, Germany
H. Bressers Á M. Lordkipanidze
University of Twente, PO Box 7658, 8903 JR Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
A. Browne
University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
I. La Jeunesse
University Francois Rabelais, Tours, France
W. Defloor Á W. Maetens Á K. Cauwenberghs
Vlaamse Milieumaatschappij, Aalst, Belgium
© The Author(s) 2016
H. Bressers et al. (eds.), Governance for Drought Resilience,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-29671-5_7
139
Flanders: Regional Organization of Water
and Drought and Using Data as Driver
for Change
Jenny Tröltzsch, Rodrigo Vidaurre, Hans Bressers, Alison Browne,
Isabelle La Jeunesse, Maia Lordkipanidze, Willem Defloor,
Willem Maetens and Kris Cauwenberghs
7.1 Introduction
This chapter presents a summary of the analysis results of the governance of
drought-related issues in the Flanders region of Belgium. In the context of the
Interreg IV-B project DROP, a team of researchers from four universities and
knowledge institutes visited Flanders twice to perform interviews with authorities
and stakeholders (October 2013 and May 2014). The visit was supported by colleagues at the Flemish Environment Agency (Vlaamse Milieumaatschappij, VMM).
The exchange was held in the form of individual and group interviews and
workshops with stakeholders including representatives from different institutions
and sectors, e.g. from the drinking water company, national and local nature protection organizations, local farmers and local and national farmers organizations,
the Flemish Environment Agency, different provinces, e.g. Province
Vlaams-Brabant, and local municipalities, e.g. Kortemark Municipality. The analysis was guided by the drought-related Governance Assessment Tool
(GAT) developed for the project. The GAT contains five governance dimensions
(levels and scales, actors and networks, problem perceptions and goal ambitions,
strategies and instruments, responsibilities and resources) and four governance
J. Tröltzsch (&) Á R. Vidaurre
Ecologic Institute, Pfalzburger Strasse 43/44, 10717 Berlin, Germany
H. Bressers Á M. Lordkipanidze
University of Twente, PO Box 7658, 8903 JR Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
A. Browne
University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
I. La Jeunesse
University Francois Rabelais, Tours, France
W. Defloor Á W. Maetens Á K. Cauwenberghs
Vlaamse Milieumaatschappij, Aalst, Belgium
© The Author(s) 2016
H. Bressers et al. (eds.), Governance for Drought Resilience,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-29671-5_7
139