Water Governance of Aquatic Resources and Environments

Course manual 2024/2025

Course content

This interdisciplinary lecture series deals with the governance of aquatic resources and environments, in a global as well as North-South perspective. What can the Netherlands, for example, learn from Bangladesh? And vice versa? What happens if one’s perspective changes from the local, to the national and international levels? And is the act of governing transboundary water resources fundamentally different from governing the provision of drinking water?

Water is crucial for human life on this planet. We rely strongly on water resources for daily needs such as drinking and bathing, as well as for growing the food that we eat. Water also plays an essential role for transportation of goods and for recreation. But when the sea turns stormy, or the rains make rivers swell, appreciation turns into fear. Climate change is influencing the availability and the function of water across the world. Sea level rise, storm surges, floods and droughts affect our future safety and our styles of life. Experts call for adaptation and develop far-reaching plans for higher dikes, a relocation of settlements, and the evacuation of islands. The governance challenges are immense.

Governance refers to the process of making and implementing decisions with regard to societal objectives. It is undertaken by governments, but also by civil society actors such as NGOs and religious bodies, private parties such as business, and consumers. Governance takes place at multiple levels of the administrative scale varying from the international to the local. Such governance, by virtue of engaging multiple actors and levels, has to deal with competing interests and concerns. Promoting horizontal and vertical coherence in policy approach is a very complex challenge. To some extent this can be addressed through the formulation of common goals and principles, but this is not easy. After all, those governing need to weigh priorities against one another: should environmental protection receive priority, or is social justice more important? Is economic efficiency a prime concern, or is employment the main goal? Establishing priorities is generally a matter for politics, and there is no single objective way to ascertain which issue should be a priority at what level of governance and in which context.  But what then is the role of scientists? Can science help in clarifying the hard choices and identifying pathways to addressing wicked problems?

Study materials

Literature

• Compulsory readings will be provided via weblinks on Canvas

Syllabus

• Posted on Canvas

Objectives

• Explain and paraphrase social processes that are relevant for the future of humankind with regard to water as part of the natural environment, a resource and the ecosystem services of water, namely i) The nature of water and the types of water governance challenges; ii) The key historical patterns of water governance world-wide; iii) The link between water and its ecosystem services; iv) The drivers and causes of water related problems at multiple levels of governance; and v) The diversity of principles, policies, instruments and (theoretical) approaches to deal with water at multiple levels of governance challenges.
• Identify insights and critically engage with i) the role of society – and in particular ‘governance’ – in an interdisciplinary perspective on water; ii) the definition of governance and the role of policy, law, politics and society within that; iii) the diversity of tools for water governance for the diversity of actors working on water governance and iv) the politics of global water governance and in particular the SDGs.
• Find and analyse information on water governance.
• Convey scientific information in a clear, concise and visually attractive way by means of a poster presentation.
• Use the learned concepts and theories in illustrative case studies to show that you understand and master them.
• Collaborate on processing information in a meaningful manner.

Teaching methods

• Lecture
• Presentation/symposium
• Seminar
• Self-study
• Working independently on e.g. a project or thesis
• Supervision/feedback meeting

Lectures/seminars will introduce the students with concepts and theories, and discussions will help them understand these. Self-study and work on projects will help retaining information and deepening understanding. Skills will be practiced during tutorials and in the application to case studies, while presenting will contribute to practicing skills, deepening knowledge through critical reflection.

Learning activities

Attendance

Programme's requirements concerning attendance (OER-B):

• Participation in fieldwork is compulsory and cannot be replaced by assignments or other courses.
• In case of practical sessions, the student is obliged to attend at least of 90% of the sessions and to prepare himself adequately, unless indicated otherwise in the course manual. In case the student attends less than 90%, the practical sessions should be redone entirely.
• In case of tutorials/seminars with assignments, the student is obliged to attend at least 7 out of 8 seminars and to prepare thoroughly for these meetings, unless indicated otherwise in the course manual. If the course has more than 8 seminars, the student can miss up to 1 extra meeting for every (part of) 8 tutorials/seminars. If the students attends less than the mandatory tutorials/seminars, the course cannot be completed.

Additional requirements for this course:

Lectures are in-person, only (no recordings). Active participation during lectures and tutorials is expected.

Reading material provided should be read before the tutorial session on Thursday.

Important information such as literature, lecture slides, assignments and unforeseen changes in the schedule, will be placed on Canvas. 

Students missing more than 1 working group without prior excuse with important reason will not pass the class. Failing to submit an assignment equals missing 1 compulsory class.

Students who previously took this course will need to retake the parts of the course that they failed. If the failed part is only the final paper, then the replacement for this will be an individual presentation on a case study, in which the theory and concepts of the course are reflected. Students retaking parts of the course need to contact the teacher beforehand.

Assessment

An extra assignment will be given for any failed parts of the class.

Assessment diagram

Students that were enrolled in the course in previous years

According to the OER, course results are valid for a 1 year period. This implies that students who successfully passed part of the course last year, can keep his/her grade for this year, and only need to redo those components for which they failed. Please send an email to the course coordinator prior to the start of the course if this is the case. 

Assignments

Students will be required to read two or three mandatory readings and bring questions for discussing these readings to the tutorials.

Assignment for the tutorials will be posted on Canvas and assessed by the teacher.

A group presentation will present the work of the students done throughout the course, focused around a case study, and synthesized in a final paper (class project).

Fraud and plagiarism

The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl

Course structure

Additional information

Attendance is compulsory in tutorials and is strongly advised for lectures. Unapproved absence may lead to exclusion of further participation of the course.

We vinden het belangrijk dat je je op de UvA en bij Future Planet Studies veilig voelt. Krijg je onverhoopt te maken met ongewenst gedrag of voel je je onveilig, dan kun je terecht bij verschillende personen. Je melding wordt altijd vertrouwelijk behandeld. Kijk op onze website voor meer informatie over waar en bij wie je terecht kunt.

It is important that everyone feels safe at the UvA and Future Planet Studies. We are committed to provide social safety and we offer various forms of support for people experiencing inappropriate or unsafe situations. Consult the UvA website or Future Planet Studies Canvas page for more information and contact info.

Last year's student feedback

In order to provide students some insight how we use the feedback of student evaluations to enhance the quality of education, we decided to include the table below in all course guides.

Contact information

Coordinator

• Elisabeth Krueger