Water Governance and Scales

Governance is a polysemic term used in contrast to “government” to refer to a less centralized form of power. The term’s success likely stems from its ambiguity. Indeed, it is a concept sometimes used to challenge central executive power (monarchy, corporate leadership, etc.) in a context where it is perceived as hegemonic, and sometimes used to call for more government in a market-driven context perceived as chaotic, but in which the dominant ideology opposes centralized intervention. It is therefore a concept used to call for both more and less government.

This course unit examines governance from a critical and reflective perspective, with a historical depth that incorporates the evolving trajectories of public action—ranging from globalization and Europeanization on the one hand to decentralization and territorialization on the other—against a backdrop of growing uncertainty, global changes, and transitions. In particular, it explores the following issues in depth:

• Governance? A dominant concept, a critical approach, the institutional and sociopolitical context, its emergence, and its evolution amid global changes?
• Water Policy Development and Governance; The Role of Concepts and Discourses; How Can Governance Models Be Shaped or Changed? How Can Collective Values Promoted by IWRM Be Better Incorporated? The Importance of the Long Term, Historical Depth, and Foresight?
• What scope for action do stakeholders have at the local, national, and international levels? What strategies exist for managing a water basin? An illustration of the diversity of governance models
• Water Governance: Between Integration and Fragmentation?
• Water as an “interconnecting fluid” between stakeholders and ecosystems: How should these interactions and their social implications be governed?

• To critically examine the dominant concept of governance, by understanding the institutional and sociopolitical context of its emergence and evolution amid global changes and transitions.
• Analyze and understand how water policies are developed and their role in water governance, with a particular focus on the role of concepts and discourses, and how governance models can be adapted or changed to better reflect the collective values promoted by IWRM.
• Understand the scope for action available to stakeholders at the national and international levels and the strategies for managing a water basin, using examples that illustrate the diversity of governance models and the relationships between the distribution of power and the costs and benefits associated with a given hydrological regime.

Basic knowledge of water stakeholders and policies.

Group project and individual questions.

Water Governance: The Evolution of a Concept and Future Prospects in a World in Transition (S. Richard)

This course offers an in-depth exploration of the concept of governance, as introduced in the EU course “Issues, Actors, Regulation,” by tracing and analyzing the history of its emergence and its various meanings across several academic disciplines. It aims to develop students’ critical analysis and reflective thinking regarding this dominant concept and its relevance to public policy in a changing landscape.

Governance and the State (F. Molle)

This course provides a theoretical overview of public policy formation and the processes involved in defining public policy. It aims to develop critical analysis of discursive power as it relates to concepts of water. It concretely illustrates the importance of discursive power through an analysis of the discourse in a World Bank document.

Institutional Change and "governance shift" (F. Molle)

This course distinguishes between state governance and governance by non-state actors and examines water sector reforms, as well as the various levers through which different actors can bring about change in governance models and decision-making processes; The role ofadvocacy, knowledge generation, deliberative approaches, and codes of conduct is examined alongside traditional state actions and instruments.

Diversity of Water Governance Systems and Adaptations to Global Change: Practical Applications and Illustrations Based on French and International Case Studies (S. Richard, S. Ghiotti)

The diversity of governance models across different scales and contexts, and the importance of taking the long term into account for public policy in the water sector, are illustrated through case studies of various examples—particularly from France, to illustrate a system in which the state plays a very active role (as evidenced by the SAGE/SDAGE plans), but also a decentralized system with a stated commitment to consultation among local stakeholders, while remaining subject to European directives (the Water Framework Directive and other water directives); the Chilean example (to illustrate the functioning of water markets); the Bolivian example (where water management is largely community-based, with very limited state intervention); and/or others.

The WFD and Its Implementation (S. Ghiotti, S. Richard)

France’s adoption of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD 2000/60/EC) and its goal of achieving “good ecological status” by 2015 impose performance-based obligations on member states. The perception, definition, and acceptance of “good ecological status” by the various stakeholders are part of a social and political construct that varies over time and space. All of these dynamics of territorial restructuring currently at work carry significant social, environmental, and financial implications. The implementation of the WFD therefore calls into question the organizational and territorial processes that guide current water and land management in France. The analysis of the restructuring of water governance within the context of achieving good ecological status, and the analysis of the evolution of society’s relationship with its aquatic environments (perceptions, practices, management, etc.) will constitute the two main focuses of the presentations.

Introduction to a Political Ecology of the Development and Management of Watersheds (F. Molle)

The course introduces an approach to water development and management that highlights the relationships between formal and informal decision-making and power structures and planning and management practices, as well as their implications for the spatial and social distribution of costs and benefits. It illustrates this approach with examples from Thailand, Tanzania, the United States, Morocco, India, and the Middle East.