(Re)framing uncertainties in water management practice

The title of this post is also the title of the recently completed dissertation by Dr. (!) Nicola Isendahl at the University of Osnabrück. Before a commission consisting of Claudia Pahl-Wostl, Jens Newig, Carolin Rettig and myself, Nicola defended her dissertation succesfully on March 24th!

Apart from a theoretical and methodological discussion of uncertainties, frames and water management strategies, the dissertation summarizes the results of three journal articles. The third one (actually the second in the order of the dissertation), entitled "Using framing parameters to improve handling of uncertainties in water management practice" has just been published in Environmental Policy and Governance and can also be downloaded here. With an eye to practical usefulness, a recurring theme in Nicola's dissertation, the identified parameters or dimensions of how water managers frame uncertainties, are used as starting points for developing strategies for dealing with the uncertainties. Some of these strategies involve reframing how the uncertainties are understood to identify new options. This is a quote from the abstract:

"We apply recently developed parameters of the framing of uncertainty in two sub-basins of the Rhine, the Dutch Kromme Rijn and the German Wupper. We present and discuss the results of a series of stakeholder interactions in the two basins aimed at developing strategies for improving dealing with uncertainties. The strategies are amended and synthesized in a check-list based on the uncertainty framing parameters as a hands-on tool for systematically identifying improvement options when dealing with uncertainty in water management practice."

Given the policies of the University of Osnabrück, the whole dissertation should become publicly available soon.