During the Delta Programme Commissioner’s working visit to the Vechtstromen district water board on 26 May, Hans Bressers, Professor of Policy Studies and Environmental Policy at Twente University of Technology, presented him with a book entitled “Governance for drought resilience, land and water drought management in Europe”. Hans has edited the book in collaboration with his daughter Nanny Bressers and a French fellow professor. Nanny currently works for the Vechtstromen district water board and has previously conducted public administration research for Erasmus University Rotterdam. The book deals with the DROP project: Benefit of Governance in Drought Adaptation.
The DROP project is an international project pertaining to drought adaptation. It involves collaboration between science (five universities and knowledge institutes from North-Western Europe) and practice (six regional water authorities from North-Western Europe). The practical partners are working on the development and implementation of measures aimed at drought adaptation in their respective areas, whereas the scientific partners have developed a “Governance Assessment Tool”. This instrument enables them to map out regional strengths and weaknesses in the governance structures. The mutual exchange of experience and expertise ensures both a more effective implementation of measures due to raising awareness of opportunities and obstacles in the region, and a strong empirical foundation for the research.
The two end products of the DROP project were delivered in early 2015: 1) a manual with examples of practical measures and generic lessons drawn from the development and implementation of measures, and 2) a Governance Assessment Tool). A brief explanation of the Governance Assessment Tool in English and Dutch is provided on YouTube.
Both authors of the book are involved in the DROP project: Hans is the leader of the international governance team within DROP and Nanny is the project manager for the DROP project at the Vechtstromen district water board. The book may be downloaded free of charge.