Transition to adaptive water management: The NeWater project

Water Management is facing major challenges due to increasing uncertainties caused by climate and global change and by fast changing socio-economic boundary conditions. Adaptive management is advocated as a timely extension of IWRM to cope with these challenges. Adaptive management aims at increasing the adaptive capacity of river basins based on a profound understanding of key factors that determine a basin’s vulnerability. More attention has to be devoted to understanding and managing the transition from current management regimes to more adaptive regimes that take into account environmental, technological, economic, institutional and cultural characteristics of river basins. The paper identifies major challenges for research and practice how to achieve this transition. The European project NeWater project is presented as one approach where new scientific methods and practical tools are developed for the participatory assessment and implementation of adaptive water management. The project puts strong emphasis on establishing science-policy dialogues at local, basin and global scales.