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.