Middlesex University Research Repository An open access repository of Middlesex University research http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk Thaler, Thomas (2015) Rescaling in flood risk governance – new spatial and institutional arrangements and structures. PhD thesis, Middlesex University. [Thesis] Final accepted version (with author’s formatting) This version is available at: https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/17454/ Copyright: Middlesex University Research Repository makes the University’s research available electronically. Copyright and moral rights to this work are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners unless otherwise stated. The work is supplied on the understanding that any use for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. A copy may be downloaded for personal, non-commercial, research or study without prior permission and without charge. 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See also repository copyright: re-use policy: http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/policies.html#copy Rescaling in flood risk governance – new spatial and institutional arrangements and structures Thomas Thaler Flood Hazard Research Centre School of Science & Technology 1 Eine der vielen Absurditäten, auf die eine nur beschränkte und summarische Arbeit wie die vorliegende verfallen könnte, wäre es, mit einer »Geschichte« zu beginnen, die man dann sozusagen als eine abgetrennte Welt für sich behandelt und nur aus dem Grund beschwört, um die »Genesis« der Probleme verstehen zu können. Romano Alquati 1962/63. 2 Dedicate this PhD to: Alan, Asia, Daniel, Ella, Jana, Mara, Sarah, Selma, Tobias and Valentina 3 Abstract Flood governance and policy in Europe are changing: the role of the state and individual responsibility for risk management are now key contemporary issues in flood policy. The new policy agenda has been implemented to enhance the responsibilities of local authorities in flood risk management and reduce the controlling role of central national governments. The new strategies place the lead responsibility on local organisations to determine local strategies to manage local risks. This thesis examines the new role of these local authorities and organisations in flood risk management as well as how the nature of partnerships are established and operate, focusing especially on the main barriers and challenges. In principle, local authorities should be able to lead partnerships with local stakeholders to ensure effective local flood risk management. However, with current pressures on local authorities to reduce spending and a parallel reduction in the central state’s resources, partnership has been seen as a possibility to both increase the value of budgets available. The central aspects of this thesis are to investigate and to explore the influence of new scales on the interaction and performance of the different actors and their relationships; particularly with regard to power, processes and scaled networks.The research was carried out through a series of semi-structured interviews with both regional and local stakeholders in Austria and England. It demonstrates not only the importance of network connections between actors at the same scale, but refers also to the networks between actors and stakeholders at different scales, especially between local and national level. Local engagement strongly depends on social capacities, such as knowledge, motivation/self-interest, economics, networks, organisation and procedural capacity. 4 Acknowledgements First, I would like to thanks following people: my Director of Studies Edmund Penning-Rowsell and my supervisors Sally Priest and Meri Juntti, David Ruggerio, Sven Fuchs, Christophe Viavattene, Dennis Parker, Florian Thaler, Hazel Faulkner, Meghan Alexander, Colin Green, Josie Joyce, Monika Stanzer, Carlos Dionisio Perez Blanco, Filippo Vecchiotti, Joanna Pardoe, Rhiannon Niven, Simon McCarthy, Sue Tapsell, Simrat Riyait, Konstantinos Karagiorgos, Meike Levin-Keitl, in supporting my work with comments, advices, patience, inspirations, thoughts, data, discussions, administrative difficulties, literature, contacts, encouragement, nightmares and headaches. In particular, I would like to thank my parents, siblings, brothers and sisters-in law, nephews and nieces, friends (especially Klaus, Michael, Jürgen and Daniela, Alexander, Maria, Christoph, Elisabeth and Martin), housemates (Andrea and Sandro) and my girlfriend Birgit in believing and encouraging me to survive the PhD process. 5 Table of contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 4 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... 5 Table of contents .......................................................................................................................... 6 List of figures ................................................................................................................................. 9 List of tables ................................................................................................................................ 10 List of abbreviations .................................................................................................................... 11 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 12 1.1. Background and problem definition ........................................................................... 12 1.2. Partnership approaches in other European countries ................................................ 13 1.3. Political geography in flood risk management discourse ........................................... 15 1.4. Research aims ............................................................................................................. 16 1.5. Structure of the thesis ................................................................................................ 20 2. Politics of scale: scalar re-arrangement in flood risk management .................................... 22 2.1. Academic perspective on politics of scale .................................................................. 23 2.1.1. The concept of scale ........................................................................................... 24 2.1.2. The political economy of scale ............................................................................ 27 2.1.3. Changes in scale constructions: consequences and outcome ............................ 30 2.2. Theoretical perspective on governance ...................................................................... 32 2.3. Flood risk governance ................................................................................................. 37 2.4. Relationship between the different actors and stakeholders .................................... 41 2.4.1. State-of the Art ....................................................................................................... 42 2.4.2. Engagement and interaction in between the new scalar arrangements ............... 46 2.5. Key findings ................................................................................................................. 48 3. Research methods .............................................................................................................. 51 3.1. Methods overview ...................................................................................................... 51 3.2. Thesis philosophy ........................................................................................................ 54 3.3. Qualitative research method ...................................................................................... 57 3.3.1. Policy analysis ..................................................................................................... 57 3.3.2. Stakeholder mapping .......................................................................................... 58 3.3.3. Semi structured in depth-interviews .................................................................. 60 3.4. Thematic analysis ........................................................................................................ 63 3.5. Triangulation research strategy .................................................................................. 64 3.6. Key findings ................................................................................................................. 68 6 4. Case study approach ..........................................................................................................