How to Deal with Climate Change?

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xix

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2. Governing Water in Times of Climate (and Other) Changes

   • Beatrice Mosello

   Pages 1-11

3. Water Governance Throughout History and Science

   • Beatrice Mosello

   Pages 13-54

4. Is It Possible to Investigate the Future with Knowledge from the Past? A Conceptual Framework to Study Institutional Adaptive Capacity

   • Beatrice Mosello

   Pages 55-79

5. The Po River Basin

   • Beatrice Mosello

   Pages 81-116

6. The Syr Darya River Basin

   • Beatrice Mosello

   Pages 117-162

7. Resistant, Reactive or Proactive Institutions? Exploring Adaptive Water Resources Management in the Po and Syr Darya River Basins

   • Beatrice Mosello

   Pages 163-202

8. Conclusions: Summing Up, Zooming Out, New Challenges Ahead

   • Beatrice Mosello

   Pages 203-219

9. Back Matter

   Pages 221-237

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As the evidence for human-induced climate change becomes more obvious, so too does the realisation that it will harshly impact on the natural environment as well as on socio-economic systems. Addressing the unpredictability of multiple sources of global change makes the capacity of governance systems to deal with uncertainty and surprise essential. However, how all these complex processes act in concert and under which conditions they lead to the sustainable governance of environmental resources are questions that have remained relatively unanswered. This book aims at addressing this fundamental gap, using as case examples the basins of the Po River in Northern Italy and the Syr Darya River in Kyrgyzstan. The opening chapter addresses the challenges of governing water in times of climate and other changes. Chapter Two reviews water governance through history and science. The third chapter outlines a conceptual framework for studying institutional adaptive capacity. The next two chapters offer detailed case studies of the Po and Syr Darya rivers, followed by a chapter-length analysis and comparison of adaptive water resources management in the two regions. The discussion includes a description of resistant, reactive and proactive institutions and puts forward ideas on how water governance regimes can transition from resistant to proactive. The final chapter takes a high-level view of lessons learned and how to transform these into policy recommendations and offers a perspective on embracing uncertainty and meeting future challenges.

• Climate change
• Institutional adaptive capacity
• Italy
• Kyrgyzstan
• Water governance
• water policy
• climate change impacts

• Overseas Development Institute, London, United Kingdom

  Beatrice Mosello

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