Learning outcomes:

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:
• Explain selected theories of public policy and governance and apply them to water issues
• Analyse water policies, water reforms and water management practices in terms of public policy and governance concepts
• Assess water policies and governance arrangements in terms of effectiveness, equity and resilience

Learning activities

• Lectures on selected public policy and governance theories, including presentation and discussion of key texts by the students.
• Tutorials: Joint discussion and analysis of particular studies of water policies, water reforms and water management practices.
• Individual paper: Writing an individual research paper, discussing applications of public policy and governance theories to water issues.

Assessment

Assessment will be based on an individual paper (maximum 4000 words), in which you apply the discussed theories to a case study. In doing so, you critically discuss the value and limitations of these theoretical perspectives for studying water policy and governance.

The paper will be graded according to the extent it:

• applies the theoretical perspectives appropriately and insightfully to the case (40%)
• critically discusses the value and limitations of the theoretical perspectives for studying water policy and governance (20%)
• develops clearly formulated theoretical arguments (20%)
• is well-structured, well-written and well-referenced (20%)

Reading

Lecture 1

Dewulf, A., Karpouzoglou, T., Warner, J., Wesselink, A., Mao, F., Vos, J., Tamas, P., Groot, A. E., Heijmans, A., Ahmed, F., Hoang, L., Vij,
S., & Buytaert, W. (2019). The power to define resilience in social–hydrological systems: Toward a power‐sensitive resilience framework.
WIREs Water, 6(6), 210. https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1377

Mao, F., Clark, J., Karpouzoglou, T., Dewulf, A., Buytaert, W., & Hannah, D. M. (2017). HESS Opinions: A conceptual framework for
assessing socio-hydrological resilience under change. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 21(7), 3655–3670. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-3655-2017

Lecture 2

Rap, E., & Wester, P. (2013). The practices and politics of making policy: Irrigation management transfer in Mexico. Water Alternatives,
6(3), 506–531. http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/volume6/v6issue3/223-a6-3-10/

Colebatch, H. K. (2006). What work makes policy? Policy Sciences, 39(4), 309–321. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-006-9025-4

Lecture 3

Required reading:

Warner, J. F. (2016). Of River Linkage and Issue Linkage: Transboundary Conflict and Cooperation on the River Meuse. Globalizations, 13(6), 741-766. https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2015.1136786

Mehta, A. S., & Warner, J. F. (2022). Multi-level hegemony in transboundary Flood Risk Management: A downstream perspective on the Maritsa Basin. Environmental Science & Policy, 129, 126-136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2021.12.014

Recommended reading:

Motta, S., & Koehler, J. (2025). Fractured hegemony and Vietnamese pragmatism in the Red River basin. Geoforum, 161, 104269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2025.104269

Schedule

Course fees

Cancellation conditions:

Participants can cancel their registration free of charge 1 month before the course starts. A cancellation fee of 100% applies if a participant cancels his/her registration less than 1 month prior to the start of the course.

The organisers have the right to cancel the course no later than one month before the planned course start date in the case that the number of registrations does not reach the minimum.

The participants will be notified of any changes at their e-mail addresses.