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International River Basin Organizations Lost in Translation? Transboundary River Basin Governance Between Science and Policy

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The Global Water System in the Anthropocene

Part of the book series: Springer Water ((SPWA))

Abstract

Successfully governing water resources requires sound scientific understanding of the watercourse and the challenges it is facing. This is particularly important in transboundary watercourses due to the additional layer of complexity added when water resources transcend the politico-administrative boundaries of nation states. River Basin Organizations (RBOs) established for addressing such transboundary challenges have, however, not always been successful in linking scientific knowledge to policy decisions concerning the sustainable development of the river basins. This has implications for the overall effectiveness of river basin governance and the long-term sustainable development of the watercourse. This chapter analyzes the science-policy-link in RBOs. It finds that the strength of the science-policy-link varies considerably across RBOs, depending not only on the scientific knowledge provided by the RBO but also on the design of the RBO as well as the mechanisms it provides to its members for addressing the basin’s challenges.

This paper represents the opinion of the author and is not necessarily representative of the position of GIZ.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The analysis of the scientific reports of all RBOs was conducted by compiling a list of all technical publications of the four RBOs and coding them according to the specific issue-area they cover as well as the type of advice they provide (e.g. consultant studies, reports, action plans, recommendations, etc.). A full list of all documents, including coding and analysis, is on file with the author.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Eschborn, Germany

    Susanne Schmeier

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  1. Susanne Schmeier
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Correspondence to Susanne Schmeier .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Global Water System Project, Bonn, Germany

    Anik Bhaduri

  2. Global Water System Project, Bonn, Germany

    Janos Bogardi

  3. UNESCO-IHE, Delft, The Netherlands

    Jan Leentvaar

  4. Global Water System Project, Bonn, Germany

    Sina Marx

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Schmeier, S. (2014). International River Basin Organizations Lost in Translation? Transboundary River Basin Governance Between Science and Policy. In: Bhaduri, A., Bogardi, J., Leentvaar, J., Marx, S. (eds) The Global Water System in the Anthropocene. Springer Water. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07548-8_24

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