OKACOM at Stockholm Water Week's Water Governance Session

OKACOM Executive Secretary Dr Eben Chonguiça at seminar

A joint Twin2Go/Global Water System Project (GWSP), Global Water Partnership (GWP) and UNESCO-International Hydrological Programme (IHP) Seminar at the World Water Week in Stockholm on August 25th raised adaptive water governance issues. OKACOM Executive Secretary Dr Eben Chonguiça participated in the seminar, titled Governing Water Wisely: Adaptive Approaches to Water Resources Management.

The group discussed how a water governance system should be designed to be able to cope with complexity and uncertainty in the context of climate change, how approaches can be transferable across different basins and governance levels, and how transition towards adaptive water governance can be included in existing policy processes. Among others challenges to adaptive water governance, the seminar noted the complexity of achieving a paradigm shift on institutional frameworks for transboundary resources management that can effectively and efficiently operate beyond barriers of national sovereignty with an appropriate lateral thinking modus operandi..

The Twin2Go project has analysed governance systems in 25 river basins around the world. Together with regional experts and stakeholders, Twin2Go has ranked them with regard to governance and performance, and has identified best practices and lessons learnt for increasing adaptability.