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Thirst for Change in Water Governance: Overcoming Challenges for Drought Resilience in Southern Europe
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Authors
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
This article investigates the institutional and informational foundations of water governance in Southern Europe amid escalating climate stress. Focusing on Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece, it develops a multi-level analytical framework to explore how information asymmetries and governance fragmentation undermine coordinated responses to water scarcity. Integrating theories of information economics, polycentric governance, and critical institutionalism, this study applies a stylized economic model and comparative institutional analysis to assess how agents—such as farmers, utilities, regulators, and civil society—respond to varying incentives, data access, and coordination structures. Using secondary data, normalized indicators, and scenario-based simulations, the model identifies three key structural parameters—institutional friction (θi), information cost (βi), and incentive strength (αi)—as levers for governance reform. The simulations are stylized and not empirically calibrated, serving as heuristic tools rather than predictive forecasts. The results show that isolated interventions yield limited improvements, while combined reforms significantly enhance both equity and effectiveness. Climate stress simulations further reveal stark differences in institutional resilience, with Greece and Italy showing systemic fragility and Portugal emerging as comparatively robust. This study contributes a flexible, policy-relevant tool for diagnosing governance capacity and informing reform strategies while also underscoring the need for integrated, equity-oriented approaches to adaptive water governance.
Description
Article number - 2170
Keywords
Water governance Information asymmetry Climate adaptation Polycentric governance Southern Europe Drought resilience Institutional innovation Policy transfer
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Santos, E. Thirst for Change inWater Governance: Overcoming Challenges for Drought Resilience in Southern Europe. Water 2025, 17, 2170. https://doi.org/10.3390/w17152170
Publisher
MDPI