Project Goals

What are our goals?

Project Goals of STEER

STEER aims to identify, together with local stakeholders, approaches to increase good governance in relation to complex water resource problems and systemic challenges and to implement appropriate measures in individual cases. In addition, a diagnostic toolbox is to be developed, which will be suitable for application in different institutional and natural environments. Thereby, STEER will give innovative impulses for the implementation of integrated and adaptive water management.

The following project goals are therefore the focus of STEER.

  • Diagnostic approach

    Development, review and application of a diagnostic approach (see below) and instrumentation in cooperation with local actors.

  • Governance and management system

    Analysis of the influence of governance and management system characteristics on the solution of complex water management problems and the achievement of the goals of integrated and adaptive water management.

  • Context factors

    Analysis of the influence of context factors (societal, cultural and environmental) on effective cooperation and coordination within the scope of the implementation of integrated and adaptive water management.

  • Transferability

    Analysis of the transferability of elements of effective governance systems and of successful experiences in dealing with complex water management problems to different contexts.

  • Solution strategies

    Elaboration of solution strategies and derivation of options for action to increase good governance in the short, medium and long term.

A diagnostic approach identifies promising solution strategies based on typical characteristics of problem constellation and takes into account influences of context factors to enable the identification of problem solving strategies. It is context-sensitive but not context-specific (Pahl-Wostl et al. 2012, Ostrom 2007, McGinnis and Ostrom 2014, Dombrowsky et al. 2014).