An improved management of natural resources is one of the 7 key challenges towards a sustainable development of the EU, identified in 2006 by the European Council in the "Renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy". GoverNat selects two major areas in this field of environmental policy-making, and contributes to improved policies in both, water and biodiversity. Biodiversity and water governance deal with safeguarding conditions for a sustainable life on earth, but also have direct influences on the quality of life of those living here. GoverNat brings together the latest ideas from economics, political science, law, sociology and philosophy to bear on four relevant interdisciplinary research fields: governance, participation, decision-support tools, and the evaluation, design, and implementation of governance schemes.
Within the European Union, participation is recognised as a central element for general governance orientation, as illustrated by the White Paper on Governance in which participation appears as one of the five "principles of good governance" – together with openness, accountability, effectiveness and coherence. Participation has been designed and implemented differently in water and biodiversity governance in Europe and GoverNat research analyses benefits and costs of, and impediments to participation. Most water and biodiversity issues are multi-level layered issues: local stakeholders interact with national or international organisations in an often spontaneous and apparently disordered way. Higher-level decisions affect lower-level activities and vice-versa.
GoverNat addresses these challenges by proposing improvements of multi-level biodiversity and water governance through the use of participatory decision tools. We are aware that no solutions to all of these problems can be found in a research project, but are confident to identify the main areas of improvement. For putting the results of the project into practice, the involvement of stakeholders at the local, national and international level is crucial. There is substantial evidence that participatory processes and decision-support tools can support new resolutions to environmental management challenges, but their uptake remains low. By evaluating different modes of collaborative management of natural resources, GoverNat examines reasons for the low uptake and identify as well as exploit possibilities for overcoming them.
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