WaterTalk: Policy learning in the context of urban flood mitigation

As part of the Water Institute's WaterTalks lecture series, Dr. Antje Witting from the Department of Political and Administrative Sciences at the University of Konstanz, presents, "Policy learning in the context of urban flood mitigation."

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When stakeholders fail to detect cognitive conflicts and prioritize scientific as well as technical information that bolster their beliefs about how socio-ecological systems should be managed, there is a risk of policy failure and tragedy. Thus, understanding how this information is used is essential both to direct research and to support adaptation responses. Utilizing the policy-oriented learning perspective this lecture synthesizes take-home messages that account for the differences in how stakeholders acquire and process new information. It also introduces an ongoing research project that applies these lessons to flood risk management in the Denver Metropolitan Area.

Speaker bio

Antje Witting is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Konstanz who, in the past twelve years, has contributed to policy analysis and advice on urban resilience building. Her published work explores institutional designs and social network attributes that drive or hinder learning in this context. Her research focuses in particular on the planning and funding of public infrastructures that serve metropolitan areas. She is currently in the U.S. as a Visiting Scholar at the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver to study flood mitigation in the Denver Metropolitan Area.