TY - JOUR
T1 - Stakeholders' perception of the relevance of water and sediment connectivity in water and land management
AU - Smetanová, Anna
AU - Paton, Eva Nora
AU - Maynard, Carly
AU - Tindale, Sophie
AU - Fernández-Getino, Ana Patricia
AU - Marqéus Pérez, María José
AU - Bracken, Louise
AU - Le Bissonnais, Yves
AU - Keesstra, Saskia D.
N1 - Funding information: The authors express their thanks to 85 anonymous stakeholders andvolunteering scientists from ES 1306 COST Connecteur (in alphabeti-cal order according to surname): Charles Bielders, Alexander Borg,Axel Bronstert, Marco Cavalli, Stefano Crema, Frédéric Darboux, JoséDelgado, Dagana Dordevic, Carla Sofia Ferreira, Jaime GarcíaMárquez, Recep Gűdoĝan, Marie Alice Harel, Tobias Heckmann,Tamara Hochstrasser, Marijana Kapović, Anna Kidová, Tobias Krüger,Melisa Ljusa, Elve Lode, José A. López‐Tarazón, Manuel Esteban LucasBroja, Rens Masselink, Hannu Marttila, Eva Mockler, Tony Parsons,Maria Piquer‐Rodriguez, Ronald Pöppel, Thorunn Pétursdóttir, JerzyRejman, Wolfgang Schwanghart, Jolanta Święchowicz, Brigitta Tóth,Marko Vainu, Damià Vericat, Martin Welp, and David Zumr. The pro-ject was supported by COST‐STSM ES1306‐011215‐063624. AnnaSmetanová received support from AgreenSkills' fellowship (Marie‐Curie FP7 COFUND People Programme, grant agreement 267196).
PY - 2018/6/1
Y1 - 2018/6/1
N2 - Using concepts of connectivity in challenges regarding land and water management (flooding, erosion, nutrient leaching, landslides) can only be fully harnessed if knowledge is communicated well between scientists and stakeholders. Proper communication requires prior understanding of end-users' perception of connectivity as a useful framework. Therefore, we analysed (a) perceptions of ‘connectivity’ for stakeholders involved in water and land management across Europe, (b) potential for stakeholders to apply connectivity-related measures in their management decisions, (c) stakeholders' biggest challenges in water and land management, and (d) stakeholders' expectations for future connectivity research agendas. We studied 85 questionnaires from 19 countries using a grounded theory approach. One third of stakeholders understood connectivity in its scientific context, whereas 39% perceived connectivity indirectly through their personal experiences (e.g., water and sediment fluxes and erosion). Half of stakeholders' perceived links and challenges were related to availability of data and methods, communication, and institutions or policy, whereas others believed they were related to water quality and quantity, soil erosion and quality, and climate change. Half of the stakeholders considered connectivity management important, and one third showed high interest in managing connectivity. Adopting connectivity into management is hindered by institutional- and policy-based management limitations, insufficient data and methods, and ineffective knowledge transfer. Explicitly considering heterogeneity of stakeholder perceptions is required for projects regarding management of connectivity at European, national, and local scales.
AB - Using concepts of connectivity in challenges regarding land and water management (flooding, erosion, nutrient leaching, landslides) can only be fully harnessed if knowledge is communicated well between scientists and stakeholders. Proper communication requires prior understanding of end-users' perception of connectivity as a useful framework. Therefore, we analysed (a) perceptions of ‘connectivity’ for stakeholders involved in water and land management across Europe, (b) potential for stakeholders to apply connectivity-related measures in their management decisions, (c) stakeholders' biggest challenges in water and land management, and (d) stakeholders' expectations for future connectivity research agendas. We studied 85 questionnaires from 19 countries using a grounded theory approach. One third of stakeholders understood connectivity in its scientific context, whereas 39% perceived connectivity indirectly through their personal experiences (e.g., water and sediment fluxes and erosion). Half of stakeholders' perceived links and challenges were related to availability of data and methods, communication, and institutions or policy, whereas others believed they were related to water quality and quantity, soil erosion and quality, and climate change. Half of the stakeholders considered connectivity management important, and one third showed high interest in managing connectivity. Adopting connectivity into management is hindered by institutional- and policy-based management limitations, insufficient data and methods, and ineffective knowledge transfer. Explicitly considering heterogeneity of stakeholder perceptions is required for projects regarding management of connectivity at European, national, and local scales.
KW - knowledge transfer
KW - management potential
KW - perception
KW - stakeholders
KW - water and sediment connectivity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046621551&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/ldr.2934
DO - 10.1002/ldr.2934
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85046621551
SN - 1085-3278
VL - 29
SP - 1833
EP - 1844
JO - Land Degradation and Development
JF - Land Degradation and Development
IS - 6
ER -