Water Politics by David L. Feldman

Author:David L. Feldman [Feldman, David L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781509504657
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2017-03-13T00:00:00+00:00

Conclusion – spanning expert and lay audiences

A fundamental challenge in the politics of water and weather extremes has been how to bring diverse interests together around common perceptions of risks, desirable remedies, and goals and aspirations for averting hazards. An elusive goal in the best of circumstances, the crisis nature of drought and flood, and the economic stakes involved, make this aspiration especially difficult to achieve. Some experts suggest the need for novel political entities able to play an intermediary role between different organizations, specializations, disciplines, and practices: sometimes called a “boundary organization.” In many forms of scientific endeavor, collaborators come to appreciate the contribution of other kinds of knowledge, perspectives, and expertise and how these can supplement their own labors (Star & Griesemer 1989; Guston 2001).

Boundary organizations perform translation and mediation functions between producers of information and their users. Such activities include convening forums that provide common vehicles for conversations and training, and for tailoring information to specific applications. They do this by “mediating” communication between particular areas of societal concern. In the US, local irrigation district managers and county extension agents often serve this role in agriculture, for example. Such organizations also serve the function of science translation by removing barriers caused by jargon, language, experiences, and presumptions (Cash et al. 2003).

Effective boundary organizations require individuals who are capable of translating scientific results for practical use and framing the research questions from the perspective of the user of the information. These key intermediaries in boundary organizations need to be capable of integrating disciplines and defining the research question beyond the focus of the participating individual disciplines. Table 5.1 depicts some examples of boundary organization for climate change decisions related to water.

Table 5.1 Examples of boundary organizations for climate information support in water politics

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