Understanding collective action for the achievement of EU water policy objectives in agricultural landscapes: Insights from the Institutional Design Principles and Integrated Landscape Management approaches

• Published in: Environmental science & policy Vol. 125; pp. 76 - 86
• Main Authors: Amblard, Laurence, Mann, Carsten
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-11-2021; Elsevier
• Subjects: Diffuse pollution; Economics and Finance; Environment and Society; Environmental Sciences; EU Water Framework Directive; Humanities and Social Sciences; Institutional Design Principles (IDP); Integrated Landscape Management (ILM); Landscape perspective; Social-ecological systems; Diffuse pollution; Social-ecological systems; Integrated Landscape Management (ILM); Institutional Design Principles (IDP); Landscape perspective; EU Water Framework Directive; social-ecological systems; diffuse pollution; landscape perspective
• ISSN: 1462-9011; 1873-6416
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2021.08.015

This paper aims to identify drivers and barriers to the achievement of EU water policy objectives in the agricultural sector by adopting an institutional perspective on water quality management at the landscape level. We apply a conceptual framework combining Integrated Landscape Management (ILM) and Institutional Design Principles (IDP) perspectives to analyze cooperation initiatives involving water suppliers and agricultural stakeholders to protect drinking water catchments from agricultural diffuse pollution. Three cases representing different forms of cooperation in rural landscapes in France were investigated on the basis of primary data collected at the local, water-basin and national levels. The results show that the success of multi-stakeholder collective action depends on both local factors such as characteristics of the water resource and stakeholders (knowledge, resources, trust and social capital) and on factors linked to the EU and national water and agricultural policy frameworks. In addition to the identification of drivers of and constraints on the implementation of EU water policy in agricultural landscapes, the analysis highlights the conceptual added value in combining the IDP and ILM approaches to understand policy implementation processes at the landscape level.
•An institutional perspective on EU water policy implementation at landscape level.•A conceptual framework combining the Institutional Design Principles and Integrated Landscape Management approaches.•A cross-case analysis of cooperation for diffuse pollution control in France.•Variables at the local, national and EU levels interact in their influence on collective action.•The materiality and representations of ecosystems play an important role in policy implementation.