Improving Water Governance Through Science and Stakeholder Dialogue : Experience from Assam (Northeast India)

In this paper we describe some outcomes and follow-up developments of the European project BRAHMATWINN, and in particular the analyses carried out in order to identify governance gaps with respect to response strategies to deal with the expected impacts of climate change in the field of water resources management. An innovative approach based on the analysis of gaps in the governance status with specific focus on response strategies options, which can be implemented to address flood risk is implemented. A knowledge integration table (KIT) is proposed for the integration of scientific and local knowledge and this lays the foundation for the identification of the gaps between existing legal framework and real life needs. The ultimate goal of the approach is to support a process that develops recommendations for the strengthening of the governance framework in order to deal with the impacts of climate change. In a first step two parallel processes have been designed and implemented: (1) the identification of the potential supply of scientific knowledge through the development of a system of indicators proposed by BRAHMATWINN project partners, and (2) the elicitation of local actors’ issues and proposed response strategies. Indicators and issues/responses are then matched in a framework, the Knowledge Integration Table (KIT), which highlights the needs basis for the research approach and integrates the outcomes of the BRAHMATWINN researchers. A Gap Analysis Matrix (GAM) is then created for the identification of gaps within the governance framework by elaborating further on the contents of the KIT: governance indicators developed within the BRAHMATWINN project are now elaborated further to measure the law and its implementation. The synthesis of this GAM should be a list of recommendations for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) through the identification of potential gaps in government water resource management policy