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The EU Floods Directive (2007/60/EC) has the purpose to establish a framework for the flood risks assessment and management. It requires the implementation of coordinated measures on a basin-wide level for the reduction of adverse consequences to human health and life. However, mainly direct fatalities are taken into consideration in these plans. To develop more integrated and adaptive risk management and governance it is important to include both direct and indirect consequences. To define effective measures clearer understanding of the relation between floods and impact on human health is needed. We present a first attempt to provide a roadmap for the inclusion of health issues of concern to flood risk management within the Sava River Basin as an example. An overview of the potential flood effects to health issues was made and a roadmap plan was set up to analyse and map these flood risks. We concluded that indirect health effects can contribute significantly to the overall adverse consequences to health, and although relations are complex, a preliminary assessment could be made. Mapping of adverse consequences to health issues in the planning stages should lead to systemic insights and proposed measures in the prevention, protection, and preparedness while considering the characteristics of the river basin or sub-basins. By incorporating a health-risk-analysis in the planning process, health-oriented preparation is not only aimed at improving post-flood relief efforts, but to minimise the actual impacts and decrease post flood recovery time and costs.

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European water governance is characterised by processes of interplay and interaction. Member states present and discuss their preferences and expertise in the EU policy arena and implement EU policies at the domestic level. These processes of 'uploading' and 'downloading' are regularly studied. However, a knowledge gap exists concerning the 'reloading' of implementation experiences, i.e. the renewed uploading of information on how policies actually work domestically and how possible implementation problems are solved. Certain characteristics of EU policies are expected to affect processes of reloading. In this paper we study how adaptation pressures and the levels of policy discretion affect the reloading of implementation experiences. We empirically assess reloading processes in the EU Water Framework Directive and the EU Floods Directive. It was expected that a low level of policy discretion leads to clear reloading incentives, in order to either change the policy (if fit is low and adaptation pressure is high) or maintain stability (if fit is high and adaptation pressure is low). A high degree of policy discretion, on the other hand, leads to no incentive at all for reloading. The relatively specific Water Framework Directive indeed shows cases of reloading in which implementing agents discuss their rather technical implementation experiences in order to adjust policy or to maintain the status quo in line with their interests. However, it is notable that reloading also takes place in the relatively discretionary policy process of the Floods Directive. Reloading in this case is driven by social learning, and is triggered by the idealistic aim of improving flood risk management practices instead of changing or maintaining the policy on the basis of self-interest. The paper concludes that policy discretion and adaptation pressure do influence reloading processes, but that other factors also must be taken into account.

Abstract Coastal flood risk assessment requires a reliable estimation of the frequency of inundation hazards, that is, characterising the hazard magnitude and assigning a probability of occurrence. In this work we analyse the uncertainty introduced in the assessment associated to the method to assign the probability of occurrence to coastal flood hazards. To this end we have compared the use of two general methods, the response and the event approaches. Different procedures are used to characterise coastal inundation hazards depending on the analysis scale and data availability. Thus, a range of possibilities has been analysed, from simple estimators such as run‐up to modelled flood‐prone areas. The analysis has been performed for all wave and water level conditions around the Spanish coast. The results show that the differences between the methods are location‐dependent, and thus, determined by the exposure to wave and water level conditions. When using the event approach, the run‐up or total water level (with good correlation between waves and surge) distributions reasonably approximate those of the response approach with low associated uncertainty. When the assessment aims to output overtopping discharges or inundation maps, observed differences suggest that the event approach would produce misleading conclusions in inundation‐related coastal management and decision‐making.

Flood risk governance can be a source of tension between different government actors and citizens across spatial scales. In this context, we consider the hydro-social contract (HSC) as a framework to understand the formal and informal societal constructs that aid or impede effectiveness in managing flood risk. Specifically, we used Q-methodology to understand different perspectives of flood risk governance and identify points of friction in executing the HSC. We interviewed 62 flood risk management actors from small municipalities (intra-watershed) to regional State agencies (inter-basin) in the Isère River basin of France, from which three perspectives emerged. Most participants correlated to a perspective reaffirming a commitment to integrated and holistic approaches in flood risk management. However, the second and third perspectives illustrate a governance gap due to an upward transfer of risk management responsibilities to a broader watershed approach. At the same time, municipalities remain responsible for crisis management in the advent of flooding. Our findings bring into question the right balance of scale in flood risk governance, particularly regarding hydrological boundaries that are incongruous with political jurisdictions at multiple scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluvial floods are one of the primary natural hazards to our society, and the associated flood risk should always be evaluated for present and future conditions. The European Union’s (EU) Floods Directive highlights the importance of flood mapping as a key stage for detecting vulnerable areas, assessing floods’ impacts, and identifying damages and compensation plans. The implementation of the EU Flood Directive in Greece is challenging because of its geophysical and climatic variability and diverse hydrologic and hydraulic conditions. This study addressed this challenge by modeling of design rainfall at the sub-watershed level and subsequent estimation of flood design hydrographs using the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Unit Hydrograph Procedure. The HEC-RAS 2D model was used for flood routing, estimation of flood attributes (i.e., water depths and flow velocities), and mapping of inundated areas. The modeling approach was applied at two complex and ungauged representative basins: The Lake Pamvotida basin located in the Epirus Region of the wet Western Greece, and the Pinios River basin located in the Thessaly Region of the drier Central Greece, a basin with a complex dendritic hydrographic system, expanding to more than 1188 river-km. The proposed modeling approach aimed at better estimation and mapping of flood inundation areas including relative uncertainties and providing guidance to professionals and academics.

The European Floods Directive requires member states to prepare flood risk management plans for their river catchments. The first generation of those plans was just developed at the end of 2015; the next revision is due in 2021. The new instrument institutionalizes an ongoing paradigm shift from flood protection to flood risk management in Europe. It implies two major governance challenges: the spatial turn and the scenario approach. This contribution studies the implementation of these two governance challenges in the Netherlands, where the paradigm shift is considered to be advanced. Therefore, the spatial turn and the scenario approach are operationalized. The spatial turn consists of three aspects: space for the river, an integrated approach, and beyond structural measures. The scenario approach introduces the vulnerability of society in flood risk management. It is discussed how the challenges of spatial turn and the scenario approach—and thus the shift towards flood risk management—have an effect on the prevailing modes of governance in water management in the Netherlands. This helps understand the tensions and frictions with implementing the plans, but also illustrates how the European Floods Directive institutionalizes the shift towards flood risk management. The analytical scheme, consists mainly of operationalization, can foster future comparative studies with other countries and over time, to trace the changes in approaches to flood risks in Europe.

European water governance is characterised by processes of interplay and interaction. Member states present and discuss their preferences and expertise in the EU policy arena and implement EU policies at the domestic level. These processes of 'uploading' and 'downloading' are regularly studied. However, a knowledge gap exists concerning the 'reloading' of implementation experiences, i.e. the renewed uploading of information on how policies actually work domestically and how possible implementation problems are solved. Certain characteristics of EU policies are expected to affect processes of reloading. In this paper we study how adaptation pressures and the levels of policy discretion affect the reloading of implementation experiences. We empirically assess reloading processes in the EU Water Framework Directive and the EU Floods Directive. It was expected that a low level of policy discretion leads to clear reloading incentives, in order to either change the policy (if fit is low and adaptation pressure is high) or maintain stability (if fit is high and adaptation pressure is low). A high degree of policy discretion, on the other hand, leads to no incentive at all for reloading. The relatively specific Water Framework Directive indeed shows cases of reloading in which implementing agents discuss their rather technical implementation experiences in order to adjust policy or to maintain the status quo in line with their interests. However, it is notable that reloading also takes place in the relatively discretionary policy process of the Floods Directive. Reloading in this case is driven by social learning, and is triggered by the idealistic aim of improving flood risk management practices instead of changing or maintaining the policy on the basis of self-interest. The paper concludes that policy discretion and adaptation pressure do influence reloading processes, but that other factors also must be taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ‘Floods’ Directive sets out a basic framework for good practice in flood risk management comprising a screening exercise, the Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment, to identify the Areas of Potentially Significant Flood Risk (APSFRs), and then the preparation of flood maps for these areas, and the preparation of flood risk management plans to set out measures to address the flood risk in the APSFRs. The Directive provides significant subsidiarity to allow the Member States to determine how best to apply the framework in the most appropriate way given the legacy and context of flood risk management within their own country. As a result, the Member States have taken a range of diverse approaches in applying the requirements of the Directive. In Ireland, a major national programme of analysis has delivered on the requirements of the Directive that has involved the development of a range of new approaches and methodologies. These have included bespoke methods of broad-scale risk assessment, and the development of weighted objectives reflecting societal values for use in a Multi-Criteria Analysis to determine the most appropriate flood risk management measures for each community at risk. This paper reflects on some of the issues and challenges faced in implementing the ‘Floods’ Directive across the EU, and outlines as a case study how the Directive has been implemented in Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal planning requires detailed knowledge of future flooding risks, and effective planning must consider both short-term sea level variations and the long-term trend. We calculate distributions that combine short- and long-term effects to provide estimates of flood probabilities in 2050 and 2100 on the Finnish coast in the Baltic Sea. Our distributions of short-term sea level variations are based on 46 years (1971–2016) of observations from the 13 Finnish tide gauges. The long-term scenarios of mean sea level combine postglacial land uplift, regionally adjusted scenarios of global sea level rise, and the effect of changes in the wind climate. The results predict that flooding risks will clearly increase by 2100 in the Gulf of Finland and the Bothnian Sea, while only a small increase or no change compared to present-day conditions is expected in the Bothnian Bay, where the land uplift is stronger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper illustrates both the potential and challenges of interdisciplinary collaboration amongst researchers from the social sciences/humanities and the natural sciences/engineering in formulating disaster risk reduction measures for coastal regions. The authors aim to share their experiences of working across different scientific and engineering disciplines in the EU project RISC-KIT to co-produce disaster risk reduction measures suitable for specific regional and local contexts, in this case two coastal study areas in Europe (Porto Garibaldi, Italy and Rio Formosa, Portugal). An overview of the historic-cultural origins of scientific disciplines is first presented, explaining the historical fragmentation of scientific knowledge into natural and social sciences and its associated challenges for prior disaster risk studies – and how the current state of an interdisciplinary approach has emerged. This is followed by an analysis of interdisciplinary collaboration, drawing on the experience and data collected (both quantitative and qualitative) from the two case study areas. The article concludes with suggestions to further overcome the segregation of disciplines within disaster risk studies and projects. The authors found that qualitative data help to understand knowledge, values and behaviours of institutional and non-institutional stakeholders in formulating appropriate risk reduction measures to increase resilience in a local context – and that such data work “hand in hand” with quantitative information. Furthermore, the collection of qualitative data by researchers of the natural science and engineering disciplines has the potential to build bridges between disciplines and to stimulate further investigations, as in this case, to explain contradictions in human behaviour when managing risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, natural hazards have caused major disasters in natural and man-made environments. Floods are one of the most devasting natural hazards, with high levels of mortality, destruction of infrastructure, and large financial losses. This study presents a methodological approach for flood risk management at lakes and adjacent areas that is based on the implementation of the EU Floods Directive (2007/60/EC) in Greece. Contemporary engineering approaches have been used for the estimation of the inflow hydrographs. The hydraulic–hydrodynamic simulations were implemented in the following order: (a) hydrologic modeling of lake tributaries and estimation flood flow inflow to the lake, (b) flood inundation modeling of lake tributaries, (c) simulation of the lake as a closed system, (d) simulation of the lake outflows to the adjacent areas, and (e) simulation of flood inundation of rural and urban areas adjacent to the lake. The hydrologic modeling was performed using the HEC-HMS model, and the hydraulic-hydrodynamic simulations were implemented with the use of the two-dimensional HEC-RAS model. The simulations were applied to three soil moisture conditions (dry, medium and wet) and three return periods (T = 50, T = 100 and T = 1000 years) and a methodology was followed for the flood inundation modeling in urban areas. Upper and lower estimates on water depths, flow velocities and inundation areas are estimated for all inflow hydrographs and for varying roughness coefficient values. The proposed methodology presents the necessary steps and the results for the assessment of flood risk management and mapping for lake and adjacent urban and rural areas. The methodology was applied to Lake Pamvotida in Epirus, Greece, Ioannina.

Traditional flood protection methods have focused efforts on different measures to keep water out of floodplains. However, the European Flood Directive challenges this paradigm ( Hartmann and Driessen, 2013 ). Accordingly, flood risk management plans should incorporate measures brought about by collaboration with local governments to develop and implement these measures ( Johann and Leismann, 2014 ). One of the challenges of these plans is getting and keeping stakeholders involved in the processes related to flood risk management. This research shows that that this challenge revolves around how flood risks are socially constructed. Therefore it is essential to understand and explain the risk perception of stakeholders. System Theory by Luhmann provides the analytical distinction between ‘internal risk’ and ‘external danger’ as key concepts to understand whether or not stakeholders will take action ( Luhmann, 1993 ). While perceptions of ‘external danger’ will not lead to action, perceptions of ‘internal risk’ urge stakeholders to take action. The cases of the rivers Lippe and Emscher in the dense populated region between Duisburg and Dortmund in Germany illustrate how these theoretical concepts materialise in practice. This contribution shows how flood risks are socially constructed and how this construction is influenced by the European flood risk management plan. While clearing up some of the difficulties from the Flood Directive, the research shows a gap between the Flood Directive and the current theory and planning practice, which needs to be addressed in further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses the implementation of the EU Floods Directive in Sweden. The question here centres on the possibilities promoted by the directive for sustainable flood risk management, with an emphasis on integrated and participatory management forms. Key persons are interviewed, using a set of criteria for sustainable river basin management as a theoretical framework. The study shows that work in this area is guided by a wide array of values, and that the involved experts provide a broad knowledge basis for this work. The need for better coordination between authorities, pieces of legislation and policy fields however remains critical while the merits of participatory planning approaches are not yet sufficiently utilised. One of the primary tasks here is to develop a shared understanding of the formal context and roles of the process while also developing forms for effective collaboration both within the new administration and between the administration and other key actors, most importantly the municipalities. The case of Sweden can provide useful insights into this process for other member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flood risk management comprises a wide variety of aspects, ranging from the reduction of the probability of occurrence of a flood to the reduction of the potential damage. These aspects rest in the common responsibility of the official agencies at the state and community level, as well as the affected population. To facilitate an effective exchange between these actors, national and transnational flood partnerships ( FPs) were initiated within the European INTERREG IV A - Project ' Flood and Drought Management in the transnational Mosel and Saar Watershed' ( FLOW MS), spanning different regions in Germany, France and Luxembourg. The FPs are voluntary partnerships among communities, local authorities, emergency services, water management departments, professional associations, non-governmental organisations and public action groups in a common watershed. The tools system dynamics and group model building are used in a set of workshops to establish an increased participation of relevant actor groups and the public to achieve a bottom-up approach contributing to the Flood Risk Management Plans of the EU Floods Directive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public participation is integrated in the European Floods Directive to ensure engagement of societal actors in selecting and accepting measures. This study assesses the Directive’s public participation process and provides recommendations for its improvement by using Cyprus as a case study. Interviews with the organizers and attendees of the public consultations were carried out to evaluate the process while a citizen survey examined people’s flood awareness and opinions of three household-level flood protection measures (permeable pavements, rainwater harvesting systems, and green roofs). Public consultation organizers were generally satisfied with the process while participants suggested better structured information and a more participatory approach. The majority (77%) of the survey respondents did not know if they lived in a designated flood risk area while 93% were unaware of the public consultations carried out for the Floods Directive. Their perception about the effectiveness of the three flood protection measures was positively associated with their willingness to implement them. The results indicated the need for more participatory methods in the public participation process and better strategies to increase awareness and the engagement of people in flood management. Establishing procedures for evaluating the effectiveness of public participation could contribute to the recognition and improvement of the process.

How can the concrete meaning of the ambiguous and theoretical concept of sustainable development (SD) be defined and implemented, without losing sight of its fundamental principles? This study introduces a theoretical framework that supports studies of SD implementation in the context of strategic disaster risk management, by defining what SD implies with regard to planning procedures. The framework is based on the procedural SD principles of participation and integration. It was originally developed for, and has shown great value in, the field of water resource management. In-depth interviews with senior risk management researchers indicate that the framework is also applicable to and valuable for disaster risk management studies. To illustrate the application of the framework, a study of the EU Floods Directive in Sweden is summarized with the framework as the basis for the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of designing suitable participatory governance processes is generally acknowledged. However, less emphasis has been put on how decision-makers design such processes, and how they learn about doing so. While the policy learning literature has tended to focus on the substance of policy, little research is available on learning about the design of governance. Here, we explore different approaches to learning among German policymakers engaged in implementing the European Floods Directive. We draw on official planning documents and expert interviews with state-level policymakers to focus on learning about the procedural aspects of designing and conducting participatory flood risk management planning. Drawing on the policy learning and evidence-based governance literatures, we conceptualise six types of instrumental ‘governance learning’ according to sources of learning (endogenous and exogenous) and modes of learning (serial and parallel). We empirically apply this typology in the context of diverse participatory flood risk management planning processes currently unfolding across the German federal states. We find that during the first Floods Directive planning cycle, policymakers have tended to rely on prior experience in their own federal states with planning under the Water Framework Directive to inform the design and carrying out of participatory processes. In contrast, policymakers only sporadically look to experiences from other jurisdictions as a deliberate learning strategy. We argue that there is scope for more coordinated and systematic learning on designing effective governance, and that the latter might benefit from more openness to experimentation and learning on the part of policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovations in European Union (EU) policy making have produced a distinctive, novel mode of policy that combines components of participatory and multi-level governance for policy implementation. In this manuscript we provide a conceptualization of what we term the EU's ‘mandated participatory planning’ (MPP) approach. This approach is increasingly used to implement EU directives, mandating the explicit formulation of certain plans or programmes on mostly subnational or cross-national levels. Drawing on three empirical examples from (mostly) environmental policy, we argue that analysing MPP as such is useful to help identify challenges and possibilities for EU policy making. Our framework provides a means to organize inquiry and compare disparate policies, and to more broadly understand the integration of policy, planning and implementation. This perspective, in turn, sheds fresh light on familiar concepts at the intersections of multi-level governance, policy implementation and participatory governance, namely multilayer implementation, participatory implementation and polycentric governance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents the state of the art of flood risk management in Flanders, a low-lying region in the northern part of Belgium which is vulnerable to flooding. Possible flood hazard sources are not only the many rivers which pass through the Flemish inland, but also the North Sea, which is sensitive to the predicted sea level rise and which can affect large parts of the Flemish coastal area. Due to the expected increase in flood risks in the 21st century, the Flemish government has changed its flood management strategy from a flood control approach to a risk-based approach. Instead of focusing on protection against a certain water level, the objective now is to assure protection against the consequences of a flood, while considering its probability. In the first part, attention is given to the reasoning and functioning of the risk-based approach. Recent improvements to the approach are discussed, as well as the GIS-implementation of the entire model. The functioning of the approach is subsequently demonstrated in two case studies. The second part of the paper discusses future challenges for the flood risk management in Flanders. The driving force behind these challenges is the European Directive on the assessment and management of flood risks, which entered into force in 2007. The Flemish implementation of the directive is discussed and situated in the European landscape. Finally, attention is given to the communication of flood risks to the general public, since the 'availability' of flood risk management plans is among the requirements of the EU Floods Directive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I applied statistical, econometric, and mathematical methodologies to evaluate the conditions required for implementing a publicly supported trans-boundary flood risk management plan in accordance with the EU Floods Directive (2007/60/EU). Although this paper adopts a focus on the methodology rather than on solving a specific problem, the Scheldt estuary is used to provide an illustrative case study of this approach. I showed that, apart from some expected minor differences, the Belgians and the Dutch can be considered a relatively homogeneous population. Moreover, I estimated the main determinants of both perceived flood risk (PFR) and willingness to pay (WTP) for a compensation fund by using a linear model and an ordered probit model (based on a double-bounded dichotomous-choice approach), respectively. Some policies appear to be potentially effective: a campaign to inform the general public about evacuation and trauma management could increase WTP by 19 and 21 %, respectively; an information campaign focused on young women could reduce PFR; and a campaign to inform the general public about flood strategies and the need to disregard flood events in the press could reduce PFR by 56 and 54 %, respectively. Finally, I showed that, apart from some expected differences between the values at risk in Belgium and the Netherlands, both individual rationality and overall feasibility conditions are met. Thus, if information campaigns and other measures are designed to account for differences between the Belgians and the Dutch, a publicly supported trans-boundary flood risk management plan can be successfully implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluvial floods are one of the primary natural hazards to our society, and the associated flood risk should always be evaluated for present and future conditions. The European Union's (EU) Floods Directive highlights the importance of flood mapping as a key stage for detecting vulnerable areas, assessing floods' impacts, and identifying damages and compensation plans. The implementation of the EU Flood Directive in Greece is challenging because of its geophysical and climatic variability and diverse hydrologic and hydraulic conditions. This study addressed this challenge by modeling of design rainfall at the sub-watershed level and subsequent estimation of flood design hydrographs using the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Unit Hydrograph Procedure. The HEC-RAS 2D model was used for flood routing, estimation of flood attributes (i.e., water depths and flow velocities), and mapping of inundated areas. The modeling approach was applied at two complex and ungauged representative basins: The Lake Pamvotida basin located in the Epirus Region of the wet Western Greece, and the Pinios River basin located in the Thessaly Region of the drier Central Greece, a basin with a complex dendritic hydrographic system, expanding to more than 1188 river-km. The proposed modeling approach aimed at better estimation and mapping of flood inundation areas including relative uncertainties and providing guidance to professionals and academics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal flood risk assessment requires a reliable estimation of the frequency of inundation hazards, that is, characterising the hazard magnitude and assigning a probability of occurrence. In this work we analyse the uncertainty introduced in the assessment associated to the method to assign the probability of occurrence to coastal flood hazards. To this end we have compared the use of two general methods, the response and the event approaches. Different procedures are used to characterise coastal inundation hazards depending on the analysis scale and data availability. Thus, a range of possibilities has been analysed, from simple estimators such as run‐up to modelled flood‐prone areas. The analysis has been performed for all wave and water level conditions around the Spanish coast. The results show that the differences between the methods are location‐dependent, and thus, determined by the exposure to wave and water level conditions. When using the event approach, the run‐up or total water level (with good correlation between waves and surge) distributions reasonably approximate those of the response approach with low associated uncertainty. When the assessment aims to output overtopping discharges or inundation maps, observed differences suggest that the event approach would produce misleading conclusions in inundation‐related coastal management and decision‐making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental change is subject to discussion among scientists, practitioners, and policymakers. As increasing threats to both environment and society are on the agenda, alternative management approaches are gaining importance. This paper focuses on the influence of policy changes on flood risk management. There is evidence that shifts in settlement patterns and population growth might influence the dynamics of flood damage and loss. There is increased pressure to intensify land use, but also to keep free spaces for hazard mitigation and adaptation. In this paper, we focus on new regulative and management approaches associated with the implementation of the European (EU) Floods Directive in Austria. The concept of tipping points, which are defined as turning points for system change, has been applied. Based on semi-structured interviews we evaluate whether or not the implementation of the EU Floods Directive has triggered a system change in flood risk management. Our results show that triggers for change are past flood events and a general need for action rather than the implementation of the directive itself. Changes related to the EU Floods Directive are likely to happen in the long-term; however, these cannot yet be determined. The main challenges are associated with transparency and communication between policymakers and the affected society. So far, the requirements of the first policy cycle of the directive have been fulfilled. The second policy cycle will show further outcomes and potential needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]