Projects

Goal of the Project

This project has two goals. First, it serves to integrate the results of all the work packages that make up the Future FRM Tech project. The resulting implementation framework will serve as a policy and decision support tool for an integrated area-based consideration of alternatives to existing FRM-solutions, and help with their effective and efficient implementation. Second, this project will explore a number of specific legal topics which will enhance the overall integration framework. Specifically, the nexus between flood risk management and nature protection law will be further investigated: what are the legal enablers and barriers for nature-based solutions and what further boundaries are set by nature protection law when it comes to the incorporation of flood risk management solutions? This will facilitate the NBS research that is to be carried out by engineers of the research consortium. WP 2.1 will also look into the topic of climate justice, thereby adding a normative layer to the more technical-legal research.

Scientific Motivation

It is expected that climate-driven natural hazards will increase both in frequency and in magnitude in the near future (IPCC 2021) and they will affect coastal, rural and urban areas. Besides effects on biodiversity and humans also property might be damaged or decrease in value. To address this challenge, a diversification of flood risk management strategies is needed, ranging from prevention, defence, mitigation, preparation, and recovery, based on the approach taken in the EU Floods Directive (2007), which aims for more resilient societies by developing robust and adaptive flood risk management with a strong role for formal and informal institutions (Hegger et al 2016, IPCC 2022).

Case Study

We are – to a varying extent – involved in the three case studies and are currently in the process of identifying which legal themes provide for the most relevant synergies with the technical scope of work. Our primary focus will, however, be on the Zeeland case study, as we are in charge of its coordination.

Expected Outcomes

1. Paper on dune protection and flood risk management and the legal framework for coastal Natura 2000 zones (to be published in “boek waterbeheer in de lage landen”, foreseen in September 2024)
2. Papers on the legal framework for flood risk management and the institutional set up for future FRM solutions
3. Towards a More Refined Taxonomy for Nature-Based Solutions
4. Chapter on the interaction between EU Water and Nature Protection Law (to be published in Marleen van Rijswick and Cathy Suykens (eds), EU Research Handbook on Water Law (Edward Elgar 2024)
5. Papers on climate justice and/or animal protection in the context of flood risk management