Multi-risk, multi-scale and multi-stakeholder – the contribution of a bow-tie analysis for risk management in the trilateral Wadden Sea Region

Abstract

Risk management processes increasingly call for enhanced stakeholder participation, and aim to integrate different risk perceptions, concerns and interests. Frequently, this goal is driven by the increased complexity of risk management processes, as risk management processes continuously have to deal with multi-risk situations including impacts resulting from risks of natural hazards and risks caused by misguided social or economic development. Although stakeholder participation is required by different policies, major challenges still arise from the question of how to perform multistakeholder participation in practice. In order to find answers, we tested the so-called 'bow-tie analysis' as a potential tool to facilitate multi-stakeholder participation with a major effort on integrating stakeholders risk perceptions and interest in the risk management processes. The bow-tie analysis is a commonly used risk assessment technique (IEC 2009) to analyse cause-and-effect pathways of risks, but its application in multi-stakeholder processes in risk management of natural hazards, especially in a European context, is rather new. Using practical experiences from the trilateral Wadden Sea Region we demonstrate the bow-tie analysis' contribution to coastal risk management processes in this coastal area by facilitating collaborative identification, comprehension and analysis of the management system. The use of a modified bow-tie analysis in collaboration with stakeholders from the Wadden Sea Region proved to be an appropriate framework for enhancing the understanding of risk management processes and fostered disclosure of different perceptions and concerns of multi-risk problematics. The bow-tie can be beneficial as a communication and co-construction tool in risk management processes in a multirisk context.

The ‘Flood Resilience Rose’: A management tool to promote transformation towards flood resilience

“…The influence of culture on people living in riverine and coastal landscapes is often immense. They can have a strong sense of belonging and regional identity, experiencing an emotional connection to these landscapes (Gerkensmeier & Ratter, 2018; Verbrugge et al, 2019). The landscapes have developed through centuries of human–nature interactions, in relation to, for example, sea‐level rise and decline, destructive storm surges, land reclamation and the building of embankments, and extensive dike building (Knottnerus, 2005).…”

“…Such participatory processes are becoming more common and case studies related to stakeholder engagement and empowerment in flood risk management are gaining greater attention (e.g. Gerkensmeier & Ratter, 2018; Grecksch, 2013; Karrasch et al, 2017; van den Brink et al, 2019; Winkler et al, 2018).…”

Participatory Assessment of Multi Risks in Urban Regions—The Case of Critical Infrastructures in Metropolitan Lima

“…An integrated multi-risk assessment is the inevitable basis for multi-risk governance [31][32][33][34][35]. Multi-risk assessments "determine the total risk from several hazards either occurring at the same time or shortly following each other, because they are dependent from one another or because they are caused by the same triggering event or hazard; or merely threatening the same elements at risk (vulnerable/exposed elements) without chronological coincidence" ( [36], p. 11).…”

Enabling Renewable Energy While Protecting Wildlife: An Ecological Risk-Based Approach to Wind Energy Development Using Ecosystem-Based Management Values

“…Rather, stakeholder acceptance and regulatory permission are seen as hurdles based on concerns about effects on birds, bats, and terrestrial mammals, as well as marine mammals, sea turtles, and some fish at sea. Other issues of concern to communities near wind energy developments include social and economic impacts, as well as impacts on cultural and social values such as aesthetics, historical sites, and recreational and tourism activities [2,3].…”