This chapter reviews preceding cases of citizen engagement in water governance in the country, focusing on the interaction and relationship between citizen initiatives and governmental agencies in two cases from the Room for the River program, in order to provide a reference for Asian cases depicted in the following chapters. In the Netherlands, the traditional sectoral engineering approach has been used for water management for many years. However, the transition from this traditional method to an interactive method for integrated water management co-produced by citizens and government has been accelerated. Through comparative studies of two cases of flood risk management projects, this chapter shows contextual differences in the strategy, resources, and goals of initiators and governmental responses to stakeholder initiatives. The findings and discussions in this chapter contribute to the development of the theory of water governance and provide a perspective to analyze Asian cases where the role of government is still dominant in water governance.

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doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2399-7_2, hdl.handle.net/1765/124171
Erasmus University College (EUC)

Edelenbos, J. (2019). Citizen initiatives in water governance in the Netherlands: Reflection and implication to Asian cases. In Interactive Approaches to Water Governance in Asia (pp. 29–53). doi:10.1007/978-981-13-2399-7_2