Department Environmental Social Sciences

How to explain instrument selection in complex policy processes - A comparative network approach of micropollution regulation in the Rhine River Basin


This research project addresses the question of which factors explain governments’ choice of instrument selection. To answer this question, we concentrate on the emerging policy discussion and the formulation processes about micropollution regulation within the Rhine river basin and compare policy options of four riparian countries: Switzerland, Germany, France and the Netherlands.

Results

This project shows that network structures have indeed a crucial impact upon the instruments and instrument mixes. The most comprehensive instrument mix towards micropolluntants’ regulation and water quality control was adopted in countries where a certain degree of collaboration, or brokerage and entrepreneurship is apparent. 

Main applicant

Prof. Dr. Karin Ingold Group Leader, Group: PEGO Tel. +41 58 765 5676 Send Mail

Project team

Florence Metz, University of Berne

H. Bresser, UTwente

M. Lubeli, UDavis

F. Varone, UGeneva

Related Publications

Sustainable wastewater management: is it possible to regulate micropollution in the future by learning from the Past? A policy analysis

This paper applies a policy analysis approach to the question of how to effectively regulate micropollution in a sustainable manner. Micropollution is a complex policy problem characterized by a huge number and diversity of chemical substances, as well as various entry paths into the aquatic environment. It challenges traditional water quality management by calling for new technologies in wastewater treatment and behavioral changes in industry, agriculture and civil society. In light of such challenges, the question arises as to how to regulate such a complex phenomenon to ensure water quality is maintained in the future? What can we learn from past experiences in water quality regulation? To answer these questions, policy analysis strongly focuses on the design and choice of policy instruments and the mix of such measures. In this paper, we review instruments commonly used in past water quality regulation. We evaluate their ability to respond to the characteristics of a more recent water quality problem, i.e., micropollution, in a sustainable way. This way, we develop a new framework that integrates both the problem dimension (i.e., causes and effects of a problem) as well as the sustainability dimension (e.g., long-term, cross-sectoral and multi-level) to assess which policy instruments are best suited to regulate micropollution. We thus conclude that sustainability criteria help to identify an appropriate instrument mix of end-of-pipe and source-directed measures to reduce aquatic micropollution.
Metz, F.; Ingold, K. (2014) Sustainable wastewater management: is it possible to regulate micropollution in the future by learning from the Past? A policy analysis, Sustainability, 6(4), 1992-2012, doi:10.3390/su6041992, Institutional Repository