River contracts - Flanders

River contracts ('riviercontracten') is a platform in Flanders (Belgium) for local stakeholders to engage and collaborate in defining and implementing local solutions for water related issues, such as flooding, water scarcity, poor water quality and soil erosion. Launched in 2017, the central goal of this initiative is to create more space for water in municipalities and to support the implementation of natural infrastructure for water management. Through the river contracts, local governments collaborate with citizens, companies and associations in order to create (public) support, develop shared ideas and increase the involvement of stakeholders with the implementation of local actions. After the process of defining shared actions, the involved parties sign the river contract and commit to its implementation.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Agreement-based or cooperative instrument›Public-private community-based agreement

Challenges addressed

Ecologic connectivity
Soil quality
Water management (e.g. reuse)
Watershed restoration/water quality
Drought and fire risk
Flood risk: pluvial and fluvial / soil permeability
Social cohesion
Human health, comfort and well-being

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

Each contract deals with different challenges tied to the region, such as flooding, drought, erosion, and poor water quality. The instrument also recognizes the potential to provide health and social cohesion benefits through improved recreational opportunities in the project areas.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Blue areas

Green areas for water management

Good practice characteristics:

Support multifunctional NBS

Sustainable in the long-term

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Inclusivity

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

Flemish Environment Agency

Instrument design:

Details about how the instrument was designed:

The Flanders Environment Agency developed the instrument in collaboration with consultancy agencies. The motive to develop this new approach was the observation that (public) support was often lacking for actions that water authorities wanted to implement. By designing an instrument that focused on a participative approach, the aim was to strengthen local (public) support for the necessary actions. The consultancy agencies developed the interactive tool for flood risk analysis (see the section on instrument implementation), gave guidance to the process to develop a river contract, and contributed to the communication.

Involvement of non-governmental actors:

Private sector, corporate, business

Type of actor involvement:

Co-planning or co-design of instrument (e.g. boards, advisory role)

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

The creation of a river contract is a participatory process with all those directly involved, including citizens. This process typically follows multiple steps. First a steering group is created consisting of local, state and regional authorities to manage the project. Before the contract is created, the steering group signs a charter with their intentions along the lines of "to work together for solutions with an open mind”. In some cases, the steering group is extended with citizens and civil society organizations. Secondly, a project website is launched with information for citizens about the participation trajectory as well as a risk analysis tool to investigate if their house is currently located in an area with (high) risk(s) of flooding, including possible future risks as a result of climate change. Third, the participation process starts with the possibility for stakeholders, experts and citizens to share ideas online and offline. The input collected online could be shared and commented on by other participants. During offline workshops, information is shared and a wide range of stakeholders including citizens, politicians, local businesses, farmers, water managers and local to regional governmental bodies are able to analyze the problems and brainstorm about possible solutions and propose actions. Fourth, based on all stakeholder input, actions are defined for the area. Each action has one or more stakeholders associated with the responsibility of implementation, including an organization who is in charge of general implementation and monitoring of the river contract. The most suitable and feasible ideas are included in the contract. Finally, by signing the contract, partners express their commitment to the implementation of the proposals. After signing, aspects of the contract are implemented and residents are involved through a consultation platform. On this platform, information is shared and participation strategies are initiated with local residents to ensure their participation and involvement.

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

Citizen councils or consultation for co-planning (e.g. workshops, surveys)

Citizen oversight (e.g. boards, advisory role)

Implementation of NBS (e.g. with government funds)

Citizen monitoring and review

Targeted actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Private: household, real estate developer, business , financial

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs

Coalition, please specify

Financing

Budget:

Unknown

Details about instrument financing:

A budget of between €50,000 and €100,000 is allocated for each process to create a river contract. Partners who are responsible for the implementation of an action are also responsible for the financial aspects of the contract. Total budgets per river contract can range from €500,000 to €5,000,000.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Yes

There is no systematic monitoring of the instrument or of the independent river contracts. However, some specific actions are monitored when listed in a river contract.

Did an evaluation take place?:

Yes

The Flemish Environment Agency plans to carry out a first internal evaluation of the instrument at the end of 2022. The agency will decide whether to continue with the instrument and, if so, what adjustments will be necessary.

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

Since the implementation of the instrument, a total of 7 contracts have been made and signed in the Flanders region. The last contracts were signed in 2022 and actions are starting to be implemented. No concrete results of the implementation phase are available yet.

Success factors and lessons learned:

The involvement of a wide range of stakeholders encourages stakeholder ownership, broad support for the proposed measures and a greater willingness to take action. This was achieved by bringing stakeholders together and brainstorming, discussing and formulating ideas together. A learned lesson is to better connect the scope of the river contracts with the policy goals. In the current river contracts, all actors started the process to co-create goals and actions from a blank page, resulting in a very wide scope. If the instrument is to be continued, it is possible that new processes start after a first analysis that scopes the most important issues and items of the surroundings. This should result in a more focused and result-oriented approach.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

Riviercontracten (2022) Jouw idee voor riviercontracten. Available at: https://riviercontract.be/ (Accessed on 05-10-2022)

VMM (year unknown) Riviercontracten: participatief werken aan water. Available at https://www.vmm.be/water/beheer-waterlopen/projecten/Riviercontracten (Accessed on 05-10-2022). .

Department of Environment. (2020) Integrale tekst Blue Deal. Available at: https://www.zuhaldemir.be/sites/parlement.n-va.be/files/generated/files/news-attachment/blue_deal_clean_0.pdf (Accessed on 05-10-2022).

VILT (2022) “Riviercontract” moet overstromingsrisico van Dommel inperken. Available at: https://vilt.be/nl/nieuws/riviercontract-moet-overstromingsrisico-van-dommel-inperken (Accessed on 05-10-2022).

Interview(s):

Flanders Environment Agency

Further documents

Weblinks:

https://riviercontract.be/

Photos

@H.Nuyttens, VMM