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Data from: Improving governance outcomes for water quality: insights from participatory social network analysis for chalk stream catchments in England

Data from: Improving governance outcomes for water quality: insights from participatory social network analysis for chalk stream catchments in England
Data from: Improving governance outcomes for water quality: insights from participatory social network analysis for chalk stream catchments in England
Globally important chalk streams in England are in poor ecological health, in part due to inadequate water quality. Addressing this issue requires an understanding of the governance systems that surround water quality. The complexity and uncertainty inherent in hydrological systems has led to the emergence of integrated and adaptive forms of governance. In these multi-actor governance systems, the structure of the relationships between actors (the social network) has been shown to affect governance processes and outcomes. Using participatory social network analysis, we mapped and analysed the social networks for the River Test and River Itchen in Hampshire, UK, to identify actors and their roles, determine the network characteristics, and identify interventions to improve governance. Although the results suggest a well connected network of actors from the state, private sector and civil society, we find that decision making is not decentralised. Bureaucratic governance by central state actors dominates. However, trust in these central state actors and private actors in the networks is low, which undermines collaboration and co-ordination in the network. Devolving authority to local actors, building trust in the networks, and improving connections to important actors could help to improve governance outcomes for water quality.
DRYAD
Ball, Jennifer
628ed61b-d43f-418b-98e2-c2422c35cfdb
Hauck, Jennifer
e1024dfb-2b7c-437a-b399-6391bed725cd
Holland, Robert
9c245e65-06bb-4b0e-8214-2b00ad2a47df
Snaddon, Jake
31a601f7-c9b0-45e2-b59b-fda9a0c5a54b
Taylor, Gail
Peh, Kelvin
0bd60207-dad8-43fb-a84a-a15e09b024cc
Lovegrove, Amy
e548abed-79f7-45fb-931e-4a4e17cafa59
Ball, Jennifer
628ed61b-d43f-418b-98e2-c2422c35cfdb
Hauck, Jennifer
e1024dfb-2b7c-437a-b399-6391bed725cd
Holland, Robert
9c245e65-06bb-4b0e-8214-2b00ad2a47df
Snaddon, Jake
31a601f7-c9b0-45e2-b59b-fda9a0c5a54b
Taylor, Gail
Peh, Kelvin
0bd60207-dad8-43fb-a84a-a15e09b024cc
Lovegrove, Amy
e548abed-79f7-45fb-931e-4a4e17cafa59

(2022) Data from: Improving governance outcomes for water quality: insights from participatory social network analysis for chalk stream catchments in England. DRYAD doi:10.5061/dryad.crjdfn36x [Dataset]

Record type: Dataset

Abstract

Globally important chalk streams in England are in poor ecological health, in part due to inadequate water quality. Addressing this issue requires an understanding of the governance systems that surround water quality. The complexity and uncertainty inherent in hydrological systems has led to the emergence of integrated and adaptive forms of governance. In these multi-actor governance systems, the structure of the relationships between actors (the social network) has been shown to affect governance processes and outcomes. Using participatory social network analysis, we mapped and analysed the social networks for the River Test and River Itchen in Hampshire, UK, to identify actors and their roles, determine the network characteristics, and identify interventions to improve governance. Although the results suggest a well connected network of actors from the state, private sector and civil society, we find that decision making is not decentralised. Bureaucratic governance by central state actors dominates. However, trust in these central state actors and private actors in the networks is low, which undermines collaboration and co-ordination in the network. Devolving authority to local actors, building trust in the networks, and improving connections to important actors could help to improve governance outcomes for water quality.

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More information

Published date: 2022

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 468452
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/468452
PURE UUID: 69ced847-2866-4bcd-856a-dbbbf882b37e
ORCID for Robert Holland: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3038-9227
ORCID for Jake Snaddon: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3549-5472
ORCID for Kelvin Peh: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2921-1341
ORCID for Amy Lovegrove: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1118-0823

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 15 Aug 2022 17:02
Last modified: 19 Aug 2023 01:55

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Contributors

Contributor: Jennifer Ball
Contributor: Jennifer Hauck
Contributor: Robert Holland ORCID iD
Contributor: Jake Snaddon ORCID iD
Contributor: Gail Taylor
Contributor: Kelvin Peh ORCID iD
Contributor: Amy Lovegrove ORCID iD

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