Citizen science for water resources management: Toward polycentric monitoring and governance?
Novel technologies are allowing new actors to engage in the monitoring of hydrological systems and water resources
Abstract
Novel and more affordable technologies are allowing new actors to engage increasingly in the monitoring of hydrological systems and the assessment of water resources. This trend may shift data collection from a small number of mostly formal institutions (e.g., statutory monitoring authorities, water companies) toward a much more dynamic, decentralized, and diverse network of data collectors (including citizens and other nonspecialists). Such a move toward a more diverse and polycentric type of monitoring may have important consequences for the generation of knowledge about water resources and the way that this knowledge is used to govern these resources. An increasingly polycentric approach to monitoring and data collection will change inevitably the relation between monitoring and decision-making for water resources.
Citation
Buytaert, W., Dewulf, A., De Bièvre, B., Clark, J., Hannah, D., Citizen science for water resources management: Toward polycentric monitoring and governance?, Journal Of Water Resources Planning And Management, vol 142 issue 4 April 2016
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Citizen science for water resources management: Toward polycentric monitoring and governance?