Embracing integrated watershed revitalization in Suzhou, China: learning from global case studies

Joon Sik Kim,Sheng Zhong,Yanting Fan,Peter W J Batey

doi:10.1007/s41685-021-00203-w

Abstract

Suzhou is China’s historic water town, and a sustainable approach to watershed revitalization is firmly on the agenda. The practice of integrated watershed management requires collaborative planning involving a significant number of stakeholders; no single organization can solve the problems of ecosystem management unilaterally. The changing social–political environment in China has led to the development of a new form of governance. China is in transition from the traditional government image of a regulator and a controller towards an enabler that facilitates provision and action by, and through, others. Global case studies show that sustainability issues are essential to tackling watershed ecosystem management by creating a win–win strategy for wider stakeholders. Viewed from an institutional perspective, the emergence of a new collaborative partnership model requires a different implementation process to tackle practical problems in the face of complex watershed agendas. Drawing upon global and China’s experiences, the paper concludes that some planning processes require government leadership continuity, while others need bottom–up approaches.

Highlights

Watershed management practice has a long history dating back to 2000 BC (Wang et al 2016)
Considering the results of the situation analysis discussed in the earlier section, the key areas for Suzhou’s watershed management can be a potential structure for the topic groups in the formation of the Suzhou watershed partnership
As there is no integrated watershed management plan across jurisdictional boundaries in Suzhou, it will be desirable for the Suzhou watershed partnership to initiate the plan-making

Summary

Introduction

Watershed management practice has a long history dating back to 2000 BC (Wang et al 2016). It has been evolving continuously to improve the natural and built environments in the watershed region. In many cities and regions worldwide, a watershed boundary as an interconnected ecosystem does not correspond to the government’s administrative boundaries. Some larger rivers and lakes are often managed by national government bodies, while some local government agencies manage small-scale watercourses separately. It causes operational difficulties in incorporating the fragmented administrative structure and managing a watershed as a whole ecosystem. Extensive research in watershed management has shown the importance of collaborative efforts among diverse actors across traditional administrative boundaries (Behmel et al 2018; Cortner et al 1998; European Commission 2003; Schramm 1980; Strifling 2019)

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Results

Conclusion