Journal of Hydrology Regional Studies Special Issue (SI): Dynamics of Coupled Human-Natural Systems in the Blue Economy (DC-HNS-BE): Coastal Zone Governance and Management for Sustainable Blue Growth

[prof.eslamian]

Journal of Hydrology Regional Studies

Special Issue (SI):

Dynamics of Coupled Human-Natural Systems in the Blue Economy (DC-HNS-BE): Coastal Zone Governance and Management for Sustainable Blue Growth

Eslamian, Saeid, Director, Center of Excellence in Risk Management and Natural Hazards, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran

Levy, Jason K., Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, University of Hawaii, USA

Due to the complexity and uncertainty of water governance in the coastal zone, a better understanding of coupled human and natural systems is needed to promote more adaptive water management in the blue economy. In this Special Issue (SI), we prioritize the identification of stakeholders and stakeholder groups essential for blue growth, their issues, as well their ability to influence legal, economic, and political water resources institutions. On a larger scale, it is essential for coastal zone change agents to understand how societies as a whole react to water policy in order to better plan for a sustainable, resilient and blue economy. Capturing the complex dynamics between coastal zone ecology, societal traditions, and the roles of local, state, national, and transboundary politics can transform water resources planning, management and governance in coastal regions.

 

A fortiori, the success of water initiatives requires NGOs, political leaders, the private sector and other decision makers to acquire a better understanding of the relationships of communities to their waters: What is the history of a society or a culture as it relates to the blue economy? How can this relationship explain how and why coastal zone decisions are made with regard to water? Understanding the roles of such critical influences as indigenous water values, human rights, socio-ecology, shared ethical norms, diversity culture, and inclusion is sina qua non in achieving sustainability in the coastal zone and reducing societal friction: Water conflicts among nations over scarce water has as much to do with socio-hydrology and historical events as it does with the supply of water in the Middle East or South Asia.  In summary, promoting smart growth in the blue economy requires water managers to capitalize on the dynamics of coupled natural-human systems within specific social and cultural milieus.

 

To this end, we welcome papers with a strong theoretical and empirical foundation that study Water Governance through the multiple socio-economic and institutional settings within complex biophysical and ecological systems at various spatio-temporal scales. The following thematic areas are of specific interest in this SI:

· Adaptive water governance in coupled human-natural systems

· Institutional frameworks for water resources accountability

· Polycentric governance for blue growth

· Hydro-informatics and social learning for resilience

· Inclusion, diversity and human rights in water governance and management

· Conflict transformation for water management and governance

· Overcoming socio-economic pathologies and institutional entropy

· Nexus of water, energy and food for adaptive management

· Theoretical and analytical frameworks for analyzing coupled water-societal systems

· Computational intelligence for improving institutional performance

· Policy instruments for reducing water management transaction costs

· Community-based case studies in various regions, sectors and policy domains

We welcome papers that address the aforementioned topics and issues related to socio-hydrology and coupled natural-human systems. Authors should submit an abstract (maximum 600-words) which include the title, authors’ names and affiliations, research question to be addressed, methodology employed, results, keywords and references) directly via e-mail to both Saeid Eslamian (Prof.e...@gmail.com) and Jason K.  Levy (jl...@hawaii.edu) with a file attachment in Word and PDF formats.

Abstracts will be reviewed by the editors to screen potential papers in terms of relevance and scientific quality. As only a limited number of manuscripts that can be included in this Special Issue, the most promising abstracts will be chosen, and authors of selected abstracts will be notified to precede the submission of a full manuscript to Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies.

The special issue will be open for abstract submissions up to  February 28, 2020.

Before submission we invite you to read the journal’s Guide for Authors. For any further questions please contact Saeid Eslamian (Prof.e...@gmail.com).

Here is also the link of the announcement in Journal Web Page: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-hydrology-regional-studies/call-for-papers/coastal-zone-governance-and-management-for-sustainable