Conditions for upscaling climate adaptation measures: a case study of the BodemUP project
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2025-12-03
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en
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Dutch water management is facing growing pressures from climate change, including sea level rise, extreme river discharges, and recurrent droughts, which have severe consequences for agriculture, ecology, and the economy (Philip et al., 2020). While public–private pilot projects have been introduced to improve freshwater management, few have been upscaled (Guentchev et al., 2023). That is why this research analysed one of the few successfully upscaled projects, BodemUP. Using Hughes et al.’s (2020) conceptual model as an analytical framework, this study examines how BodemUP enabled the upscaling of climate adaptation measures and identifies lessons applicable to other initiatives. The findings highlight the significant institutional barrier of the "four-year system" that constrains long-term strategic continuity, limiting the transition from pilot projects to sustained upscaling. The research demonstrates that effective upscaling requires individuals capable of assuming risks, challenging institutional inertia, mobilising resources, and strategically extending planning horizons. In this way, the role of these individuals extends well beyond the conceptualised ‘bridging agents’ by Hughes et al. (2020). Additional enabling factors identified include the importance of embedding a scaling strategy from the project’s inception, also designing large-scale pilot projects inherently possesses greater potential for upscaling than small-scale experiments.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen