Our policy recommendations
Current PMF management at our pilot sites
PMF management in our Northwestern European pilot sites seems already supported by many regulations, plans, and public actors. However, these efforts are often organized at a relatively large and fragmented scale and spread across different sectors, institutions, and administrative levels. PMF management is rarely treated as a dedicated policy on its own and is often only one part of broader topics such as flood prevention, agriculture, or land-use planning. Local authorities, farmers and water managers already have tools and responsibilities, but they sometimes work in parallel rather than as a group.
On top of this, implementation is frequently slowed down by many small, practical barriers that depend on the local context, such as land ownership issues, communication gaps, micro-conflicts between actors, unclear responsibilities or difficulties in engaging farmers and stakeholders. When combined, these challenges become a major obstacle to planned effective action across catchments. Responsibility for runoff problems is often disputed, slowing down coordinated implementation of solutions.
Towards a better PMF management
Through WP2 and WP3, MUDCAP aims to support a more integrated and practical way of managing PMF risks across NWE. Rather than creating new rules, the project wants to focus on improving local governance by helping existing actors work better together.
In pilot sites across the four regions, partners will test participatory PMF management plans where local stakeholders jointly identify risks, select suitable mitigation measures, and assess what helps or blocks implementation in real conditions. These experiences will be used to develop a practical manual and policy brief with clear guidance for municipalities, river basin managers, and other local actors.
The goal is to encourage a form of shared PMF management that takes into account technical, social, legal and territorial realities. Through joint training activities, MUDCAP will also strengthen local capacities and support the wider transfer of these approaches across regions, helping build stronger and more connected PMF governance at a transnational level.
You will find this information in this section.