PhD

Phd peter davids cover ip 2

Author

Peter Davids

ISBN code

978-94-6355-510-4

Size

202 pages

DOI code

10.17418/PHD.2021.9789463555104

Rethinking Floodlabel: A Situational Approach to Homeowner Involvement in Flood Risk Management

This dissertation investigates how floodlabel can be effective in flood risk management. Therefore, the following research question has been raised:

"Does the introduction of a floodlabel contribute to flood risk governance? If so, what contextual conditions are conducive for the implementation of a floodlabel?"

To answer this question, this study adopts a relational approach to the complexity of behavioral change of homeowners in flood risk management. A floodlabel cannot be effective in motivating homeowners without considering the context of its application. Flood risk management needs to be encapsulated in a larger and wider relational policy context. Therefore, the theoretical framework considers risk, resilience, and multiple actors as a co-evolutionary process of undefined becoming that is unique for each space/time configuration. These notions provide a context where actors, factors, and institutions as a system continuously interact, adapt, and evolve with each other and with other systems. So, to understand if the introduction of a floodlabel contributes to flood risk governance, this study is not only focusing on the impact of flood risk advice on homeowners, but also considers the contextual factors, institutions, and actors which are conducive for the introduction of a floodlabel. Therefore, the following sub- questions have been formulated:

RQ A: How can homeowner behavior, floodlabel, and flood risk governance be related to each other? See Chapter 2.

RQ B: To what extent do homeowners become more motivated to implement property-level flood risk adaption (PLFRA) by a floodlabel? See Chapter 4.

RQ C: What contextual conditions are conducive for the implementation of a flood- label?

C1: What factorial conditions are conducive for the implementation of a floodlabel? See Chapter 5.

C2: What institutional conditions are conducive for the implementation of a floodlabel? See Chapter 6.

C3: What actors are conducive for the implementation of a floodlabel? See Chapter 7.

A final research question considers operationalization of the floodlabel in flood risk governance:

RQ D: How can a floodlabel be implemented in flood risk governance in order to stimulate adaptive behavior among homeowners? See Chapter 8.

To analyse if homeowners become more motivated to implement PLFRA, this study considers a unique case study of tailored expert advice for homeowners, in Flanders, Belgium. The pilot of tailored advise contains multiple elements of overlap with the concept of floodlabel.