Hungary’s second Science–Policy Interface (SPI) focuses on water resources and explores how to achieve sustainable water management by encouraging farmers to take part in collective water resource management practices. This SPI runs in parallel with, and contributes to, the Hungarian part of the water resources case study cluster, which examines the behavioural factors shaping how members of the water management community think about and engage in more integrated, landscape-based, and collective water management initiatives.
Within the VISIONARY project, AKI organises at least three SPI workshops in Hungary. The process begins with recruiting participants in early 2023. Thanks to AKI’s strong connections with policymakers, researchers, and farming communities, the workshops bring together a broad range of expertise. Participants include water engineers, representatives of central authorities and civil society organisations, policymakers, researchers, farmers, and community members. They dedicate their time to the first two workshops, held in July 2023 and September 2024.
The first workshop uses a foresight exercise to explore the development potential of water management in Hungary. A key outcome of the discussion is that implementing sustainable water management remains difficult because there is no shared “water vision” that unites all stakeholder organisations—from national authorities to local actors. This missing vision is reflected in the fragmented nature of central water governance and the lack of common ground among farmers, water management authorities, and environmentalists at the local level. Participants also note that while voluntary sustainable water management communities are a valuable initiative, their implementation has yet to deliver the full ecological benefits expected from a bottom-up, watershed-based approach.
During the second workshop, participants continue to discuss the weak links that slow the transition to sustainable water management. In addition to the often-cited issue of fragmented governance, they pay particular attention to uncertainties surrounding the ownership and use of land and water management infrastructure. These uncertainties often present the greatest obstacle to any kind of intervention, whether individual or collective. Participants agree that without large-scale, coordinated interventions across landscapes, systemic change will remain out of reach. Likewise, without a suitable compensation framework, it is difficult for local and horizontal collaborations to take root.
As the VISIONARY project moves towards its conclusion, the AKI team finalises their case study assessing the preferences of Hungarian water management community members regarding collaborative approaches to managing water resources. In the final round of VISIONARY SPI workshops, participants have the chance to review and validate the findings and help shape the most practical policy recommendations for the future.