Flood partnerships: a participatory approach to develop and implement the Flood Risk Management Plans

F lood risk management comprises a wide variety of aspects, ranging from the reduction of the probability of occurrence of a flood to the reduction of the potential damage. These aspects rest in the common responsibility of the official agencies at the state and community level, as well as the affected population. To facilitate an effective exchange between these actors, national and transnational flood partnerships ( FP s) were initiated within the E uropean INTERREG IV A – Project ‘ F lood and D rought M anagement in the transnational M osel and S aar W atershed’ ( FLOW MS ), spanning different regions in G ermany, F rance and L uxembourg. The FPs are voluntary partnerships among communities, local authorities, emergency services, water management departments, professional associations, non‐governmental organisations and public action groups in a common watershed. The tools system dynamics and group model building are used in a set of workshops to establish an increased participation of relevant actor groups and the public to achieve a bottom‐up approach contributing to the F lood R isk M anagement P lans of the EU F loods D irective.