Developing partnership approaches for flood risk management: implementation of inter-local co-operations in Austria

This article relates how catchment-wide partnership agreements have been used in approaching flood risk management in Austria. Upstream–downstream co-operations are clearly influenced by a number of factors, where the combination of these interdependences can create specific conditions that alter the opportunity for effective governance arrangements in a local scheme approach. We present the motivations and drivers of the creation of inter-local co-operations in flood risk management, focusing especially on the main barriers and challenges. Although a partnership approach may be seen as an ‘optimal’ solution for flood risk management, in practice there are many limitations and barriers to establishing these collaborations.