‘It's not really their problem’: Reactive institutional community engagement and flood policy implementation

Flooding already directly impacts almost a quarter of the world’s population, exacerbating existing climate injustices. However, flood risk management and governance are complex in societies already rife with inequalities and financially-pressured institutions. Immediate action is therefore required across policy, institutions, and practice to prepare for and adapt to increasing flood risks. This study explores the implementation of recent innovative egalitarian Scottish flood policies which attempt to prioritise equity in real-world settings. Through a new institutionalism lens, we draw on earlier work and highlight key issues in place-based flood-related policy implementation using two exemplar 2024 Scottish media articles within a wider case study of each place. Each article highlights the role of institutions in implementing policies to solve (or not) hyperlocal flooding issues. We explore the implications of institutional (non)-engagement with communities on the effectiveness of future policies to reduce climate-related inequalities. We find that while the new Scottish climate-related policies are intentionally egalitarian and constructed through a place-based lens, real-world challenges hinder implementation as enacted reactive institutional community engagement is problematic. Siloed organisational agendas are manifested when communities proactively attempt to engage institutional support. Such silos are supported during policy implementation by the ambiguity of egalitarian policies focusing on collective action and collaboration which inadvertently facilitate the externalisation of institutional responsibility to others. We demonstrate that in Scotland, as elsewhere, there is a lack of clarity and definition of concepts within policies which facilitates the externalising of responsibility for action to others, encouraging siloed institutional responses. This disempowers communities and undermines their attempts to lead and build place-based community flood resilience. These findings are considered alongside the wider research field, collectively demonstrating an urgent need for transformative governance of flood risk. The study concludes that institutional innovation is urgently required to enable societies to adapt to the climate crisis.