[WiSe 2025/26] PEP-B: Uncovering Lock-ins for Nature-based Solutions in Drought Management

This course engages students in applied research on sustainability transitions in water management. Central to the course is the WaterGrid project, a European Horizon-funded initiative that aims to transform the way water is managed through the integration of nature-based solutions (NbS) and smart digital technologies into decentralized, resilient water infrastructure systems. A key focus lies on identifying lock-ins, i.e. systemic barriers that hinder the wider adoption of NbS, including institutional rigidities, technological path dependencies, and social and discursive lock-ins. Students will work in groups to create lock-in profiles for selected WaterGrid case studies. The objective of the profiles is to answer the following questions: (i) What is the incumbent paradigm or practice in a given case, and (ii) What are the self-reinforcing mechanisms between practices, actors, institutions, and infrastructures and (iii) how are they connected, in ways that stabilize the status-quo and resist the implementation of NBS and SWG. To answer these questions, students will choose and apply a diversity of methods including document analysis and interviews with stakeholders. Supported with professional teamwork methods, students will independently plan, carry out, and communicate their project progress and outcomes. The course combines theory, research methods, and collaborative practice in a real-world research project to equip students with skills for empirical research and planning in complex socio-ecological systems.

Building on the general learning goals for the module, this course will enable students to:

  •           Familiarize with systemic approaches and systems thinking in environmental planning
  •      Uncover how institutions, infrastructure and planning practice interlink and form lock-ins within a real-world water management case
  •      Train and master empirical research, including the self-selected application of a diversity of methods and the reflection of the research process;
  •      Engage in a collaborative research project, improve teamwork skills and reflect on personal learning goals