Mainstreaming Flood Risk Reduction By Enhancing Better Risk Governance in Japan

Mainstreaming disaster risk reduction into the development process is a key focus area of disaster risk management after Hyogo Framework of Action (HFA), 2010. For a decade, central and local governments have tried to implement the concept of mainstreaming DRR into development but actually few achievements were attained. The paper focuses on the case of Shiga Prefecture in Japan, which successfully established the basic policy of integrated flood risk management including flood risk information provision, land use regulation and restriction of new construction in the flood prone areas. Over a decade efforts to communicate with key stakeholders, prefectural congress of Shiga finally approved the basic policy in March, 2013. The paper divides the entire process into four phases: starting phase with city government officers, public meeting to make directions of the basic policy and give the ownership of the policy to the public, professional workshop to establish the basic policies, and administration workshops to overcome the difficulties to implement the policy in the real world.

Since one of the authors was involved deeply in the process, the paper investigates the reasons for the success based on data taken through internal observation,  documents and interviews. In the case of the Shiga prefecture, gradual inclusion of the stakeholders looks successful. Opinions and concerns related to flood risk management were widely discussed and the collected concerns and opinions were used to develop policies. If the river authority cannot handle them, stakeholders were expanded by including other stakeholders with a capability or authority to present solutions. Comparing with the risk governance framework of IRGC, the process in Shiga Prefecture is examined whilst the implications for mainstreaming disaster risk reduction will be presented.