Coping with and Communicating Uncertainty - Climate Change and Water Governance: Adaptive Capacity in Chile and Switzerland - page 316

into account the intrinsic motivations that people have to do the right thing (Frey
et al. 2004 ), the difference between willingness to pay versus willingness to accept
(Kahneman et al. 1991 ), and people's computational biases (i.e. that people are not
rational in how they compute decisions as to whether or not do something) includ-
ing the influence of how a problem is framed (Frederick et al. 2002 ) into policy
formation to better incentivise behavioural change and acceptance of new policies
(Dawnay and Shah 2005 ) .
Challenges in acceptance and adherence to top down rules were identified as
significant issue for the TRC in the Swiss case, while difficulty in reaching agree-
ment in the Aconcagua Project and commitment breaking in the Turno were issues
in the Chilean case. Studies have suggested that publicly written commitments are
stronger than verbal ones (McKenzie-Mohr and Smith 1999 ) , while elsewhere the
importance of providing for participation in rule-making helps improve acceptance
of and happiness with policy outcomes as people find it motivating rather than
demotivating (Kaplan 2000 ). It is interesting however that in the Swiss case, the
participative TRC has even so experienced difficulty in persuading agricultural
stakeholders to be on board a project that they perceive as unnecessary in the extent
of its ecological provisions. Behavioural economics would suggest that since imme-
diate losses are stronger incentives than long term rewards, in trying to incentivise
stakeholders to embrace the ecological parameters of the project, it should avoid
presenting farmers with the immediate losses they will encounter (i.e. their land).
The farmers' unwillingness to accept the loss of their land could lead to a far higher
evaluation of that piece of land than may have originally been expected (Pearce
2002 ) .
In the Swiss case, commercial marketing techniques that challenge the incum-
bent paradigm could be integrated into the communications plans at the canton
level, to improve understanding and acceptance for the more transformational ele-
ments of the TRC. Equally, pin pointing mavens, connectors and salesmen outside
the canton administration and the environmental organisations to champion the
project could contribute to a speedier participative process by spreading digestible
information about the project through mediums other than workshops, websites and
newsletters. A similar set of techniques could be used in the Chilean area to reduce
the divisions between the different actors involved in the Aconcagua Project as
well.
While for scientists it is clear that climate related challenges rely on complex
data, complex systems and complex solutions, stakeholder acceptance of adaptation
actions might be better based on simplified dilutions of these challenges (both
causes and effects). A key point for the specific communication of uncertainty in
climate change impacts is the evidence that too much information is counter-pro-
ductive (Dawnay and Shah 2005 ). Therefore, while design principles and discourses
on adaptive and integrated water management stress the importance of information
and knowledge in effective water resources management, lessons from behavioural
economics could help policy makers and water managers find the appropriate bal-
ance in the provision of targeted data and information to construct viable choices
under climatic uncertainty. Linking this information and knowledge with personal