Topic outline

  • Sessions & Reading Circles

    The course includes two type of sessions: Contact Sessions (Tuesdays at 9-12) and Case Study Sessions (Thursdays at 9-12). 

    Contact Sessions cover a specific weekly theme that is presented by a lecturer. You will familiarise yourself and discuss the theme already beforehand by reading a given material and discussing it in a preparatory Reading Circle with your group (see more below). After each Contact Session, you will also document your Personal Take-Home Messages to MyCourses. 

    Case Study Sessions are organised on Thursdays and most of the sessions include lectures focusing on frameworks and methods related to governance and management. The sessions also include time to work on your Case Study with your group. The sessions may also include some reading material, but no preparatory Reading Circles. You will, however, document your Personal Take-Home Messages also from those Case Study Sessions that include a lecture. 

    Table below gives you a general overview for the Sessions and course timetable.



    Group Work: Reading Circles + Case Study

    The idea of the course is to learn and discuss together what governance is and how it relates to water management - as well as to your own experience and interests. In order to facilitate such discussion, the course makes use of preparatory Reading Circles that combine individual learning (reading the given material) with group discussion (actual Reading Circles) and its reflection and synthesis (Reading Circle Brief + Personal Take-Home Messages). In this way, the course makes use of both flipped learning and peer learning. 

    Reading Circles are always related to a certain Contact Session (see below) and take usually place before the Contact Session: recommended time is before the Contact Session i.e. on Tuesdays at 9am. For more information on Reading Circles, see information page below. 

    The group work during this course thus consists of two parallel processes: weekly Reading Circles as well as work on your Case Study: see figure below. As an Individual Assignment, all students are required to submit a Personal Take-Home Messages from each Contact Session (see below).  

    As the course builds on group work and discussions during the sessions, participation in the Contact Sessions and Case Study Sessions as well as Reading Circles is compulsory. You can miss one session: after that you have to compensate your absence with Personal Compensatory Task (see below).



    • Page icon
      Reading Circle instructions Page

      Instructions on preparatory Reading Circles: read carefully! 

    • File icon
      Work hours for the course File
      PDF document

      This document shows the estimates for the work hours of different tasks (theory + practice) during the course: read carefully to understand what is expected from you and where you should allocate your time to. 

    • Tue 8.1 at 9.00-12.00: Introductory Lecture (Marko, Amy & Lauri)

      Introduction to the course and its assignments + dividing students into the groups. 

      Before the lecture, check out the governance presentation from our WAT-E1011 Water & Environment Course: GOVERNANCE PRESENTATION.

      You must be present in this session to select your group and confirm your attendance in the course! If you cannot make it, send a note about it (and your possible preference of your group) already beforehand to course email: wat-e2080 (at) aalto.fi 

      Below you can also find two articles that are referred to in the Introductory Lecture: this is additional reading for you to read if you wish. 

    • Thu 10.1 at 9.00-12: Governance analysis methods (Amy, Lauri & Marko)

      Introduction to the key concept of governance as well as key methods for framing and analysing governance.

      Note that you must read independently the given Reading Material (below) already before the Case Study Session, and to think your answers to the Guiding Questions below. As this is Case Study Session, however, you won't have a preparatory Reading Circle related to the material. 

      Reading Material

      To prepare for the Case Study Session (and entire course), everyone must read before the session the Reading Material i.e. the two articles marked with numbers 1 and 2. The first article by Akhmouch et al. discusses general context for water governance (as defined by OECD), while the second article by Franks & Cleaver introduces you to one solid approach to analyse governance. We will discuss the articles further during the Case Study Session. 

      You are also encouraged to browse through the Reading Material of the first Contact Session (above) as well as Additional Reading (marked with AR#) for this session: these will be helpful also when preparing your Case Study. Of particular use is the article by Reed at el. on stakeholder analysis methods (AR0): this you should read carefully when planning your Case Study. Also remember to check Case Study instructions (incl. Case Study introductory presentation) in Case Studies sub-page.

      Guiding Questions:

      • How would you define water governance? What differentiates 'good' governance from 'bad' governance?
      • How you would start to analyse a governance context of your given case study? What kind of analysis tools and methods to use (remember that analytical framework is given = our governance frame)?

    • Tue 15.1 at 10:00-12: Global water, UN system & SDGs (Antti Rautavaara, MfFA)

      Introduction to global water governance as well as to the United Nations system (including UN-Water) and water-related SDGs. Discussion on the that Finland has in all this.  

      Reading Material

      Before the Reading Circle, everyone must read the Reading Material i.e. attached two publications numbered 1 and 2 as well as to visit in the SDGs website and read particularly the parts related to SDG6 on water. You are also encouraged to browse through Additional Reading (marked with AR#) available. 

      In the actual Reading Circle, discuss about the Reading Material with the help of Guiding Questions and Reading Circle instructions: your group's Chair will lead the discussion, while Secretary ensure that your discussion is documented into Reading Circle Brief. 

      Guiding questions 

      • Who are the key actors in water governance globally? Is this different to key actors at national and local levels - why?
      • What does successful implementation of SDG6 require? Who should take a lead on it? 

    • Thu 17.1 at 9:00- : IWRM & transboundary waters, with Mekong as a case (Lauri & Marko)

      Introduction to the dominant concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) as well as management and cooperation related to transboundary waters shared by several countries, with Mekong River Basin in Southeast Asia as a case study.

      Reading Material

      To prepare for the Case Study Session, everyone must read the Reading Material i.e. selected pages from the attached two publications numbered 1 (GWP; particularly pages 22-31) and 2 (UN-Water report; particularly pages 1-7). You are also encouraged to browse through the other parts of those reports as well as Additional Reading (marked with AR#) available. Aalto's Water & Development Research Group has also done plenty of research related to both IWRM and transboundary waters. It is therefore worth to check e.g. Doctoral Theses (and related articles) by Marko Keskinen, Mizan Rahaman and Virpi Stucki as well as relevant articles by Matti Kummu and Hafsa Munia: all can be found from http://aaltodoc.aalto.fi. 

      Guiding questions 

      • What are the key components of IWRM? Is it relevant approach in your Case Study? If yes, what could be its potential benefits and challenges?  
      • How does governance of transboundary waters differ from other water governance contexts? 

    • Tue 22.1 at 10:00-12: EU Water Framework Directive and regional reform in Finland (Antton Keto + Saku Härkönen, MoE)

      Introduction to EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and its implementation in Finland as well as to the on-going regional government reform in Finland ('alueuudistus' in Finnish).

      Reading Material

      To prepare for the Reading Circle, read the given Reading Material i.e. attached publications numbered 1 (WFD brief) and 2 (Green et al. 2013). In addition, visit the EU's introductory website on the WFD and read its key texts (http://bit.ly/1mKbUth) as well as to browse through the actual Directive (http://bit.ly/2DzT48G). Given that the WFD if currently going through evaluation and will potentially be revised, also check the European Commission's pages related to WFD's 'fitness check'. To prepare for Saku's part of the lecture, check out the webpages for regional reform (note that Finnish version has much more information): https://alueuudistus.fi/en/

      You are also encouraged to read Additional Reading (marked with AR#) available.

      Guiding Questions:

      1) What are the main objectives for EU Water Framework Directive? Are this relevant for your Case Study?

      2) How does EU Water Framework Directive guide water governance in the EU and Finland? Where does its power lie? 


    • Thu 24.1 at 9:00- : Water-related legislation (Niko Soininen, Univ. of Helsinki)

      Introduction to Finnish legislation related to water and environment, and its links to EU legislation.

      Reading Material

      To prepare for the Case Study Session, read the given Reading Material i.e. Ari Ekroos' lecture slides on legislation from our WAT-E1011 course last autumn (#1). Also browse through the new Water Act 2011 (#2) and have a look at Syke's website related to Finnish water legislation (please note that English pages are partly out-of-date and don't e.g. include e.g. new Water Act 2011). 

      You are also encouraged to read Additional Reading (marked with AR#) available as well as to visit the website on reform of Land Use and Building Act MRL (unfortunately in Finnish and Swedish only): https://mrluudistus.fi

      Guiding Questions:

      1) What kind of role laws and regulations have in water governance? Why? 

      2) How does law link to your Case Study? For example, is it clearly setting its context and aims, or just providing some support?


    • Tue 29.1 at 10- : Hydropower in Finland and Kemijoki River (Heini Auvinen, Fortum + Sakke Rantala, Kemijoki Oy)

      Introduction to hydropower development and related permitting and EIA processes in Finland, with Kemijoki River as a case. 

      Reading Material

      To prepare for the Reading Circle, there are two key Reading Materials. Firstly, read the Koch's (2002) introductory article on hydropower development (while noting it is already quite old, so do think what might have changed after that: e.g. Berga 2012 in Additional Reading give some ideas on that). Secondly, have a look at the website of Kemijoki Oy and read the key contents related to hydropower development and related EIA processes (please note that Finnish pages may have more information). 

      You are also encouraged to read Additional Reading (AR) available, including the Master's Thesis by our guest lecturer Sakke Rantala. Also check out the hydropower-related website by Energiateollisuus i.e. Finnish Energy (unfortunately in Finnish only). You are also strongly encouraged to view a 50-minute documentary video and related short trailer about Kemijoki (unfortunately in Finnish only): https://www.kemijoki.fi/padottu-voima.html 

      Guiding Questions:

      1) What are pros and cons of hydropower development? How does those affect to its governance arrangements, including key actors and institutions involved?  

      2) How does law and related permitting and EIA processes guide hydropower development in Finland? 


    • Thu 31.1. at 9:00- : Environmental permits and environmental impact assessment (Liisa Nyrölä, ELY-center)

      Environmental permitting and EIA processes in Finland.

      Tp prepare for the Case Study Session, browse through the Reading Material i.e. introductory chapter from Glasson et al's 2005 book on EIA + the two websites below. You are also encouraged to read the Additional Reading Material (AR) available (although part of it in Finnish), including two recent reports by our Visiting Lecturer Liisa Nyrölä.

      Guiding Questions:

      • Why are environmental permits and EIAs needed; what they aim for? 
      • What role does permitting and impact assessment processes have in your case study? Are they important; why/why not? 
    • Tue 5.2 at 9- : Case HSY (Jyrki Kaija)

      Governance of water services in Finland, and its provision in Helsinki Metropolitan Area by Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority HSY. Note that the lecture starts already at 9.00: Reading Circle will thus be exceptionally only after the lecture! 

      Before the contact session, read the Reading Material provided below: read carefully the article by Meene et al. (#1) and browse also through the HSY's report "Building environmental responsible metropolis" (#2) and particularly its pages 23-29. Visit also HSY's website, and browse through HSY's strategy. In addition, it is recommended to browse through the articles and reports under Additional Reading Material as well as to check out Water Services Act (2001/119 + its 2014 amendment) and to visit the website of EurEau at: http://www.eureau.org.

      Guiding Questions:

      • What kind of special characteristics urban water context brings to governance? Why?
      • The article by Meene et al. differentiates between hierarchical, market and network governance: what are their key differences? Which 'governance approach/setting' would best describe HSY's activities? 
      • EXTRA: what kind of 'governance approach/setting' your own Case Study has and why? Could it work better (i.e. would your Collective Problem be solved more effectively) with some other setting?


    • Tue 19.2 at 9.00-12: Synthesis & Feedback (Marko, Amy & Lauri)

      The last Contact Session of our course synthesises the key themes of our course, and links them to politics and power. The session will also provide you with an opportunity to reflect your learning as well as to provide feedback to your group as well as generally about the course.

      Reading Material 

      Reading Material below includes four different scientific articles (1-4) that all look at politics and power related to water. Each group member selects one of the articles and browses it through (no need to read it thoroughly): just make sure that your group reads all four articles. You can naturally also read other articles + Additional Reading Material if you wish.

      After, write down your personal Key Points related to the article. You can structure the Key Points with the help of following Guiding Questions:

      • What is the role of politics and power in water governance? 
      • How politics can be addressed and understood as part of a governance process?

      Submit your Key Points as a reply to your Take-Home Messages Discussion Thread below before Tuesday's Contact Session: also mention the article you browsed through. Key Points will then be used as a basis for (different kind of) Reading Circle in our Contact Session, and they will together form your last Reading Circle Brief. 


    • Forum icon
      Submission of Reading Circle Brief Forum
      Not available unless: Your Email address contains aalto.fi

      Your group's Secretary submits your Reading Circle Brief to this Discussion Forum by starting a new discussion with title "Group #: Reading Circle on XXX" and attaching the Brief to the discussion. The Brief should be 400-500 words long: for more information, read the Reading Circle instructions. Also remember to ensure that all group members are content with the report. 

      Remember to write to your Brief: 

      1) the time and location of your Reading Circle,  

      2) who were present and who were absent from the discussion, and 

      3) names of the chair and secretary.


      Note that your Brief is visible for everyone at Aalto University. It is thus highly recommended also to read and comment other groups' Briefs! 

    • Forum icon
      Submission of Personal Take-Home Messages Forum
      Not available unless: Your Email address contains aalto.fi

      Every student must submit 2-3 Personal Take-Home Messages in bullet-points on all Contact Sessions and Case Study Sessions that include a lecture (except not for the first and last Contact Sessions). 

      The messages should be short and quickly written reflections on your main learning points from the session. They will not be assessed, but you must do all of them to pass the course. The aim of the messages is to synthesise and reflect the themes dealt in the Sessions, and to put them into a context that is relevant for your own expertise and interests. They also allow us to assess what kind of themes and issues you have picked up from the Sessions. 

      Submit your first Take-Home Messages to this Discussion Forum by starting a new discussion with title "MY NAME: Take-Home Messages" and then including your Take-Home Messages as built points as a text into the discussion. After that, add each new set of Take-Home Messages as a reply to your original discussion thread. 

      Note that your Take-Home Messages are visible for everyone. It is thus highly recommended also to read and comment other student's reflections! 

      Deadline: within the same week of each session i.e. by Sunday of that week. 

    • Forum icon
      Personal Compensatory Task (compensating a missed session) Forum
      In order to pass the course, you must participate in all Contact Sessions and Case Study Sessions as well as preparatory Reading Circles (as they form major part of learning and assessment in the course). You can miss one session, after that you must do a Compensatory Task

      If you are absent from more than one session or Reading Circle, you must compensate it by writing a Personal Synthesis (800-1000 words) on related topics. The Synthesis should be based on the session material (reading material + presentation), and it must include a summary of the topic as well as your reflection on it from your own view point. 

      If you miss both Contact Session and Case Study Session, Compensatory Task must be done for the Contact Session. If you miss more than one Case Study Session, your Compensatory Task should focus on comparison between the presented Case Studies, including their context and scale as well as methods and their results. 

      Submit your Personal Synthesis to this Discussion Forum by starting a new discussion with title "MY NAME: Personal Synthesis on (topic)", and then including your reflection either as a text or as an attachment. 

      Note that your Synthesis is visible to everyone: you can thus also e.g. send its link to your group members.

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