Professionalization of community engagement in flood risk management: Insights from four European countries

Flood management has long been dominated by scientific expertise, centralized decision-making, and top-down professional management. However, changing patterns of risk probabilities instigate shifts in the ways floods are managed, bringing forward necessity for flood mitigation, preparedness resilience. Community engagement is recognized as paramount attainment these goals. This provokes authorities to facilitate professionalization community members becoming stakeholders. Professionalization esteemed norm, it ensures better alignment between all stakeholders increases capacity efficiency authority-community collaboration. At same time, general, its professionalization, particular, paradoxes. paper examines micro-level facets Italy, Germany, England, Netherlands based on five-months fieldwork conducted 2020 discusses ambivalent implications We conclude that largely contributes coordination group members’ activities, their with needs priorities, enhances sense belonging field entails burden increasing explicit implicit state requirements communities. It reinforces participatory limits reproduces unattainability broader public.