Understanding knowledge needs for Scotland to become a resilient Hydro Nation: Water stakeholder perspectives

Freshwater resources provide ecosystem services that support human prosperity and development. Future changes in climate, land-use, population could lead to detrimental impacts on freshwater quality quantity, threatening drinking water, irrigation energy production. To increase resilience there is the need better understand possible of future freshwaters. We use Scotland – its legislative agenda ‘Scotland: The Hydro Nation’ knowledge needs water stakeholders as a first step building resilience. By interviewing across Scotland, we found an overarching ‘knowledge need’ for greater understanding cumulative freshwaters associated with interactions between multiple climatic socio-economic drivers their pressures. Stakeholders also identified five specific themes; large-scale land-use change, demands, value, integrated development planning asset conditions. identify willingness participate systems-thinking approaches address these themes. needs’ can be used inform research priorities water-related policy Scotland. propose participatory methods should applied following Driver Pressure State Impact Response (DPSIR) framework themes’ appraise adaptive management options. Our stakeholder are time, cost environmentally effective way collecting rich data. Methods replicated other regions contexts where increased required help build