Several phases of the research carried out during the research project BRAHMATWINN (FP6) are described here.

In a first step two parallel processes have been designed and implemented: (1) the identification of the potential supply of scientific knowledge through the development of a system of indicators proposed by BRAHMATWINN project partners, and (2) the elicitation of local actors’ issues and proposed response strategies.  Integrated indicators were developed with relevance to Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and climate change for the Upper Danube and the Upper Brahmaputra River Basins (UDRB and UBRB), and to foster the integration process amongst the different research activities of the project. Such integrated indicators aim at providing stakeholders, NGOs and GOs with an overview of the present state and trends of the river basins water resources, and at quantifying the impacts of possible scenarios and responses to driving forces, as well as pressures from likely climate change. In the process the relevant indicators have been identified by research partners to model and monitor issues relevant for IWRM in the case study areas. The selected indicators have been validated with the information gathered through the NetSyMoD approach in workshops with local actors, and stored in an Integrated Indicators Table (IIT). In this way a link between the main issues affecting the basins as perceived by local actors and the BRAHMATWINN activities has been created, thus fostering integration between research outcomes and local needs.

In a second step a participatory process was carried out to identify responses for sustainable water management in a climate change perspective, in the two river basins UDRB and UBRB.  The methodology implemented through local participatory workshops, aimed at eliciting and evaluating possible responses to flood risk, which were then assessed with respect to the existing governance framework.  The main outcome of such activities consists in the identification of Integrated Water Resource Management Strategies (IWRMS) based upon the issues and preferences elicited from local experts.  The Mulino Decision Support System tool (mDSS) was used to facilitate transparent and robust management of the information, the implementation of multi criteria decision analysis, and the communication of the outputs.  The outcomes of the implementation of the proposed methods and mDSS tool are discussed to assess the potential to support decision-making processes in the field of climate change adaptation (CCA) and integrated water resources management (IWRM).

Finally an analysis was carried out in order to identify governance gaps with respect to response strategies to cope with the expected impacts of climate change in the field of water resources management.  An innovative approach based on the analysis of gaps in the governance status with specific focus on response strategies options, which can be implemented to address flood risk was implemented.  A Gap Analysis Matrix (GAM) was created for the identification of gaps within the governance framework by elaborating further on the contents of the IIT: governance indicators developed within the BRAHMATWINN project were now elaborated further to measure the law and its implementation.  The synthesis of this GAM should be a list of recommendations for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) through the identification of potential gaps in government water resource management policy.