Wetland and peatland restoration schemes have increasingly been proposed as strategies and measures to mitigate climate change and reduce nutrient runoff into nearby rivers. These initiatives outlined in agri-climate-environmental schemes aim to achieve the environmental objectives and climate targets of the EU Water Framework Directive, national carbon emission reduction targets and more recently, the EU Biodiversity Strategy. However, while these restoration schemes are designed to combat urgent matters and demand large-scale and fast implementation as well as specific placements in the landscape, the restoration projects often span several years. Many projects ultimately fail to materialize due to landowner resistance. In Denmark, these restoration schemes rely on voluntary landowner participation and involve collaboration between local governments, state authorities, publicly funded wetland consultants, and technical consultants. Understanding these collaborative processes is essential for the success of these projects.
This paper analyses the roles of these actors and the collaborative dynamics involved in implementing wetland restoration projects, with a particular focus on securing landowners’ participation. Using a qualitative case study design, we examine the implementation process of restoration schemes, by conducting in-depth investigations of completed and non-implemented restoration cases in Denmark. We ask: How did the project process emerge and develop over time, and how were they shaped by the negotiations between landowners and local governments as well as by the involvement of other actors? How did these processes facilitate landowners’ acceptability of the projects?
In the winter and spring 2025, we will collect data through qualitative interviews, using the analytical lens of process net mapping methodology, supplemented by relevant documents. This approach will connect the actors’ expectations and needs (met or unmet) to the process of project implementation by exploring them through key events. The paper will also illustrate the criteria used by the involved actors to define success and failure of the engagement process. Since the landowners' participation is a critical focal point of these projects, the analysis will include how their engagement is secured, and how trust is built (or not), and the challenges will be a part of the presentation.