Synchronising climate adaptation processes in a multilevel governance setting: exploring synchronisation of governance levels in the Dutch Delta

In this paper we argue that effective climate adaptation depends on the ability of actors on various levels to achieve a multilevel governance process in which their distinct activities result in a coherent adaptation strategy. The classic government's capacity to coordinate such complex processes has proved limited. Therefore we explore the notion of synchronisation - the ability of actors to connect governance processes that all have their own development, logic and self-organising dynamics. With a theoretical conceptualisation and a case study, we analyse whether and how the concept of synchronisation helps to understand the self-organising coordinative capacity within multilevel governance processes.