Social, economic, and legal aspects of polder implementation for flood risk management in Poland and Hungary

Abstract The implementation of nature‐based solutions that involve natural processes to mutually decrease flood risk and protect natural ecosystems can be an answer to the demand for resilient flood risk management (FRM). As an example of a nature‐based solution, flood polders have the potential to deliver those benefits; however, a need for innovation is observed in the field of redefining, combining, and reformulating existing approaches to improve the welfare and wellbeing of individuals and communities. This article aims to investigate polder implementation and management processes, perceived as a potential introduction of social innovation in Poland and Hungary, where social innovation in FRM is required but where the introduction of innovative solutions stalls at different stages. Based on a comparative analysis, a set of factors for effective social innovation was formulated regarding formal and legal conditions and economic and social aspects of polder management and implementation. Each of identified factors can either allow or hinder public engagement and successful social innovation.