Water Governance, Policy and Knowledge Transfer

International Studies on Contextual Water Management

In an increasingly global community of researchers and practitioners, new technologies and communication means have made the transfer of policies from one country or region to another progressively more prevalent. There has been a lot of attention in the field of public administration paid to policy transfer and institutional transplantation. This book aims to create a better understanding of such transfers in the water management sector. These include the adoption of modern water management concepts, such as integrated water resources management and forms of water governance, which are strongly promoted and sometimes also imposed by various international organizations. Transfers also occur within the scope of development aid or for the purpose of creating business opportunities. In addition, many research organisations, consultancies and governmental agencies are involved in cross-border work.

The purpose of this book is therefore to present practical examples of the transfer of modern water management from one locality to another and to critically discuss the transferability of policy and governance concepts by analysing the contextual needs and factors. Case studies are included from North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It is argued that in many cases context matters in water management and that there is no panacea or universal concept that can be applied to all countries or regions with different political, economic, cultural and technological contexts. Yet it is also shown that some countries are facing pressing and similar water management issues that cut across national borders, and hence the transfer of knowledge may be beneficial.