Boundary Work for Collaborative Water Resources Management: Conceptual and Empirical Insights from a South African Case Study

Water is a basis for life and ecosystem health. And water, especially in regions affected by water scarcity, is a highly contested and politicised natural resource. The state-of-the-art in sustainable water resources management requires collaborative approaches that foster the integration of conflicting interests of multiple stakeholders. Achieving integration in complex and contested real life situations however remains a major challenge. Boundary work can facilitate this ambitious goal. This study evolves boundary work science to improve collaboration in the water sector. It develops a framework for boundary work that enables understanding, structuring and approaching barriers for collaborative water resources management. A case study from the Garden Route region, South Africa gives a grounded basis for the conceptual developments and further provides in-depth insights into reasons and obstacles for collaborative water resources management in a contested local case. The case study serves both: An intrinsic analysis of a conflictive case, and conceptual developments to the boundary work framework – tested against local realities.

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https://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:6-38229604351

ISBN
978-3-8405-0131-9

Paperback, XXIII, 272 pages