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Viewpoint – IWRM and I: A reflexive travelogue of the Flows and Practices research team

Alex Bolding
Water Resources Management group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands; alex.bolding@wur.nl

Rossella Alba
Governance and Sustainability Lab, Trier University, Trier, Germany; alba@uni-trier.de

ABSTRACT: This viewpoint article critically discusses how IWRM travelled to each of the researchers of the Flows and Practices team, through which networks they personally engaged with IWRM, what opportunities the IWRM saga offered these researchers and how they tried to translate the concept and policy idea of IWRM into something more aligned with their concerns. By providing this self-reflection we aim to apply the conceptual framework used for the study of the travel and transformation of IWRM as a policy idea to ourselves, as a group of water professionals, realising that we ourselves have actively attempted to influence, transform, promote or resist the IWRM policy agenda. The viewpoint calls for enhancing transparency, self-reflection and appreciating the role (and power) of researchers and practitioners both as individuals and groups in shaping concepts and ideas.

KEYWORDS: IWRM, policy articulation, policy networks, translation, personal reflection