Critical Reflections on Building a Community of Conversation about Water Governance in Australia

摘要: Water governance has emerged as a field of research endeavour in response to failures current and historical management approaches adequately address persistent decline ecological health many river catchments pressures on associated communities. Attention situational framing is key aspect emerging water research, including innovations that build capacity confidence experiment with capable transforming situations usefully framed ‘wicked’. Despite international investment national agenda was lacking Australia the late 2000s were mechanisms interdisciplinary transdisciplinary collaborative policy practice. Through two-year Governance Research Initiative (WGRI), we designed facilitated development community conversation between researchers concerned dynamics human-ecological systems from natural sciences, humanities, social policy, economics, law philosophy. The WGRI learning system, intention it would provide opportunities for conversations, reflection emerge. In this paper outline starting conditions design WGRI, critically reflect new narratives arose initiative, evaluate its effectiveness boundary organisation contributed knowledge co-production governance. Our findings point importance institutions can act integrative facilitative mechanisms, work local stakeholders practitioners.