Management Research Review

Water resource co-management and sustainable regional development

Cheryl de Boer Hans Bressers
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Cheryl de Boer Hans Bressers , (2013),"Water resource co-management and sustainable regional
development", Management Research Review, Vol. 36 Iss 12 pp. 1238 - 1251
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MRR
36,12 Water resource co-management
and sustainable regional
development
1238
Cheryl de Boer and Hans Bressers
CSTM, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

Abstract
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Purpose Given the importance of multi-stakeholder processes in managing water resources, this
paper aims to shed light on various project management strategies being used in The Netherlands to
increase the effectiveness and efficiency of implementing multifunctional water projects.
Design/methodology/approach Using two sub-projects of the restoration of the Regge River as a
case study, ten strategies used by project managers are uncovered through interviewing involved
actors and analysing the results according to contextual interaction theory.
Findings These strategies support local sustainable development through the overlapping of
various local goals of different stakeholders and reducing risk of failed projects. Co-management can
thus be used as a strategic way to achieve goal alignment, increased information and resources and
trust.
Originality/value Given the pressures related to adaptation for climate change, these lessons can
be used to support increasing both the natural buffering capacity of river resources in a way that also
improve the economic and social values associated with the river basins.
Keywords Project management, Boundary spanning, Receptivity, Resource management,
River restoration, Water co-management
Paper type Case study

1. Introduction
Many challenges are associated with the sustainable use and management of water at
the regional level. In relation to this, a plethora of policies have been developed at many
levels of government to address the water issues and can complicate the environment in
which actions of local stakeholders take place. The water itself is not directly affected
through these policies, but through what happens as a result of them being put into
action by those responsible for implementing water management tasks. This process is
regarded widely as the implementation phase and during this phase it is important for
water managers to take advantage of scarce opportunities through remaining as flexible
as possible in their strategies and perceptions of goal achievement (De Boer and
Bressers, 2011). High levels of accountability are still achievable through this approach
when the performance criteria are under reflexive adjustment and are not fixed
regardless of new situations (Pires, 2011). The field of implementation studies is quite

Management Research Review
Vol. 36 No. 12, 2013
pp. 1238-1251
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2040-8269
DOI 10.1108/MRR-07-2013-0160
The research conducted for the cases included in this study was partially funded as part of the
SYSTERRA de lAgence Nationale de la Recherche (French Research Council) Project: New
Rurality. The authors thank them for their support as well as partners of the authors: CItes
Territoires Environnement Societes (Universite de Tours France), Centre Interdisciplinaire de
Recherche sur les Territoires et leur Amenagement (Universite Paul Cezanne France) and
IDHEAP Institut De Hautes Etudes en Administration Publique (Lausanne Switzerland).
 mature and has gone through a number of stages (De Boer, 2012). According to Montjoy Water resource
and OToole (1979) policy implementation is made up of the decisions that take place in co-management
carrying out a policy, which is different than the impact of the policy. The water
resources are in this case the ultimate target and are affected by the decisions that are
made and the actions that are taken, or not, in relation to the policies that are formed.
Policy implementation is understood in this article as a process that involves the whole
of all activities that are connected to the employment of a preconceived set of policy 1239
measures (Dinica and Bressers, 2003, p. 2).
The current and recent efforts being undertaken by the European Union as a
means of safeguarding and improving national and transboundary water resources
have been viewed as embracing flexibility and other progressive efforts (Kuks, 2004;
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De Boer et al., 2011). Examples such as the European Union Water Framework
Directive show possibilities for improving the sustainable use of water resources in a
number of different contexts with a single (though detailed) progressive policy
document. The Netherlands provides a particularly interesting example of innovative
implementation efforts since water management has a long history and importance in
the daily lives of its citizens.
One size in policy making however, does not fit all. The context that water
management takes place within, has a great deal of impact on the activities that result
(De Boer et al., 2013). This context has both content and structure, both of which are
influential. The dynamics of the implementation processes also influence the involved
actors, and simultaneously these actors play an active role in the process in terms of
determining how the context influences the resulting implementation. Understanding
these processes can be supported through analysing the enabling factors related to
these actions (De Boer, 2012). Managers involved in water related projects can use this
information to reduce risks and improve opportunities when strategising, planning
and implementing their projects.
This paper provides an example of some water management processes taking place
in a country recognized as a world leader in water management, The Netherlands.
This leadership has arisen partially due to the inherent concerns related to water level
management. The increasing frequency of high and low water levels as a result of
climate change is a particularly important concern in recent times. Modern awareness
of these issues has led to a drastic change of approach in water, land and nature
management to support naturally resilient physical infrastructure that provides for both
human and natural environmental needs. Most notably in the parts of The Netherlands
which are above sea level, water management in general is often practiced through
co-management. Many goals apart from solely water quality and quantity management
are being integrated in recent activities and projects being undertaken by water
management authorities (De Boer and Bressers, 2011, 2013). Water retention, nature,
recreation, economic diversification, agriculture, cultural history are often involved
which then requires consultation and partnership with each of the responsible
organizations and NGOs. This arrangement of relationships often creates the need for
boundary spanning between actors, as well as rules and resources to cope with the
complexity and dynamics of the process (Bressers and Lulofs, 2010).
This paper explores the design, development and implementation of projects and
programmes that are focused on planning for multi-functionality, increasing space for
rivers and the connection of natural areas. These efforts are at the heart of new
 MRR initiatives in the Dutch rural areas to meet European and National habitat and water
36,12 quality and quantity goals and require special skill sets from the involved managers
due to the complexity and dynamics that are inherent to them. Here, we investigate a
long-term program that is taking place in the Eastern region of Twente that is dealing
with the restoration of the Regge River. The Regge River is a 52 km tributary river in
the Rhine basin that is embedded in a multi-level governance context. The restoration
1240 project deals with a wide range of actors and groups including agreements with
riparian farmers and connections made to the EU Water Framework Directive. The
process underway is one of co-management, which couples various interests
originating at different scales and levels of the governance context. Project managers
from different organisations work collectively towards a common goal, while not
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losing sight of their internal metrics for success.

To illustrate this with a concrete example we present both the Kalvenhaar and
Visschebelt-Koemast projects which show a remarkable variety of strategies used by
practitioners from the various governmental and non-governmental organizations.
Although these are actually two separate projects, they have chosen to work together
for the benefit of local goals as well to be able to better meet challenging institutional
and funding requirements. The article concludes with a systematic assessment of a
number of important characteristics of the actors involved and of the management
strategies that impact their project development and implementation processes.
Although important contextual differences exist across time and place, the lessons
drawn from analysing the processes can provide worthwhile insights for consideration
when working with similar projects or studying their development.

2. Co-management challenges: water management in high density

environments
For a long period of time in The Netherlands water management has taken the form of
working against undesirable natural forces to provide progress for mankind.
A remarkable paradigm shift has however taken place in the last several decades.
Several European countries, including The Netherlands, have experienced floods and
high waters in large rivers that are understood to be indicative of future changes in
climatic regularities. Although further improving dikes and embankments has
typically been the first response, there is now a reconsideration of the basic underlying
principles that has supported this type of water management. The new paradigm seeks
to maximize opportunities to take advantage of natural means of stabilizing water
levels and preventing floods. In The Netherlands this new paradigm is accompanied by
slogans such as space for rivers, living with water and building with nature. The
predicted further increase of irregular rainfalls caused by climate change as well as the
emphasis of the European Water Framework directive on respecting ecology and
natural river basins have contributed to this paradigm shift.
Working with, rather than against nature often carries different types of (as well as
additional) costs which can be particularly high in densely populated countries such as
The Netherlands. Increased space is often required for these types of interventions, and
this is a particularly valuable resource in The Netherlands. In fact, part of the reason
behind the creation of unnatural interventions in the water system in the past was
precisely the rationalization of the use of space. Attempting to work with natural
processes also poses new challenges in the field of spatial planning.
 Spatial planners in The Netherlands are not unfamiliar with these kinds of challenges Water resource
however. Integration of various spatial claims into productive neighbourships and co-management
multiple uses of the same area are seen by some as being part of their core business.
Water managers do not want their goals to be integrated alongside the already
previously included interests and purposes. Ideally, they seek to have the water system
as the guiding framework, with water rules and policies providing the basis for the
developing efforts. As a broader view on the functions of water (including its role in 1241
nature) has gained wider acknowledgment there are often many different stakeholders
involved and so co-management results in a greater variety of situations.
Of the many river restoration efforts occurring in The Netherlands, the Regge
restoration case is considered to be quite typical in a number of aspects. Multiple
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purposes and, respectively, many levels and scales of governments and private
organizations are involved. The project becomes something more than just a water
management process through the inclusion of nature development aspects as well as
other relevant policies and societal goals. The Regge restoration in particular is
connected to water buffering policies and other projects such as plans to connect
ecological corridors on a larger scale. This manner of project management results in
projects of a significant size and level of ambition and thus often becomes quite complex
and dynamic. These qualities provide ample room to negotiate and develop
relationships throughout the implementation process, and it is also long enough to
make modifying the context possible and often beneficial to the actors involved (De Boer
and Bressers, 2011). Analysis of the processes should thus take into consideration that
not only the process, but also its context evolves and is made to evolve. Relevant policies
in the Regge case were observed to undergo substantial changes within the project
period studied.
The complexity of project implementation and the various strategies of coping with
the resulting level of unpredictability in the system are quite common in Dutch water
and nature restoration projects. On the basis of the many case studies that have been
completed (Projectteam Evaluatie Nationaal Bestuursakkoord Water, 2006) the Regge
restoration process appears to be progressing in a reasonably successful manner. This is
as compared to approximately half of the other cases which are not progressing well at
all. Many of these other projects have run into unforeseen obstacles during the
implementation phase. They tend to specify results in the form of rivalries in resource
use that are solved and in terms of natural and manmade resources values being
improved (Knoepfel and Nahrath, 2005). From this perspective the Regge restoration is
seen as a success. Following a brief explanation of our theoretical framework for
analyzing multi-stakeholder interaction implementation processes and thus also
situations of co-management, we revisit this issue and offer the results of our analysis
which provides some possible reasons for this success. We illustrate this through the
description of the Kalvenhaar and Visschebelt-Koemast projects, two of the Regge River
restoration projects.

3. Sketch of theoretical framework for analyzing co-management

River restoration projects as the one described above guide the attention of the analysis
to look at multi-policy implementation in complex and dynamic social interaction
processes. In these cases, the (inter)actions of the actors involved form the main portion
of the story. Given that the processes operate in a complex and dynamic, and thus
 MRR unpredictable and uncertain environment, programmed implementation (Berman, 1980)
36,12 is a recipe for failure. To be able to succeed in integrating multiple legitimate and desired
uses, multiple actors consent, sectorial policy schemes, funding rules, timeframes and
scale issues, members of project teams need to be skilled boundary spanners
(Williams, 2002) and able to see, use and sometimes create windows of opportunity.
The narratives of the (inter)actions are highly informative as to what strategies are
1242 used by project managers (as well as other actors) to achieve positive results under
various contexts. Consequently, the characteristics of the actors in these implementation
processes are a vital part of the process. The core actor characteristics are the
motivations, the cognitions (interpretations of reality held to be true) and the resources
(providing actors with capacity and mutual power). They are seen as the ultimate
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shapers of inter-actor relationships (Bressers, 2004). These characteristics are influenced

by various layers of context as they are identified in the theoretical framework used, the
contextual interaction theory (De Boer and Bressers, 2011). In this paper we will
concentrate on the actors involved in the interactions and their characteristics.
The actors involved in these implementation processes do not always take the
setting of the process for granted. Rather they can try to influence the course of the
process as well as its setting over the longer period. The externally oriented strategies
that are used to accomplish this are referred to as forms of boundary spanning,
which span scales, time and sectors (Bressers and Lulofs, 2010). These adaptive
strategies can be reactive, responsive or proactive. The external strategies can aim to
influence the motivations, cognitions or resources of the other actors involved.
Alternatively, they can indirectly influence the actor constellation of the operational
rules of the institutional arena in which the process takes place.
To be able to do this requires various capabilities of actor organizations that can be
summarized as receptivity (Jeffrey and Seaton, 2003/2004). Receptivity is used to
indicate the ability to combine new information with existing cognitions, to recognize
new goals as matching existing motivations or the values behind them and to
recognize the opportunities of new resources or combinations with existing resources
to optimize their capacity and power. In order to increase receptivity organizations can
use various internal strategies, which do not influence other actors in the process but
mainly their own organisation. The receptivity of an organization is very dependent on
not only the quality of its members, but also its internal organization and culture.
Generally: to play a successful adaptive role in these complex and dynamic processes,
actors need an organizational philosophy that is oriented towards external cooperation
(De Boer, 2012). This includes building relationships with and interacting with
potentially relevant actors even when no immediate issue is calling for attention
(strategic networking).
As said, a detailed description of a real life process is not only interesting as a story as
such, but is also important to gain a deeper insight and understanding of the more
general context for such processes and the options practitioners have therein to develop
the most successful case. By beginning with the detailed description of the existing
cases, the analysis and insights which are derived and later included, can be better
understood. The interaction processes are analysed by uncovering the motivations,
cognitions and resources of the actors involved. This information is then used to
understand the various strategies employed by the actors as part of the implementation
process.
 4. The Kalvenhaar Visschebelt-Koemaste case study Water resource
The case study area that we present to illustrate our points in this section consists of two co-management
adjacent projects that are closely interconnected. The Kalvenhaar project was realized
during the years 2005 and 2006. In this particular area the primary goal was to decrease
the likelihood of future flooding. Space for nature development was planned within this
area that also provided an option to create water retention capacity and restoration of the
natural characteristics of the river. Two old river arms were restored and put back into 1243
use, recreating a natural meander in this part of the Regge. Landscape Overijssel is the
body generally responsible for the nature development in the area. This project is located
on the east side of the river while directly on the other side of the Regge they are currently
in the planning process for the area of Visschebelt-Koemaste project which will
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also restore portions of the river and its shores.

4.1 Interaction processes and results

Kalvenhaar is a fully completed project near the village of Hellendoorn. The project
began when the Water Board became aware that the Municipality was dealing with a
problem related to a farm that lay right in the middle of the village of Hulsen. In a
cooperative effort amongst the Water Board, the province and Municipality they were
able to buy this farmers property as well as the lands of a relatively nearby farmer who
was planning on moving to Portugal. Since the first farmer wanted to continue farming,
they were able to move him to the second area. This area was made more suitable for
both nature and farming once they turned the lower ground into a nature area in
combination with water storage and the upper ground into the farm, inclusive of the
farmhouse, for the farmer from Hulsen. The Water Board has now successfully realized
this project and the nature area is now under the management of Landscape Overijssel.
The adjoining project, Visschebelt-Koemaste, is developing opposite to this area, on
the east side of Hellendoorn. Through the adaptation to new subsidy requirements the
Water Board and the Municipality found an opportunity to combine these two projects
in a way that enabled them to be eligible for these funds. The Water Board was mainly
active in the south of the area (Visschebelt) restoring Regge meanders and the
Municipality worked in the north of the area (Koemaste). Each have their own name for
their portions of the project, but both see them as complimentary and in fact one
project. In this area there are plans for a north-south by-pass road. This has created
dynamics that are seen as an opportunity to do something in terms of restoration of the
area as well. The work that took place on the other riverbank in the Kalvenhaar project
enabled the Water Board to become informed of the plans for this area and thus
enabled the creation of this project. The Municipality has devoted 1.5 million Euros for
working the new road into the landscape and the province is also willing to devote a
similar amount. The hope is that by using this three million Euros to begin these kinds
of works now they can show that the new road will be built attractively into the
landscape and reduce the chance for legal appeal against the plans. This could speed
up the process of road construction to be completed within two years.
Very near to this area is a Unilever Ben & Jerrys plant. There is a specific interest
by this plant to incorporate the tenets of sustainability and environmental stewardship
into their processes since the Ben & Jerrys label strongly markets its environmental
stewardship. For instance: the milk used to make ice-cream comes from the various
farmers in the direct surroundings. The factory already had a visitors centre but they
 MRR would like to enlarge it and to have it overlooking the river plains. They would also like
36,12 to turn the current facility into something that more resembles an old factory. This
projected centre would lay directly on the shores of the Regge and so the Water Board,
the Landscape Overijssel and Ben & Jerrys have had preliminary discussions about
the plans and funding and have decided to progress further together.
A new north-south road as discussed earlier also plays a role in this project. While
1244 the Municipality was able to achieve agreements with the farmers involved regarding
the plans, some house owners objected to the new road coming too closely to their
houses. They stated a preference for having it planned further away, closer to the
Regge valley. This was however unacceptable for the Municipality, the Water Board
and also the province given that they see this area as part of a planned ecological
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linkage zone. A variant of this plan including the Ben & Jerrys factory at the urban
side of the new road would still intrude too much on this area, and in addition would
make it impossible for the factory to have a visitors centre overlooking the river plain
and the grazing cows that they actually obtain their milk from. The Municipality has
developed a plan that would turn the present street into a parallel road and the new
main road would be set behind some natural brush, a solution that was able to satisfy
the households that are adjacent to the present north-south road. The only place where
it is not possible to accomplish this is right in front of the Ben & Jerry factory, for
which money has been made available to erect a noise screen that would also remove
the view of the factory and its traffic. In this process, the households are to a certain
extent allowed to shop for what they would like in order to improve their situation
with the money made available. The company itself also wants to contribute to the
improvement of the situation by relocating its truck entrance to the side where it can be
connected to a roundabout to decrease the already present nuisance for the adjacent
houses. The Municipality is also collaborating with the factory and supporting its idea
to make the plant a sustainability showcase. They believe that it could be decisive in
future decisions by this multinational to remain in the Municipality and thus important
for many direct and indirect jobs.
Even though municipal elections were very near and thus political sensitivity was
higher than usual, the project team held a walk in meeting in March 2010. The reason
being that they felt it was very important to do this before the plans became too elaborated
and because it was not an option to delay the preparation since both of the main subsidies
and the provincial reserve funds required that the work started before the end of 2010.
They tried to use their knowledge of the area and the people to develop aspects in such a
way that would give them a sense of co-ownership over the project. For instance they knew
that the neighbouring village of Hellendoorn has many associations that are interested in
the rich cultural history of the area and so they deliberately invited them to give their input.
The organizers of the villages Easter Fire (a very old tradition in Overijssel) were invited
because there was a debate happening surrounding the smoke blanket that is caused by
the large fire and then carried over the village by Western winds. The project was
recognised as having the area to offer possibilities to improve this situation. Ben & Jerrys
was also invited and considered it to be a good opportunity to explain their vision and
position to a wider audience than just the neighbours and officials that were directly
involved. All of the issues that were brought up were noted and attempts were to be made
to resolve or explain them. In this way the project team hoped that appeals by the
community that could block the progress of the project could be avoided. In actuality, there
 were no appeals in any of the Regge restoration projects in the Municipality of Water resource
Hellendoorn, which is quite extraordinary for such projects in The Netherlands. co-management
4.2 Summary of relevant observations
Infrastructure, recreation and eco-education benefits are present in this project in
addition to the more typical results in terms of water buffering, nature development
and landscape. The elegant manner in which the new infrastructure, a north-south 1245
connection road, is worked into the landscape, will hopefully help speed up the
realization of the road by reducing any negative feelings towards the project by the
community. The area is a relatively appropriate one for holding the regional and
traditional Easter fires and so supporting this through reducing the negative impacts is
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another example of a side benefit that has been provided by the process taken. The
creation of a visitors centre for the large ice-cream factory in the project area also
serves to underline its own green image. In turn, the municipality hopes that this will
reinforce the attractiveness for further investment in the plant by the head company.
This would thus also improve the strength of the economic basis of the town. These
observations can be understood in greater depth by analysing the main actor
characteristics exhibited during the processes.

4.3 Motivations
The motivations of the actors involved can shed light on how it was possible that they
were able to work so well together with so many different and generally separately
handled project goals. The motivation of the Water Board to fulfil its water
management tasks through river restoration was supported by a number of others in
the area. One farmer was motivated to stop farming, and another to continue but in
another place. The Municipality wanted the farmer to be moved to a more suitable
location, and build a new road that would be accepted by citizens in the area.
Landscape Overijssel was interested in adding to their natural protected area in that
region. Ben & Jerrys wanted to expand their visiting centre and the inhabitants were
against having their landscape and quiet atmosphere further disrupted by additional
traffic and a road within closer proximity to their houses. These motivations could be
coupled since the various actors were aware of them and could thus look for
opportunities to work together to achieve their various goals.

4.4 Cognitions
By exposing the different cognitions of the actors involved, their underlying reasoning
and positioning can be better understood. This can help to determine whether or not
other efforts being taken within the process will be able to be coupled to reach consensus
and progress. One aspect of cognitions which stands out is that the inhabitants were
very concerned about moving the road closer to their houses because they believed that
this would be seriously detrimental to their living environment in terms of noise and
pollution. This was addressed through the public walk in meetings where they showed
the different options that could be taken to minimize this and as well different options for
compensating them in other ways. Though at the time of the interviews the procedure
was not complete, it looked like this change of perceptions of the possible consequences
of the plan would succeed in indirectly causing the neighbours motivations to become
less opposed to the overall project.
 MRR 4.5 Resources
36,12 As mentioned above, resources were exchanged and coupled in different ways to
influence the interaction process. Ben & Jerrys for example were willing to contribute
additional resources in the form of additional road-work and infrastructure to prevent
their residential neighbours from using their main power resource against the project
and appeal the project to the courts.
1246
4.6 Strategies and receptivity
Strategies used were the inclusion of the plant management in the project and in the
information meetings on the project (actor constellation). This information meeting
was not postponed even though it was election time because of the pressure of subsidy
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deadlines and because they felt it was important in terms of getting information for the
initiators themselves. Local knowledge is very important to be able to see new
opportunities, for instance inviting the organization of the Easter fires to use the area,
and creating further goodwill. Local knowledge about the wishes of landowners and
other people had also already been gathered while working on the Kalvenhaar project
on the other side of the Regge.
The receptivity of the project team was shown through how it dealt with the new
funding schemes that had made integrated projects more difficult to achieve by forcing
an increased emphasis on the separate goals. In order to work within requirements of the
funding structure, the project team chose to divide the project into two parts (officially).
To prevent the two parts from becoming incompatible with one another all of the
established intensive communication and trust that had developed in the (still joint)
project team was fostered and maintained. Another good example of the receptivity of
the project team was that they could see the opportunities that the inclusion of a private
company could have in the development of and support for the plan. This inclusion was
far from obvious, because until recently these types of inclusions had rarely been
considered in Dutch water projects. The support of the administrators of the Waterboard
and Municipality for exploring such inclusive strategies provided very useful support in
addition to the receptivity of the project team.

5. Managerial strategies for water co-management

An essential feature observed in integrated water resource projects is the coupling of
several goals stemming from various policies and stakeholders interests. This can in
fact be very productive because competing claims for land use need not always be
mutually exclusive. Through the inclusion of these multiple policies, multiple arenas
and actor constellations and multiple governance contexts also need to be joined
together in what we can label as an inter-regime (De Boer and Bressers, 2010). When
the goals are similar, overlapping, mutually reinforcing or even unrelated important
synergies can be discovered. For instance, the nature NGO which was often involved in
most of the Regge restoration projects openly accepts that the main project priorities
are often related to water, landscape and recreation development, since they are
confident that nature development will follow as a result of improvements in the other
three. When the development of these synergistic projects also includes some trade offs
and compromises the resulting package as a whole can end up being better for
everyone. Accomplishing this without falling into the traps that prevent achieving the
best outcome is the key point in moving towards a successful project.
 Not only in the Kalvenhaar and Visschebelt-Koemast cases, but in all Regge projects Water resource
the Waterboard made strong use of direct personal communication, which they regard co-management
as essential to preventing future problems. They promote the slogan of: two days of
drinking coffee in kitchens and living rooms is better than two years of dealing with
legal consequences. This also reduces the risk of spending months in litigation and
halting the project. It is thus felt that, using the most direct options for communication
is the most productive strategy for cooperating with private landowners and 1247
inhabitants. The importance that the Waterboard places on this aspect was exhibited
through its choice to have research performed about the people involved in one of the
projects regarding how they experienced the program, the communication process and
their level of participation.
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With respect to institutional stakeholders there is a similar way of ensuring

everyone gathers at the table even when interests are perceived as being different. It
can be that their positions are not really in opposition but that they are only dissimilar
and so partnership has not been an obvious way forward. Creating the right
atmosphere in which the actors do not begrudge gains for the others, and where the
atmosphere is one where getting everyones goals achieved to the greatest extent
possible, are quite similar. Persistent communication and approaching each other as
equals is the preferred method of undertaking these projects. It is believed that it works
best when parties really attempt to do their best in helping to achieve each others
interests. This creates upwards spirals and in the end leads to higher rewards for all
parties involved.
The development of a team atmosphere among all actors involved was one way in
which they were able to accomplish these synergistic activities. When actors feel
themselves to be and appear to be primarily members of the project team more so than
representatives from their individual organizations it allows them to see the interests of
the project as their own. This adds greatly to the likelihood of an optimal project design
for all of the parties involved.
The determination of the actions or setting that leads to the development of this sort
of cooperative-game situation and the avoidance of competition is an important task.
In The Netherlands there have been examples which did develop into the sort of
competition situation that is actively avoided in the Regge projects. In such competitive
scenarios the actors still see the process as a sort of game but more so where one can only
benefit or win at the expense or detriment of the other players (parties). Even when the
game is played in a fair way, this preconception influences the likelihood of achieving a
well-integrated arrangement or agreement. Who receives what and who ends up with
the most becomes the central question. The question that must be asked is then how
can one ensure that the people involved adopt this other frame of mind which revolves
around joint project development? Integrated project teams are thought to be of key
importance in the process. The art is in finding the right and most important players to
make up the team. Various parties and their goals will always need to be met however it
is most important to discuss them and work them out in the project team.
Repeatedly coming into contact and working with the same parties on various
projects, eases cooperation in future projects (when mutual experiences are positive).
Participants already know each other, have built up trust with one another and they
have also learned important information about each other and their organizations.
Learning also occurs in the sense that they have learned what to do differently in their
 MRR successive involvements with the project members. This makes it easier to find the
right people to talk to and can also make certain processes less formal (and thus often
36,12 more expedient).
Some of the external strategies that are not only observed in the Kalvenhaar and
Visschebelt-Koemast cases, but also in the other subprojects of the Regge River
restoration (De Boer and Bressers, 2011 for a full account) are summarised in the
1248 following paragraphs. They are in fact not really separate, but clearly reinforce each
others efficacy.

(1) Being open to synergies

Openness to synergies is not only a way to make efficient use of public money from
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various sources, and of scarce space in a dense country, but it is also a way to increase
the likelihood of achieving actor constellations with supportive characteristics
(motivations, cognitions, resources) for the progress of the process.

(2) The management of relations

This strategy relates to building relationships and trust with other relevant actors
before the project begins (actor constellation, timing). The choice for a voluntary
approach as opposed to using legal coercion or formal agreements is a strategy
designed to improve the likelihood of development of sufficient trust and mutual
commitment of the stakeholders involved.

(3) Blurring process phase boundaries

The inclusion of non-typical actors at different stages in the process can increase
complexity when done in an extreme manner, it can also prevent situations in which
the later involvement of new actors blocks the process or provides other unpleasant
surprises. One way to reduce the additional complexity is by dividing the project into
smaller geographical sub-projects.

(4) Surfing the waves

The Waterboard also found that on a number of occasions it was not optimal to start a
project on its own, but to wait and to latch onto an existing initiative. Not taking on the
lead role in a process can have disadvantages under adversarial conditions, but had
mainly advantages for the Waterboard when the goals are in accordance with one
another.

(5) Seizing opportunities

There are also good examples of where the timing was used advantageously:
opportunities that would support the broader restoration vision were taken as soon as
they occurred. Actions that would enable the project to move forward with quick wins
were taken in order to build momentum, leaving issues related to tougher areas for a
later time when more resources are available.

(6) Learning to build trust

Learning from past projects plays an important role in the implementation process.
Knowing who to ask (or not), how to build trust, or how to build informal contacts can
move processes along more quickly. Likewise, good cooperation can be presented as a
positive example to support the development of relationships desired in the future.
 More generally, conceding on some issues can be used as a calculated risk to help to Water resource
build a level of shared trust that will have returns later on. co-management
(7) Knowing your context
Proactive information gathering and becoming acquainted with local knowledge can
improve the projects as it is generally very useful to be aware of various types of
opportunities. Chances to create goodwill in ways that can be included into the project 1249
without much difficulty are then less likely to be overlooked.

(8) Seeking alignment

Through thoughtful and early communication it is possible to understand the
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motivations of the people involved and can make it possible to influence them. Actively
investigating the interests of groups in the community is also done in order to increase
resources in an innovative way through access to community funding.

(9) Direct personal communication

It is very important to have as much direct personal communication with stakeholders
as possible. Open consultation is also key when dealing with institutional stakeholders.
Creativity during the implementation process used to support others interests can
result in the development of other valuable resources, such as trust.

(10) Advanced positioning

Purchasing land in the time preceding project development in order to hold a private
landowner resource position in the area is also often used as a strategy. This kind of
resource can be put into use during later phases of the process when it is needed; which
if left until that time to acquire can result in difficulties in terms of price and
availability.
In the case of the Waterboard as well as for the other actors involved, the internal
organization and relationships are often crucial for providing the capacity to act
adaptively in a complex and dynamic setting. Regular contact between staff and
elected officials enables the right decision makers to be informed about complex
processes. Both explicitly and implicitly, this gives the staff a sense of direction and
degree of freedom in pursuing specific plans when they are in regular contact with
administrators from other organizations. Compared to a more hierarchical model in
which all contacts between the civil servants and the political leadership are funneled
via one or a few key persons or procedures, this greatly improves the dynamic capacity
for action in multi-stakeholder settings and improves the motivation of the civil
servants themselves as well.
Additionally, it is important to make strong project teams with well-chosen people
from different organizations who can develop a shared feeling of loyalty to the project.
The members should feel that they are part of a team working towards a common
product or goal, as opposed to being concerned with winning a game. Creating such
teams can be regarded as a proactive strategy towards overcoming future unexpected
obstacles. Accordingly, they need support from their home organizations to be able to
make a worthwhile contribution to these teams. Having some degree of leeway to
commit time and resources can help the involved actors make use of opportunities as
they arise.
 MRR To make these projects work it is very important that within an organization there
36,12 is direct informal communication between civil servants and board members and vice
versa. This improves the opportunities of including more staff from the organization in
the various sub-processes (and hence enabling them to support each others actions). It
also mutually creates good knowledge of the conditions of the process and the leeway
that the board allows. In order to deliver the necessary support for such adaptive
1250 strategies, the board and the civil servants need the political backing of the council.
Issues concerning the balance between leeway and control need to be determined
case-wise and regularly reassessed based on previous experiences.
Lastly a learning process will result from just being open and alert to coincidental
and occasional opportunities, to actively looking for them, and further to ultimately
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assessing the situation and the other actors to look for possibilities to create new
opportunities. This involves making good use of the important element of timing.

6. Conclusion
Sustainable regional development can be supported by river restoration projects when
they take advantage of various overlaps in goals and ambitions of different
stakeholders. The nature of the processes are often quite local, but the cases described
here show how different levels of policies and programs can influence their outcome and
can even provide additional support and opportunities. The resulting implementation
contexts can however develop into something quite complex and co-management is
often a key process used to progress. Co-management can be used in a strategic way to
take advantage of goal alignment, increased information and resources, and trusting
relationships to overcome obstacles and maximise opportunities. To understand the use
of co-management and other strategies towards the improvement of the natural
ecosystem and the social, cultural and economic environment requires the researcher to
look past the typical project management phases and address the dynamic and
innovative processes at work. The resulting analysis has shown that in these type of
projects it is indeed possible to maximize their value for sustainable regional
development by being open to complexity and uncertainty in a good balance with
strategic goal achievement. For the water managers in these types of projects, this
involves external strategies to influence the degree to which such projects are supported.
In turn the use of this external and adaptive orientation requires a high degree of
receptivity of the organizations themselves. Internal strategies to enhance these new
capacities are often also required.

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Further reading
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their sustainability, in Grover, V.I. (Ed.), Water: Global Common and Global Problems,
Science Publishers, Enfield, NH, pp. 235-268.
van Leussen, W. (2011), Leven met water: Waterbeheer in Nederland volgens de
stroomgebiedbenadering in een tijd van klimaatverandering, University of Twente,
Enschede.

Corresponding author
Cheryl de Boer can be contacted at: c.deboer@utwente.nl

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