ABSTRACT
The world’s water resources are under great pressure from increasing human demands. Given water’s key role in development, it is inevitable that conflicts over this resource are on the rise. However, conflict is often a necessary first step towards cooperation. To ensure positive-sum outcomes, it is essential that stakeholders have appropriate knowledge and capacity to collectively move away from potentially destructive actions and behaviours. Litigation is the most widely understood form of formal conflict resolution. However, decisions rendered in court often leave lingering feelings of resentment, resolving the issue but leaving the underlying conditions of the conflict untouched. This chapter reviews the current context for water resources management and describes various approaches to conflict resolution. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is regarded as an important method for achieving mutually beneficial results on conflicted situations. Drawing on their extensive experience with conflict resolution training programs, the authors reflect on these methods and describe effective approaches to capacity building for ADR. While the authors are confident in ADR approaches to conflict management, they argue that it is not a fixed template: among other things, context matters, as does the willingness of all parties to participate in resolving the dispute.
