ABSTRACT
This chapter elaborates and analyses a German-Dutch nature conservation project called the 'Gelderse Poort' in terms of a transboundary policy network that seeks for an international policy for a nature area along the river Rhine. Social-cognitive configurations in the Gelderse Poort network are reconstructed by means of an analysis of primary empirical data. Supplementary data was collected by interviewing representatives of the actors involved in the policy network. Nature conservation policy for the Gelderse Poort is aimed at the conservation of the rural cultural landscape. Policy for rural areas in Nordrhein-Westfalen is more embracing than the Dutch policies, and includes the protection of the entire natural environment. The Gelderse Poort area is given relatively little specific attention in nature policy. The Gelderse Poort is mainly an issue at the local and municipal level and not embedded in a national or state policy.
