ABSTRACT
In the aftermath of the Rio Earth Summit, the term ‘capacity building’ was born, reflecting the great need for performance improvement at individual, organizational and sectoral levels to contribute to sustainable development. This is not the only dimension of reflection: capacity building is a mirror for a wide range of trends and ideas within a highly complicated and sophisticated system; a mirror of the system itself, its achievements, but also its failures and contradictions. Therefore, the nature of capacity building is very complex. As a consequence, this paper cannot cover its whole and continuously emerging complexity, but it will outline some definitions and trends, the current challenges and a possible approach of capacity building to contribute to improved water resources management.
