ABSTRACT
Management of natural resources is a long-term complex, multi-stakeholder affair in which many players at many different levels have to assume responsibilities and account for this to others. Natural resource management (and water is such a resource) can be seen as a system composed of two interacting decision-making subsystems: a ‘horizontal’ land/water use system and a ‘vertical’ human activity system. The horizontal system may be described as the complex interaction between land/water/vegetation and their users within a given geographical space and timeframe, taking into account down- and upstream effects. The vertical system may be described as a complex network composed of different levels of actors, from local households to governments. All these actors have their own roles, rights, responsibilities and sometimes conflicting interests in water resource management. These two interacting systems could be described as a decision-making-in-conflict system (Laban, 1994) that should be considered when promoting local water governance. Each level (element of the system) will interact with other levels. Through their activities actors influence and interfere with the very conditions they are taking into account when decisions are being made (Röling ampentity Engel, 1991). The outcomes of such interactions can be either positive or negative, depending upon its impact on the sustainability of water resource management. Systems-oriented research will explore the degree of accountability that different actors at different levels have to assume in order to sustain local water governance activities (Laban, 1994).
