Multi-stakeholder platforms: integrating society in water resource management?

multi-stakeholder platforms are a currently popular concept in the international water world. it is however not a very well defined phenomenon. the present article unpacks the concept, proposes to see platforms as networks, and identifies two ′schools of thought′: social learning and negotiation. it attempts a preliminary typology of platforms encountered in real life, in which the comités de bacia in brazil, for all their shortcomings, come out as a relatively influential type. in closing, the article then identifies reasons for non-participation, suggesting that it is an inevitable corollary of organised participation.