The Water Convention, a multilateral environmental agreement as community of practice

Abstract

Multilateral Environmental Agreements are important international instruments for achieving sustainable development. Nevertheless, their implementation is often not easy and integration with scientific knowledge during implementation can be troublesome. The 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) has developed a way of implementing its’ program of work that can best be described as a Community of Practice that combines scientific developments with practical implications. This approach has attracted much attention from practitioners in the field of water management and has been highly successful in many practical applications of its principles. This paper will describe how the Water Convention operates and will argue why this can be termed a Community of Practice. Different examples will be presented to underscore how the Water Convention through this approach has been able to attain progress towards its goals.