Building a research agenda on water policy: an exploration of the Water Framework Directive as an interdisciplinary problem

Under the European Union Water Framework Directive, Europe's water bodies must be managed in an integrated and sustainable manner, taking account of stakeholder views, and are required to achieve ‘good status’ by 2015. This policy represents a shift in approach to the management of the environment and raises multiple questions about the relationship between policy-making, policy implementation, and the research base informing policy work. Specifically, it prompts questions about existing approaches to the study of environment and society, and how natural and social scientists should work together. Here we review some of these questions, and explore a specific response to them in the formation of a cross-disciplinary research network. We conclude the paper by outlining potential ways forward to understanding the layered challenges presented by the need for sustainable water management.