From Fragmentation to Coherence: Advancing Water Across International Policy Agendas

Water underpins human well-being, ecosystem integrity, climate resilience, food and energy security, public health, and economic development. Yet the institutions, policies, and financing mechanisms that shape water governance continue to evolve largely through separate sectoral and governance processes, limiting opportunities for coordinated action across interconnected global challenges.Recent years have seen renewed international attention to water through the United Nations' expanding engagement, including successive UN Water Conferences and related intergovernmental processes. Together with growing recognition of water's central role across the Sustainable Development Goals and other international policy agendas, these developments have strengthened calls for greater policy integration, institutional coordination, and closer links between science, policy, finance, and practice. At the same time, climate change, environmental degradation, demographic change, urbanization, and increasing competition for water resources underscore the need for governance approaches capable of addressing complex interdependencies across sectors and scales.This Research Topic invites contributions that advance understanding of how the fragmentation of international water governance can be addressed through improved policy integration, institutional coordination, governance innovation, and implementation. Rather than advocating a particular institutional model, it welcomes diverse perspectives on how international cooperation, science-policy interfaces, financing mechanisms, and multi-level governance can strengthen water's contribution to sustainable development and improve outcomes at international, regional, national, basin, and local levels.We welcome original research, review articles, policy analyses, perspectives, and case studies on topics including, but not limited to:• Fragmentation and coordination in international water governance.• Policy integration across water, climate, food, energy, biodiversity, health, disaster risk reduction, and sustainable development.• Institutional innovation and multi-level water governance.• Science-policy interfaces, knowledge systems, and evidence-informed decision-making.• Coordination among international organizations, financing institutions, regional bodies, and multi-stakeholder partnerships.• Water diplomacy and transboundary water cooperation.• National and regional experiences in translating international commitments into policy and practice.• Financing, capacity development, accountability, and implementation mechanisms that support integrated water governance.• Emerging governance approaches that strengthen the role of water across international policy agendas.By bringing together contributions from multiple disciplines and policy communities, this Research Topic aims to deepen understanding of the institutional, governance, scientific, and practical pathways needed to reduce fragmentation, strengthen coordination, and support more effective water policy and action across scales. Topic editors: Richard Graham Taylor, Subimal Ghosh, Olcay I. Unver Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/50776/from-fragmentation-to-coherence-advancing-water-across-international-policy-agendas