摘要：Equitable redistribution of resources is an emergent phenomenon in democratizing countries,and attempts are often characterized by decentralized decision making within a framework ofmultistakeholder negotiations. South Africa offers a unique opportunity to explore the manifestations ofthese relationships, particularly through Integrated Water Resources Management and its National WaterAct of 1998. The Integrated Water Resources Management framework provides for collaborative strategicplanning, shared visioning, consideration to water resource protection, attention to the regulation of use,operational planning, and implementation of management plans. Water users, with different stakes andviews of how the resource should be managed, are expected to arrive at a single strategic plan for a specifichydrological region. Clearly this complex planning situation creates a need for tools that assist in producinga measure of convergence in thinking and enough of a shared rationale to allow stakeholder participationto produce an integrated management outcome. Several such tools are available in the overall catchmentmanagement strategy, but these would benefit from clearer understanding of the positions from whichdifferent stakeholders are operating and a way of knowing whether these positions are aligning. In thispaper challenges posed by differences in meaning and understanding amongst stakeholders are examinedagainst the need to engage stakeholders in water resources management. We deliberate on the prospectsof employing mental model methodologies within the context of the strategic management framework forwater management described
关键词：mental models; participatory water management; stakeholder negotiation
