KNOWLEDGE UTILIZATION IN WATER MANAGEMENT IN THE NETHERLANDS RELATED TO DESICCATION

The use of scientific knowledge in environmental policy making is an i mportant topic. However, the relation between knowledge producers and policy makers is not a straightforward producer-user relationship. The development of a national desiccation policy in the Netherlands and t he implementation of desiccation plans in local situations are used as a case study to investigate the knowledge policy relationship. Three theoretical explanations were used to analyze this case: a difference between the cultures of producers and users; a different rationality o f the policy making and research processes; and processes of social co nstruction of problem definitions which imply that different knowledge stocks are used depending on the framing of the policy problem. Emerg ence of the policy issue at the national level is demonstrated to deve lop in close interaction between knowledge producers and policy makers , while the interactions at the local level were more based on integra tion of expert knowledge through personal expertise and closely tied t o the development of management plans. This case study:hus reveals a d ifference between general knowledge supporting measures at the nationa l policy level and the way in which specific knowledge is applied in l ocal cases. Therefore more attention should be paid to the translation of policy problems from rather high levels of political authority to the conceptualization at lower management levels. A final conclusion i s that knowledge use in Dutch desiccation policy can be understood by pointing to multiple theoretical perspectives. The rational actor mode l and a constructivist perspective turned out to be especially useful in explaining the different ways knowledge was used at the national an d the local level.