The GLOWS program, together with its coastal counterpart, the Sustainable Coastal Communities and Ecosystems Program (SUCCESS) form part of the Integrated Management of Coastal and Freshwater Systems initiative (IMCAFS) sponsored by USAID. The IMCAFS umbrella provides a unique opportunity for comparing and exchanging experiences on topics in integrated water resources management (IWRM) and integrated coastal management (ICM). Toward this end, IMCAFS partners have developed an Agenda for Learning that will gather information from project sites and outside resources to better understand the components of successful IWRM and ICM programs.

The IMCAFS Agenda for Learning has two main objectives: 1) to conduct research on linkages between freshwater and coastal systems and how these linkages may be reflected in management decisions, and 2) to share experiences and lessons learned from IMCAFS field projects.

The GLOWS consortium also pursues a learning agenda focused on five themes (see below) of special interest and importance to the IWRM community. Lessons related to these themes are systematically drawn from across our field activites and student research is directed toward identified gaps in our understanding.

• Applying IWRM principles in differing policy and institutional settings. How can IWRM be accomplished under different political, institutional, economic, and social conditions?
• Achieving public participation under different scenarios of legitimacy, from formally recognized basin organizations and WUAs to unofficial citizen groups. How can citizen concerns best be captured and incorporated into management planning and implementation?
• Securing water for the environment. How can environmental flows that sustain ecosystem functioning be achieved in different political, institutional, economic, and social construct conditions?
• Quantifying the nature and value of ecosystem services in different IWRM settings. Can we measure and value the role of forests, land management practices, free flowing river reaches, etc., for water resources management?
• IWRM as a tool in biodiversity conservation. How can the theory and practice of IWRM support and strengthen the enhanced management of biologically important resources?