Connective capacity in water governance practices: the meaning of trust and boundary spanning for integrated performance

This article deals with water governance to face institutional fragmentation in water management practices. In this holistic approach the connective capacity with domains, levels, scales, organizations and actors is emphasized. Recent literature and empirical research shows that both trust and boundary spanning leadership turn out to be of great importance for realizing connective capacity and subsequently integrated performance in water management practices. Trust stimulates and consolidates coordination and interaction between different actors from different domains and organizations in the water governance networks, and therefore leads to cross-boundary partnerships. Trust is developed in informal network structures. Boundary spanners are important in creating and stimulating informal spaces of interaction, and thus in creating conditions for trust to evolve in these actor networks. In this way positive relationships between trust, boundary spanning, informal networks and integrated performance is realized.