This book is the latest in a long line of Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean studies on water resources in Latin America and the Caribbean which focus on questions relating to the management of water resource systems.

Water is an essential resource for mankind and our ecosystems. Free Flow is a fully illustrated book with over 100 authors work on water management and cooperation at international, regional, national, municipal and local levels. Their commentaries draw upon experiences around the world, reflecting how people are changing their interaction with water to improve sustainable development. The publication reflects progresses and challenges in these fields, highlighting good practices in a wide variety of societies and disciplines. The book strives to project experiences into future actions and encourages further institutional commitments to better understanding of and more effective management of water cooperation in order to achieve sustainable development.

It is increasingly vital that students of international relations and international law, diplomats and other negotiators and observers understand the conditions and realities within which global policy-making, including that relating to the environment, is undertaken. Thought-provoking yet hopeful, the ideas put forward in this book provide students, practitioners, policy-makers and experts with an essential handbook and guide to the field of Global Environmental Governance (GEG). It contains a comprehensive glossary of terms and a substantial list of acronyms, and also incorporates a compelling essay, challenging those concerned with the management of our planet and its inhabitants to understand and accept a vocabulary common to the often opposing GEG objectives which have emerged in the last fifty years.