There has been some cross-fertilization between the two
strands of literature, for example, with U.S.- and Europe-based
water management researchers developing applications of
Habermas’s concepts together (e.g., Renn et al. 1995) and
European researchers taking note of the current influence of
Lewin and Rogers (e.g., Pahl-Wostl et al. 2007). An open
question remains as to what extent the various social learning
concepts and applications can be translated into practice in
natural resources management processes. This is of particular
importance because social learning is in many cases not yet
on the agenda of water managers and because many of the
applications, for example, reflections of a group on its
performance, are psychologically and culturally difficult tasks
in many settings (also see Huitema et al. 2009).