Island Water Administration: New and Old Challenges and Opportunities

While the interest in freshwater has been growing in global sociological, anthropological and geographical research since the last decades of the 20th century, island studies scholarship continues to focus mainly on the sea/ocean water of insular worlds. Water, in the deep sea as well as in island streams and lakes, but also in the skies and in the underground, is discussed in relation to islanders’ socio-economic-cultural life in blue humanities, critical ocean studies, socio-hydrology and other interdisciplinary fields engaging in small island research. This special section of ‘Island Studies Journal’ considers island water management and administration in five islands and archipelagos in East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean, and Europe. The articles demonstrate how various island contexts confront similar pressures while building local solutions. The articles show how local knowledge, adaptation (and coping) strategies, technological innovation, cultural resilience, and social practices together shape the water administration landscape of the island contexts.