yes / The context for irrigation modernization in Syria reflects global drivers for change in irrigated agriculture. Two drivers are identified as being of particular importance, increasing stress on water resources, and the trend towards irrigation management transfer to the farmer level. Within these broad categories a number of specific challenges are likely to be of importance in the modernization process in Syria. Capacity-building to meet these challenges is required at three levels, policy, institutions and the individual. This paper focuses on institutional development, as being the most difficult level at which to undertake effective capacity-building. It discusses the institutional framework for irrigation management and goes on to describe current approaches, based round the concept of design principles. Constraints and limitations of the design principles approach are discussed. The paper concludes by proposing an agenda for preliminary action on capacity-building for irrigation modernization. This agenda comprises an institutional mapping exercise, an assessment of the roles and responsibilities of water sector entities, and the development of a strategy for supporting farmer-level institutions. Integration with other capacity-building initiatives (policy reform, human resource development) is necessary if it is to make an effective contribution to the overall modernization programme.

. / This study is about the on-ground implementation of sustainable farm practices supported by policies and directives that form the core of the European Union’s sustainability policy. Its goal is to identify the blockers to effective policy implementation in order to improve the approach to sustainability in the agricultural sector. Exploring ways to engage local stakeholders in farm sustainability has been central to create a holistic understanding about the processes that drive practices in agriculture systems, and the extent to which these processes can be transformed. Sustainability in agriculture is a broad topic, hence this study focuses on one segment of sustainability namely the use and management of water resources in irrigated agriculture. The study’s final recommendations to improve policy design and interventions, however, are general and apply to the implementation of all sustainable farm practices. Practical effectiveness of EU policies and directives for sustainable agriculture is constrained by: a lack of evaluating criteria to measure policy impact and communicate progress; incentives for growers to commit to more than the minimum required, and continuous local renegotiation of proposed measures and programmes which have contributed to a weakening of initial policy proposals. This study demonstrates that policies serve different purposes for different people at different social and political levels. However, sustainability comes into practice on the farm, which is why farmers’ perspective about a sustainable agricultural sector and the proposed voluntary and mandatory policy measures is so important. Farmers’ perspectives are still missing elements in policy design for sustainable agriculture. Co-developing and testing technologies that are meant to deliver sustainability in practice, as well as farm decision support tools, are critical in engaging farmers and other local stakeholders in sustainability and to transform embedded practices and institutions. Collaboration across disciplines is also important to address environmental goals and farmers’ needs in order to extract substantial environmental benefits as well as a long term commitment from land managers in sustainability. This study shows that there are many insights to be gained and learnings to be extracted from scrutinizing policy interventions. It raises awareness about improving policy implementation by providing practical examples from case studies conducted in Spain and in Italy. These insights encourage the use of interdisciplinary approaches, including socio-technical approaches, for an integrated people and technology based perspective on natural resource management to better policy design and interventions and make sustainable agriculture real.