Our experiential world is expanding and political decisions are increasingly being taken at international level. Decisions made at national and regional levels are increasingly being influenced by international regulations such as the Kyoto Protocol, the Rio de Janeiro Treaty, the European Birds and Habitats Directives and the European Water Framework Directive. As well as operating in the national market, we therefore need to break into international markets:
co-operation in developing countries
Dutch government
European Union
international water market
regional governments
Working at one level does, after all, imply knowing about the other. And by operating at both levels, we are able not only to meet the appropriate boundary conditions, but also to say why, in certain cases, it may be necessary to depart from them. In other words, though it's our job to implement national and international decisions, we are sufficiently critical to suggest ways in which it would be advantageous to modify policy.
It is generally known that internationalisation also entails upscaling. The upscaling is expressed in various ways: not only as bigger projects, but also as an increased need to make projects more multidisciplinary. Multidisciplinary projects are especially important given that sustainable management of our environment entails keeping the environment, economy and quality of society in balance. The logical corollary is to enter into strategic collaborations.