This article examines how innovations in stakeholder engagement can contribute to sustainability transitions in water governance. Based on a systematic review of 61 studies, the paper shows that engagement approaches take diverse forms and often combine multiple governance modes. Public authorities frequently act as initiators, while civil society actors play a central role in many cases.

A key finding is that it is not only important that stakeholders are engaged, but why they engage. The analysis distinguishes between three main types of rationales:

• normative rationales, such as efforts to establish power balance,
• substantive rationales, including the integration of diverse knowledge systems,
• instrumental rationales, related to processes, resources, and institutional arrangements.

The findings indicate that a deeper comprehension of these divergent rationales can facilitate the creation of more efficient engagement processes and enhance their results. At the same time, the study highlights that increased participation does not automatically lead to improved governance.

For both research and practice, this points to the need for more context-sensitive approaches to stakeholder engagement, greater transparency regarding expectations, and dedicated spaces for joint meaning-making. Such efforts are essential to strengthen innovations in water governance and to support broader sustainability transitions in the water sector.