AbstractAcknowledging the special character of water, knowledge, and knowledge about water, the paper postulates the need for special efforts to promote and sustain knowledge‐generating systems. Taking the global knowledge divide as a starting point, the paper explores how the demand for knowledge can drive the adoption and adaptation of innovations, of formulating new research agendas and of developing new curricula of postgraduate education aimed to train a new type of water manager. This is illustrated by describing a regional capacity‐building network that pools knowledge, offers a joint Master's program, conducts research and disseminates research findings. The ultimate aim should be that the institutions that govern water become more responsive to their environments, that they are open for signals of change, define problems better and seek creative answers and solutions – all this in order to be able to remain relevant in a changing context. After making a plea to the North to open up and share its knowledge resources with the South, the paper concludes that knowledge sharing is a prerequisite for water sharing, and should be prioritized. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.