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This chapter reviews the concept, contemporary research efforts and the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) which has evolved as the guiding water management paradigm over the last three decades. After analyzing the starting points and historical developments of the IWRM concept this chapter expands on relations with recently upcoming concepts emphasizing adaptive water management and the land-water-food-energy nexus. Although being practically adopted worldwide, IWRM is still a major research topic in water sciences and its implementation is a great challenge for many countries. We have selected fourteen comprehensive IWRM research projects with worldwide coverage for a meta-analysis of motivations, settings, approaches and implementation. Aiming to be an up-to-date interdisciplinary scientific reference, this chapter provides a comprehensive …