The Netherlands Centre for River Studies (NCR) organised a special session on “River Flood Risk Management in Different Parts of the World”, during the 3rd International Symposium of Flood Defence (ISDF3) on 25 and 26 May 2005 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Lectures were given on the past and present policy approach in Bangladesh, the USA, Germany, England and Wales, and the Netherlands. Also, an introduction was given on UNESCO's initiative to promote integrated flood risk management worldwide by capacity building and training in developing countries. This paper summarises the common issues and differences between the approaches in the various parts of the world, and attempts to provide a synthesis of the discussions, held after the respective presentations. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.