Several papers for the special issue on Institutional Work in Environmental Governance have been presented and discussed during a symposium on Learning and Innovation in Resilient Systems at the Open University in the Netherland. The discussions showed that the concept offers exciting new possibilities to link different approaches and disciplines and furher our understanding of the interplay between actors and institutional structures and the dialectics between stability and flexibility in governance. The link with various important concepts like narratives, power, reflection and learning were extensively discussed during the discussions amongst the presentors and the other participants of the session. The outcomes of these discussions will be brought together in the special issue, upcoming in the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management.