The paper emphasizes key lessons learnt about a research intervention implemented from 2006 to 2009 to solve water access conflicts in the Klaten irrigated rice production area (Central Java, Indonesia). To make stakeholders' involvement easier, to empower them and build their capacity, action research was carried out according to a flexible and iterative approach. Each step involved a cycle of diagnosis, action planning, implementation, evaluation and learning. The paper shows the need to facilitate the functioning of a multi-stakeholder platform through the creation of a monitoring mechanism in order to ensure, on the one hand, stakeholders' involvement within the action-research process and on the other hand, foster brainstorming and mutual learning among participants. The paper brings to the fore the usefulness of assessing findings of multidisciplinary and participatory appraisals through modeling and geo-referenced mapping tools in order to facilitate collective learning, negotiation and technical and institutional innovation. Finally, through the assessment of the evolution of the farmers' association, whose creation was a project outcome, the paper reflects about key issues and key steps that have contributed to carry on successfully the developed methodology.