A year to be proud of
2021-2022 has been a challenging period for our societies at large that has required a lot of resilience to overcome the impact of the measures that were needed to contain the Covid-19 crisis. Despite the constantly changing circumstances and high degree of insecurity, Water Europe has managed to successfully weather these circumstances thanks to a good strategy, a lot of ingenuity, and a clear focus on our ultimate objective to implement our Water Vision and to build a European Water-Smart Society.
Over the course of the year, we have proudly seen some exceptional developments as the start of the Programming Period 2021-2024 for the WE Vision Leadership Teams and the Working Groups, the conclusion of WE Membership Journey Roadmap by Capgemini, and the launch of our new online WE Community Platform and App.
Less visible and more on the background, Water Europe has also been working hard on the revamping of the WE Water Vision and the elaboration of the strategy on the Water-Oriented Living Labs (WOLLs) that will result shortly in the launch of a new WE WOLLs note-books series.
The new vision will not be a major overhaul but a better defined and fine-tuned vision in which some key concepts like the Water-Smart Society and Water-Oriented Living Labs will be brought more to the foreground.
Also with our advocacy programme, we worked hard to include the drivers for achieving a Water-Smart Society in EU policy and legislation. We were particularly successful in raising the importance of water for healthy soils, the recognition of the water-smart method for the EU’s neighbourhood policy, and the need to unleash the potential of the water-energy nexus. So, again, we delivered results in all our three main Collaboration, Advocacy and Market programmes, organising in parallel continuously improved editions of our flagship events. Our communications activities also had a significant impact and reach out, with statistics and figures that speak for themselves.
Striving for excellence, the rest of 2022, we will be working hard on implementing the results of the Membership Experience journey, and we are excited about some developments, which will surely see the light during 2022 as the brand-new, user-centred, website, the preparation of new publications, new virtual events and more.
This year, we managed to be more connected, more digital, offering more opportunities to our community and network. Don’t take our words for it, just check the rest of the report and you will see it for yourselves. We are looking forward to making the rest of 2022, a period of growth and success for the EU water sector, with the Water-Smart Society being always our end destination.
Durk Krol, Water Europe Executive Director
Tomas Michel, Water Europe President
Every year, more. Every year, stronger together.
More than 1.000 community members- Who are they?
248
Members
29
Countries
230€b
Turnover
1m
Workforce
Our members per college
- A: Multinational Corporations
- B: Research & Technology Developers
- C: Utilities
- D: Suppliers & SMEs
- E: Large Water Users
- F: Public Authorities
- Civil Society Organisations
Our members per countries
How does membership work?
WE is a value-based multi-stakeholder association that represents the full diversity of the water eco-system. WE membership is segmented into different membership colleges in line with the diversity of the sector.
The different colleges are in turn grouped in corporate members and associate members. Associate membership is open to a limited group of entities that do not qualify for corporate membership. Associate members have the same rights as corporate members with the exception that they do not pay a membership fee and in return have no say in the WE governance. The WE Board of Directors has the ultimate say on what membership college an aspirant member belongs to.
5 Corporate Colleges
2 Associates Colleges
We are growing
- Numbers of members
A new era for our community is here
We have new features for everything
Water Europe has welcomed its members to the all-in-one Water Europe Community platform and App, that are here to open the way for stronger collaboration among WE members. The new platform will enable our members to manage their membership information, to connect and network, discuss relevant topics, receive important information about the WE events and manage their participation in them.
Our Community
– WE Working Groups
– Members directory
– Direct messaging
– Group chats & event rooms
– Digital business cards
– Personal CRM for all the connections you make
– Contact profile
Our Membership Process
– Mobile membership directory so you can expand your network
– Member profile management
– Direct access to newsletters, announcements, upcoming events and meetings.
– Easy access to all WE publications and papers
Our Events
– Fast event registration and payment processing
– Quick access to all event information (Agendas, venue, Speakers’ bios, sessions presentations)
– Easy check-in with QR codes
– Preview and register for upcoming events
– Social media integrations for easy sharing
How did we embark on this membership journey?
Water Europe has been always looking for new ways to work with its members. Since June 2021, we started a Membership Experience Journey with the support of Capgemini that gave us a clear view on all our members’ needs and identified for Water Europe clear levers of performance. The membership journey consists of 4 key pillars that are helping us take our membership services to the next level. Already 2 of these pillars have been fully operational: The membership management platform and virtual events. New developments will coming out soon with a new user centric website and many other ongoing opportunities for our members!
WE COLLABORATE
What is the WE Collaboration Programme?
7 Events Organised
Driving the transition to a Water-Smart Society
WE VLTs reorganisation
WE VLTs have been reorganized and rationalized in 2021 to increase the effectiveness of their contribution to the implementation of the WE Vision. Three horizontal innovation-driven VLTs, three vertical “valorisation of the implementation”-driven and one crosswise WE Vision VLTs are the spreadhead of the vanguard of Water Europe for the achievement of a Water Smart Society. VLTs have prepared and submitted the new work programmes 2021-2024 that address objectives, actions and deliverables.
What are the Vision Leadership Teams?
The Vision Leadership Teams will drive the transition to a Water-Smart Society. The VLTs define actions to foster and accelerate the process of bringing successful innovations to market in Europe and beyond.
Jacob Bossaer
BOSAQ
Phoebe Koundouri
Athena RC
Dominique Darmendrail
BRGM
Richard Elelman
Eurecat
Arthur Valkieser
Hydraloop Systems
Dragan Savić
KWR
Rita Ugarelli
SINTEF
Bert De Winter
De Watergroep
Peter Rübig
SME Europe
Lydia Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia
University of Exeter
Francesco Fatone
UNIVPM
Evina Katsou
Brunel University
Josef Klinger
TZW
Gerard van den Berg
KWR
Tom Arnot
University of Bath
Frans van de Ven
DELTARES
Tristan Debuigne
IXSANE
Victor Beumer
BEUMER
Alessandro Bianciardi
Planet S.A.S.
Yurena Lorenzo de Quintana
Wetlands Int.
Jochen Froebrich
WUR-ESG
Bruno Molle
INRAE
Antonio Lo Porto
IRSA-CNR
Elisabeth Rekker
Province of Fryslân
Addressing water-related challenges, needs and opportunities
The Water Europe Working Groups
Working Groups are the operational level for members’ collaboration and coordination in WE. They are fully member-driven, the backbone of our WE community that provides technical and scientific inputs on a series of themes that voice the water-related challenges, needs and opportunities of each respective field at a European level.
WE Workings Groups clustering
Taking the opportunity of shaping the new working cycle 2021 – 2024, and following the reorganisation of the WE VLTs, WE Workings Groups have been reorganised through systemic merging and clustering. WGs have been re-organised in a matrix of 6 thematic clusters gathering 15 WGs. WGs have prepared and submitted the new work programmes 2021-2024 that address objectives, actions and deliverables.
Inspiring the European Commission
Water Europe has been working towards the development of the new Work Programme 2023-2024 of the current R&I FP 2021-2027 Horizon Europe by inspiring the European Commission with critical mass of substantive priorities for the water sector with a main focus on Clusters 4, 5 and 6 of Pillar 2.
Strengthening partnership with HEU Projects
Water Europe is the pivotal member of two HEU funded Partnerships: Water4all and Process4planet.
Process4Planet
Process4Planet is a 10 years co-programmed Partnership participated by WE as founding member. It addresses the challenges of a carbon-neutral, circular, and competitive process industry. The P4Planet main ambitions are near zero landfilling and near zero water discharge with €1,3 bn included in the partnership funding envelope.
WATER4ALL
WATER4ALL is a co-funded Partnership to strengthen the European and international water R&I community and to offer solutions to water security challenges in Europe and beyond. Water4All is a 8 years’ co-funded partnership with a budget of 500 million euro and WE leads the pillar on Demonstration of Innovation through WOLLs.
WE INNOVATE
What is the WE Market Programme?
Water Market Europe 2022 event
This edition, supported by the EU funded ULTIMATE Project (Water Smart Industrial Symbiosis), aimed at supporting business development by matchmaking the demand and the offer for innovative efficient solutions for water industrial management. During this event the NEXTGEN project launched the new platform “Water Europe Marketplace”.
Launched the Water Europe Marketplace
The Water Europe Marketplace for circular economy is a flexible platform for finding and sharing innovative solutions and systems in the domains of water, energy and materials that support the market uptake of innovation. The marketplace platform has been developed within the projects: NEXTGEN, ULTIMATE and B-Water Smart.
What are the benefits of the Marketplace?
– Technologies: Discover technologies of the circular economy
– Case studies: Find concrete solutions to real-life problems
– Products: Browse products, tools and services related to circular economy
– Networking: Connect with other stakeholders, find partners, clients, and investors, regulatory authorities, NGOs, academics and other interested professionals.
Who is the Water Europe Marketplace for?
– Problem owners such as utilities, authorities, or industries, seeking to find the best solution to turn linear processes within their organisation into circular ones, reducing waste and reusing resources.
– Solution providers, offering a technology or a service as part of a circular economy enabling portfolio.
– Investors, seeking opportunities to maximize investment revenues.
– Regulatory authorities, NGOs, academics and other interested professionals.
Implementing the WE Water-Oriented Living Labs
WE’s efforts on WOLLs is ongoing with the support of the HEU funded partnership Water4All where WE leads the pillar “Demonstration of Innovation” which is based on the engagement and development of WOLLs in EU and beyond, with the support of 32 partners from 13 MS.
WE revised the existing methodology – developed in 2018 – for the identification and categorisation of the WOLLs and produced the new Water-Oriented Living Labs Notebook Series. Which are they?
WE ADVOCATE
What is the WE Advocacy Programme?
7 Position Papers released
Joining forces
EU-ASE
This year, Water Europe has joined forces with EU-ASE to stress the key role of the water-energy nexus for water-efficiency. 11 recommendations we shared with the EU policy makers to accelerate European efforts toward a clean energy transition and a Water-Smart Society. Saving water saves energy and saving energy saves water.
EC Expert Groups
Water Europe continues its process to join EC Expert group on water-related topics. Over the last year, Water Europe applied to the Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform, The expert group on healthy soils, and the Drinking Water Directive. you can find below the name of the new WE representatives below:
Durk Krol
Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform
Claudia Topalli
IDEXX – Drinking Water Directive Expert Group
Dimitris Xevgenos
TU Delft – Art. 13 forum, BREF LVIC-S
MEP Water Group
The MEP Water Group continues its activities to raise the importance of water within the European Parliament after having confirmed its MEP steering Board. Particularly the MEP Water Group organises several online events, including the well-known workshop on the UN Water Report in cooperation with UNESCO. The international water week was also an opportunity for the MEP Water group to remind the importance of the Value in Water for water management, particularly for energy efficiency.
EU Water Alliance
The EU Water Alliance sent a letter to Ms Von der Leyen to raise the importance of water in the work programme 2022 and requesting some clarification in the foreseen actions of the European Commission.
WE Policy Advisory Committee
Water Europe’s Policy Advisory Committee is in charge of supporting the Board in its activities regarding the legislative dossiers that Water Europe works on and the appropriate actions that need to be taken. In the past year the PAC has invited several EU officials to its meetings in order to discuss and gather information on relevant topics; Nanni Silvia, DG ENV, the cabinet of Pernille WEISS, Member of the European Parliament; Michel SPONAR, DG ENV.
Reaching over 580 attendees for Water Innovation Europe event
- Number of participants
Water Innovation Europe 2021 took place in June 2021. The outcomes of this event went well with more than 590 registrations. The most important session was the first one. Water Europe mailed and disseminated the main conclusions of this events to the Permanent Representations and also the MEPs.
WE COMMUNICATE
Reaching 30.000 individuals through our communications every month
+ 12 Videos
+ 21 Live Streamings
+956
Followers
+3.474
Followers
+481
Followers
We are interacting with more than 15.000 social media users every day
Total number of followers on
all social media channels over the years
With 2 newsletters every month, Water Europe informs 18.000 individuals from all over Europe and the world.
A big thanks to all our readers for keeping our campaigns readership rates high every month!
Launched the new series ‘It’s time to be Water-Smart’
A new YouTube playlist ‘It’s time to be Water-Smart’ was launched this year, highlighting the work done in our Water Europe advocacy programme and bringing forward key recommendations for each topic.
We interviewed
Luisa Prista
Senior Expert on Innovation, Women in Tech & Entrepreneurship
Andrej Vizjak
Slovenian Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning
Friso Douwstra
Deputy of the Provincial Executive of Fryslân
Christopher Gasson
GWI Owner
Gonzalo Delacámara
Water Europe board member of college B
Claudia Topalli
Water Europe board member of College D
Charlie Walker
Research Director at Global Water Intelligence
Tiffany Atwell
Water Europe Board Member of College A
Nuno Brôco
Water Europe Board Member of College C
Dominique Gatel
Co-leader of the Vision Leadership Team ‘The Value of Water’
Christopher Gasson
GWI Owner
Involved in 29 EU funded projects
Water Europe facilitates its members’ involvement into EU research projects, and supports their outreach activities, providing communication, dissemination, policy and networking services to projects that are in line with Water Europe Vision and SIRA and have at least one Water Europe member in their consortium. Since 2014, Water Europe has participated in 29 projects, serving more than 70 members.
Served more than 70 members in 8 years
Water Europe services for project involvement
Communication & Dissemination
Networking
Exploitation
Policy
Clustering
29 projects since 2014
Hubs4Circularity and Waterverse.
WHO WE ARE
Our Vision
Water Europe envisions a Water-Smart Society, in which the true Value of Water is recognised and realised, and all available water sources are managed in such a way that water scarcity and pollution of groundwater are avoided. Water and resource loops are largely closed to foster a circular economy and optimal resource efficiency, while the water system is resilient against the impact of climate change events.
Our Mission
– Improve coordination and collaboration in the water sector and water using sectors.
– Enhance the performance and competitiveness of the European water and water using sectors in the EU and beyond.
– Contribute to solving global challenges through research and innovation.
Our Values define Us
Water Europe strives to generate impactful results for its members, and it does so with commitment towards building a Water-Smart Society. Our values and our vision for the future are clear. All our actions are guided by this one main compass, our Water Vision 2030. Our vision means societal responsibility. It means forward-looking innovation. It means evidence based and financially sustainable solutions. This is the way we deliver results, together with our members, covering the whole water value chain. This is how we have made it possible to deliver the right results, the right way.
