Annual Report 2022-2023
A special year for water
A new period for us
A lot has been changing around us, and one of them is the position of water on the political agenda. It gets steadily higher! Fuelled by excitement for our new vision’s launch and the new period ahead of us, we are happy to report that we have consistently and tangibly contributed to getting water visible and at the centre of every discussion over the last 12 months. How have we done this?
Since June 2022, we worked hard to finalise the update of our Water Europe vision ‘The Value of Water – Towards a Water-Smart Society’, which we formally presented at the UN Water Conference, the first in 46 years. Our participation was very successful, with five well-attended side events and all our Water Europe ambassadors and members present and ready to collaborate and create new synergies.
With the next European elections in June 2024, we now have one year to build on the synergies and impact created during the UN Water Conference and go a step further in our effort to get water higher up on the agenda for the next European Commission. Our upcoming Water Innovation Europe conference promises to provide important insights into achieving this goal.
No matter how many results Water Europe has delivered through all its programmes and pillars within a year, the goal to raise the profile of water and build a Water-Smart Society, is something we cannot do alone. It’s only through partnerships and diversity that we can reach these goals in a speedy way.
The UNESCO’s World Water Water Assessment Report “Partnerships and cooperation for water” highlighted the importance of partnerships, and Water Europe was recognised as a European example of partnerships and collaboration with its key concepts of the Water-Smart Society and Water-Oriented Living Labs. We are proud of the collaborative mindset that Water Europe brings at all its functions.
We organised many events this year, more than any other year before. We worked on key policy dossiers, bringing forward results. We rolled out our Water-Oriented Living Labs strategy. We welcomed new members and launched new services. We supported more members in their projects consortia and reached out to 7.500 more contacts through our communications channels. Just scroll down to get an overview of all our activities.
It’s a lot, and all these are for one goal: to implement our vision for a Water-Smart Society. Our updated vision may mark an updated itinerary, but the destination remains the same. A society where we have water security, water sustainability, and water resilience. A society that has a water system in harmony with nature and an inclusive water governance where all relevant actors are involved. You will agree with us that this is not something we can afford to miss out on.
Enjoy this year’s 2022-2023 report!
Durk Krol, Water Europe Executive Director
Hans Goossens, Water Europe President
A New Vision for Water Europe
3 Key Objectives
What is a Water-Smart Society?
✅ A society in which the value of water is recognised and realised to ensure water security, sustainability, and resilience.
✅ All available water sources are managed so that water scarcity and pollution are avoided.
✅ Water and resource loops are largely closed to foster a circular economy and optimal resource efficiency.
✅ The water system is resilient against the impact of climate and demographic change.
✅ All relevant stakeholders are engaged in guaranteeing sustainable water governance.
✅ All available water sources are managed so that water scarcity and pollution are avoided.
✅ Water and resource loops are largely closed to foster a circular economy and optimal resource efficiency.
✅ The water system is resilient against the impact of climate and demographic change.
✅ All relevant stakeholders are engaged in guaranteeing sustainable water governance.
Watch the short trailer
5 Innovation Areas
Circular water system that minimises water losses, captures and exploits the value in water, and fosters water security, sustainability and resilience
Incorporate a wide range of water sources and qualities (groundwater and surface water, rainwater, brackish water, brine, grey water, black water, recycled water) into a water-secure, resilient and sustainable water system.
Exploit the benefits of the extreme interconnectivity of people, devices and processes, and create capillary networks capable of monitoring the water system, starting at its multiple sources through to the individual end-user, thus generating continuous flows of valuable data for innovative decision support systems at different governance levels.
Establish a water system whose governance balances the interests of all stakeholders in its design, management and maintenance.
Create a resilient and reliable hybrid grey and green water system, designed to withstand severe external and internal shocks – such as climate-change induced floods and droughts – without compromising essential functions.
Water Europe brings a strong vision on how to build a Water-Smart Society. I am very happy to recognise several of the actions and focus areas from our Flanders’ Blue Deal, like circular water and water resilience.
Zuhal Demir,
Flemish minister for Justice and Enforcement, Environment, Energy and Tourism
Water is a precious resource, and just as we talk about net zero carbon, we should probably talk about net zero water. We have developed unique solutions and technologies. Now, it’s the moment to put them into practice and pave the way to a Water-Smart Society.
Estelle Brachlianoff,
Chief Executive Officer of Veolia Environment
WE COLLABORATE
The society of tomorrow is Water-Smart. The Value of Water is reflected in daily life habits when water security, water resilience, and water sustainability are ensured.
How is the Collaboration programme contributing to our Vision?
Activities 2022-2023
Over the last year, the Water Europe Vision Leadership Teams and Working Groups produced four papers, including white papers and technical reports. Additionally, two new white papers and technical reports are currently being prepared for publication by the Working Groups Water Beyond Europe and Water & Public Health.
Highlights from the Working Groups
On 30th March 2023, the WG Water Sensors and Tools organised an online workshop on “Innovative and tools by the application of smart devices in the water distributions networks”. Innovative tools and sensor technologies based on the use of smart device cases were presented at the workshop, which was an opportunity for cross-links and collaboration synergies to reach out to water utilities and technology providers.
Water Knowledge Europe 2023
Water Knowledge Europe: The flagship event of Water Europe’s Collaboration Programme
492 participants in the in-person and online sessions.
WKE 2022 took place on the 18th and 19th of October 2022 with an agenda presenting several upcoming opportunities for funding R&I water projects under the new WPs 2023-2024 Horizon Europe. Speakers from the European Commission (DG RTD, CINEA, REA, EISMEA) addressed the audience of more than 120 participants.
The calls for proposals offered by the Water4All and Process4Planet partnerships were also presented. WKE also featured for the first time a special workshop on the “Integration of the gender dimension into R&I: Horizon Europe guidance, requirements and eligibility criteria for project proposals”.
Collaboration programme in EU projects
The WE Collaboration Programme carries out activities in 16 EU R&I funded projects, focusing on exploitation, clustering, networking, and Water-Oriented Living Labs engagement. It aims to provide tangible deliverables that contribute to the achievement of the 2050 vision and objectives of the EU Green Deal. The types of activities that the Collaboration programme is engaged with varies from the coordination of clustering activities among relevant projects, the facilitation of the market uptake through the WE Marketplace platform, and the creation of roadmaps to enable entities to become Water-Oriented Living Labs and ambassadors of the future Water Smart Society.
10 Projects’ Events Organised
Water Projects Europe MULTISOURCE edition
In collaboration with the Water Europe Working Group on Natural-based Solutions (NbS), MULTISOURCE organised a WPE on June 2, 2022 in Brussels. The focus of the event was “Natural Based Solutions for water security and ecological quality in cities: Challenges, pressures, and opportunities.” The WPE served as a platform to gather valuable insights regarding the three dimensions of sustainability in NbS for cities, including environmental, social, and financial perspectives. Additionally, the event highlighted the significance of NbS as a supportive measure for existing regulations and directives. The event was participated by more than 200 registered participants.
Water Projects Europe WATER-MINING edition
A Water Projects Europe titled “How innovation projects can support a Water-Smart Industrial Emissions Directive” took place on June 14. The event was co-organized by the WATER-MINING and CIRCEAU projects and was scheduled back-to-back with WIE 2022. Additionally, a hybrid WPE was organized on October 19, in conjunction with WKE, collaboration with the ICT4Water Cluster. The objective of this event was to discuss solutions and identify barriers that can either facilitate or impede the water digital transition, as a crucial element in achieving a Water-Smart Society and supporting the European Union’s efforts towards the Green and Digital twin initiatives.
#1st ARSINOE Seminar
The first ARSINOE clustering seminar about the “Impact of Grey-Green infrastructures on climate change” was held on the 6th of July. The seminar was chaired by the Vision Leadership Team Grey Green Infrastructure led by Frans van de Ven (Deltares). This seminar built a discussion arena about the perspectives and the opportunities given by grey and green water to addressing the water management and climate change challenges from a systemic vision.
#2nd ARSINOE Seminar
The second seminar about “How to be Climate Resilient for Water Security” was held online on 30th September 2022. The seminar was chaired by Jan Hofman, leader of the Water Europe Water Security WG. The seminar built a discussion around the difficulty in finding a commonly shared definition of water security and the significance of linking water security with resilience since the lack of resilience in governments and companies results in economic losses.
Water Projects Europe on Nature-Based Solutions
The Water Projects Europe on “The role of Wetlands and other Nature-Based Solutions to tackle Water Scarcity in the Circular Economy Era” was organised in Lyon, France as a hybrid event on 7th November 2022, in the framework of the ICWS 2022 – International Conference on Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control. The event brought together 7 projects focused on wetlands and NbS to address water scarcity in the circular economy: HYDROUSA, SOLU-BIOD, COST Action Circular Cities, FIT4REUSE, MULTISOURCE and its sister project NICE. During the event, panellists discussed solutions and barriers that can foster or hinder NbS as a tool for restoring and creating wetlands in urban and rural areas for efficient water management.
Water Projects Europe HYDROUSA edition in ECOMONDO
The impact of water scarcity and its political, economic, and social consequences is particularly pronounced in regions such as the Mediterranean, where the effects of climate change are rapidly accelerating. A workshop titled “Challenges and eco-innovation actions addressing water scarcity and drought in Mediterranean countries” was organized by Water Europe and HYDROUSA at ECOMONDO in Rimini, Italy, on November 10th. The workshop focused on integrated water management strategies and the pressing water-related challenges. It brought together key findings from significant EU-funded projects that have developed and validated demonstrative and full-scale solutions for alternative water sources and risk management in the region.
Aqua3S Info-Webinar
On the 13th of December 2022, WE organized for the aqua3S project an info-webinar that intended to show and share the project results across its implementation, the experience of the encountered challenges and opportunities, and provide the perspectives of the deployment of the aqua3S solutions and their market uptake.
Water Projects Europe PathoCERT Edition on Communities of Practice
The workshop on “Communities of Practice for R&I and for a Water-Smart Society” was held online on 14th February 2023 as a Water Projects Europe event under the PathoCERT project with the participation of ULTIMATE and WATER MINING projects. The three projects discussed their experience using the Community of Practice tool for different dimensions of the water challenges underlining how CoPs can contribute to achieving a Water Smart Society and the EU Green and Digital transition. The event was participated by more than 100 registered participants and attended by 1.200 online viewers on social media.
3rd ARSINOE Seminar
This third ARSINOE Clustering seminar was about “Climate Change and its Impact on Water and Public Health” and was chaired by the Water Europe Working Group on Water & Public Health on April 19. A panel of experts from ARSINOE and the sister projects TRANSFORMAR, IMPETUS, and REGILIENCE also participated. The discussion led to building a stronger and clearer vision of future actions on available technologies and reinforced decision-making processes, including the social, environmental, and economic dimensions. Overall, the seminar was attended by 60 participants and received 1.516 online viewers, offered new perspectives about the opportunities given by the water and public health nexus.
4th ARSINOE Seminar
The 4th ARSINOE seminar “Climate Change and its Impact on Water and Public Health” was held digitally on the 1st of June 2022 and it offered new perspectives and the opportunities given by the water and public health nexus to contribute to addressing the water management and climate change challenges from a systemic vision. This fourth seminar was chaired by the Water Europe Working Group on Water & Public Health led by Cristian Carboni. A panel of experts from the sister projects TransformAr, Climate Impetus and REGILIENCE also participated.
WE IMPLEMENT
The Water Europe Implementation programme is at forefront of turining our Vision into reality by driving the implementation of innovations across Europe.
How is the Implementation programme contributing to our Vision?
WE Water-Oriented Living Labs
The Implementation programme is based on the visionary model of Water-Oriented Living Labs, which aims to create long-term, sustainable territorial platforms for demonstrating and implementing innovations in real-life settings, involving stakeholders from businesses, academia, communities, and public authorities.
What is our strategy?
The Water-Oriented Living Lab strategy of Water Europe is a comprehensive approach that focuses on creating real-life testing and experimentation environments to address water-related challenges and it is integral part of the WE Vision. The strategy involves the establishment of Living Labs, which serve as platforms for:
– co-creation
– co-implementation,
– co-monitoring of innovative solutions
By actively engaging stakeholders, promoting knowledge exchange, and facilitating practical demonstrations, the Water-Oriented Living Lab strategy will drive the advancement of water-related research, innovation, and solutions for societal and environmental benefits leading to the achievement of a Water-Smart Society.
New Water-Oriented Living Lab publications
The “WOLLs Notebook Series 1” serves as a foundational resource that defines the concept of the Water-Oriented Living Labs. It explores the principles, methodologies, and benefits of these collaborative environments that bring together stakeholders from different sectors to address water-related challenges. By presenting Living Labs’ characteristics in practice, this publication offers a deep understanding of how WOLLs facilitate innovation, co-creation, and knowledge exchange in the water sector.
Building upon the insights of the first series, the “WOLL Notebook Series 2” publication introduces a valuable tool for assessing Water-Oriented Living Labs. This tool enables stakeholders to evaluate the effectiveness and maturity of WOLLs by considering various dimensions such as governance, stakeholder engagement, resource management, and socio-economic aspects. By providing a structured framework, guidelines, and indicators, this publication enables users to assess, benchmark, and continuously improve the performance and outcomes of their WOLL initiatives.
Join the Water Europe Marketplace
The Water Europe marketplace fosters collaboration among external companies, project partners, and other water entities, enabling them to share products and technology solutions. Stakeholders from across the whole water value chain can come together, exchange ideas, and collectively develop solutions for water-related challenges. This exchange of expertise and ideas will contribute to the overall development of a Water-Smart Society.
Is it only for knowledge-sharing?
The marketplace goes beyond knowledge-sharing by providing participants with an opportunity to market their products, thereby adding additional monetary value and reachability.
Water Market Europe 2023
Water Market Europe: The flagship event of Water Europe’s Implementation Programme
138 B2B meetings – New Matchmaking tool
Water Market Europe 2023 event took place on 14th and 15th March with a great line-up of speakers, a networking dinner and 138 B2B meetings, thanks to our recently launched Matchmaking tool equipped with AI features.
During the Water Market Europe event, the Water Europe Marketplace was also presented with a full set of options to allow problem owners, solution providers and investors to upload and advertise their respective features. The platform hosts also the results of an increasing number of real-life demonstrators belonging to EU funded projects, with the aim of becoming the storehouse of the water related cases study as suggested by the EC.
Implementation programme for EU partnerships
Water4All
Τhe Water4All partnership is an initiative of 82 partners and 32 countries, designed to strengthen the European and international water R&I community by addressing water security challenges in a “new” way of supporting research through cross-sectoral approaches. The partnership was launched in June 2022, and its kick-off meeting took place in Brussels on October 13-14, 2022.
What is the Pillar D of the WaterAll partnership?
Water Europe is leading the pillar D of the Water4All initiative that focuses on demonstrating innovative solutions through the implementation of WE WOLLs. The Pillar D aims to map and evaluate WOLLs to establish a network and produce updated editions of the Atlas of WOLLs. The adoption and utilization of the WE WOLLs methodology within Water4All received endorsement from the European Commission and the participation of 31 states, including 23 Member States and 8 third countries. More than 40 WOLLs have been identified and assessed using the Series 1 and 2 of WOLLs publications. Through the Pillar D, Water Europe will be able to contribute to the Water Europe Vision by putting the value of water on top of the European agendas.
Processes4Planet
Processes4Planet is a co-programmed Partnership (2021-2031) participated by WE as a 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. WE Secretariat is engaged in Processes4Planet contributing to the HEU work programme 2023-2024 of Cluster 4 (Digital, Industry, and Space) resulting in three water-related calls for proposals with an envelope of 110 MEur for 2023.
Water Europe participated to the A.SPIRE/P4Planet Community and Permanent Working Groups Day on 22 February 2023 that was dedicated to the assessing the results of the WGs towards the revision of the SRIA of the partnership.
ZeroPollution4Water Cluster
The “ZeroPollution4Water” cluster is a new-born initiative that originated from the union of seven different projects funded by Horizon Europe through the calls for proposals HORIZON-CL6-2022-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-01 and 01-04: UPWATER, Mar2protect, NINFA Project, SafeCREW, ToDrinQ, H2OforAll Project and intoDBP. The cluster aims at creating further collaboration and synergies between the sister projects, developing cooperation actions with running and future projects.
Water Europe as the coordinator of the cluster, organised together with the European Research Executive Agency a first kick-off meeting on 9th March 2023 to set the strategy and the action plan of the cluster.
Implementation Programme in Action
Water-Oriented Living Labs for a Green Transformation in the Digital Age
Water Europe presented the new WOLLs strategy internationally for the first time during the EU Green Week on 1st June 2022, through a dedicated partner event titled Water-Oriented Living Labs (WOLLs) to Enable Green Transformation in the Digital Age.
Workshop at the New European Bauhaus
A workshop was conducted during the New European Bauhaus event on June 20-21, 2022 in Brussels, engaging the attending public in co-creation activities related to the concepts of WOLLs (Water-Oriented Living Labs).
Participation at the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition
WE participated at the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2022 held on 14th September 2022 in Copenhagen, co-organizing the workshop “Water-Oriented Living Labs as a mean to engage stakeholders in the development and demonstration of water technologies” where the two new publications were presented.
WE Workshop at the Open Living Labs Days 2022
In Turin, on 21st September, WE presented and disseminated the concept of Water-Smart Society and Water-Oriented Living Labs connected to the Green and Digital Transition. The Workshop was implemented with the proactive collaboration of the CIRSEAU projects, showing progress in achieving water circularity.
Water-Smart Industrial Symbiosis: WOLLs as a Development Strategy
On the 24th of October 2022, Rosignano set the stage for an interesting local event dedicated to the Ultimate project. Attendees witnessed an informative presentation on the project’s latest developments, as well as the challenges and potential solutions confronting the local community. The event emphasized the willingness to construct a Water-Smart Industrial symbiosis in this delicate area. The event drew participation from diverse stakeholders representing academia, citizens, industry, and government, fostering an inclusive environment for sharing valuable opinions.
WE ADVOCATE
We advocate for a Water-Smart Society to produce a paradigm shift in how we manage water, playing a major role in Europe’s twin transformation to a green and digital society, and climate neutrality by 2050. The WE Advocacy programme contributes to raising awareness about the value of water and putting the right drivers in the EU legislation.
How is the Advocacy programme contributing to our Vision?
Joining Forces for Water
WE Policy Advisory Committee
A community from different horizons committed to building a Water-Smart Society
Water Europe’s Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) supports the Board in its activities regarding the legislative dossiers that Water Europe works on and the appropriate actions that need to be taken. It is also a forum open to exchange with European policymakers on technical, political and global dossiers.
Agnese
Danelon
ECOLAB
Ana
Jiménez
ACCIONA
Ana Margarida
Luís
Aguas de Portugal
Anders
Andtbacka
Uponor
Barry
Greig
Scottish Water
Carmen
de Miguel
Schneider Electric
Claudia
Topalli
Idexx
Denis
Bonvillain
Veolia
Dirk
Halet
Vlakwa
Kathleen
De Schepper
De Watergroep
Michael
Hunnicke
Grundfos
Nicole
Couder
SUEZ
Peter
Steen Mikkelsen
DTU – Denmark Technical University
Phoebe
Koundouri
Athens University of Economics and Business
Romane
Malysza
Microsoft
Sabine
Stuiver
Hydraloop
Sophie
Vermooten
Deltares
Tobias
Eriksson
Ragn-Sells Group
Tania
Pentcheva
Xylem
European Expert Groups
Building a bridge between innovation and legislation
Water Europe continues its process to join EC Expert group on water-related topics. Over the last year, Water Europe applied to the Sustainable finance platform. The Water Europe representatives in the different expert groups are:
🔹Durk Krol, WFD CIS SCG & EU Zero Pollution Stakeholder Forum
🔹Tristan Debuigne, WFD CIS WG Ecostat
🔹Frans van der Ven, WFD CIS WG Floods
🔹Phoebe Koundouri, WFD CIS WG Economics
🔹Dominique Gâtel, IED Art 13 Forum
🔹Dimitris Xevgenos, IED WG BREF LVIC-S
🔹Ana Luís, EC UWWTD Expert Group
🔹Gonzalo Delacámara, EU Sustainable Finance Platform
🔹Andrea Rubini, Executive Board & Partnership Board
🔹Bertrand Garnier, Board of Directors
🔹Jeromine Albertini, Permanent WG Circularity
🔹Antonio Loporto, Facce JPI
EU Water Alliance
A long-term collaboration for making water a priority.
The EU Water Alliance is an informal group of Brussels-based water-related associations which aims to exchange information and run some collective action. This year, the alliance sent a new round of letters to the different Commissioners to discuss exchange of water-related aspects in their portfolio.
MEP Water Group
A long-term collaboration for making water a priority.
The MEP Water Group is a cross-political informal group of member of the European Parliament which aims to raise awareness about water within the parliamentary arena. This year, the MEP Water group focused on the urban wastewater treatment directive and the new UN Water Report 2023, continuing to work closely with UNESCO to promote their landmark Europe and engage debates around.
6 Position Papers and Joint Statements released
How did we place water on the EU agenda 2022-2023?
The discussion on the strategic autonomy cannot avoid the topic of exploiting the value in water for both raw materials and nutrient. In August 2022, Water Europe released its position on the nutrient management plan stressing the important to recognise utility plants as resource hub, particularly for phosphorus and nitrogen. The European Commission already recognises that the water ecosystem and particularly the utilities are key actors for an integrated and ambitious nutrient management plan for Europe in its Soil strategy. For instance, the high European dependence on phosphorus is a risk to its strategic autonomy and security.
Linked with the UWWTD and Soils Health Law, the integrated nutrient management action plan (INMAP) shall be based on an ambitious, clear and holistic approach, linking all the different strategies is mandatory to reduce this environmental and financial costs, strengthen our strategic autonomy and the polluter pays principle. The publication of the management plan is currently delayed.
The revision of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive touches a masterpiece of the European water legislation. Since October 2021, Water Europe advocates for an ambitious revision to set a long-term perspective, while ensuring technology neutrality, flexibility to consider future innovative solutions, and proper financial support in line with the requirements.
Water Europe welcomed the legislative proposal of the European Commission and aims to reinforce some provisions particularly on digitalisation, energy efficiency, cooperation with drinking water utilities, effective reuse water opportunity, and inclusive governance, particularly through a compliance rate for utility.
The integration of an EPR Scheme to implement the polluter pays principle at the 4th treatment for the cosmetic and pharmaceutical sectors was one of the main topics for discussion. In this context, Water Europe co-signed a joint statement calling on the policy makers to maintain and strengthen this tool.
The discussion within the European Parliament demonstrates that several elements could be strengthened despite the conservative voices on water reuse, energy efficiency, EPR scheme and compliance rate of the utilities, as stressed during the MEP Water group dinner in May. Most of the amendments suggested by Water Europe are tabled.
In March 2021, Water Europe released its position on the Industrial Emissions Directive; a key legislation to tackle water pollution and prepare our industry to water scarcity. As an intensive water consumer industry shall be ready to face water stress and become resources efficient particularly for water. Solutions exist, as demonstrated during the event co-organised with Danish organisations and companies within the EU parliament. The Joint Statement co-signed with CDP on the financial and competitiveness impact of water risks for industry aimed to remind these dimension to policy makers.
The intensive discussion on the revision of this directive also forced Water Europe to voice wider its position to encourage the inclusion of water-smart legal provision in the revised legislation. However, the dossier remains complex due to the political context around the energy crisis and the debate around the enlargement of the scope to the industrial agriculture. Nevertheless, the Committee ITRE of the European Parliament recognised in its position the need to build a Water-Smart Society.
This year, we proceeded with a new step by integrating the outcome of one of our EU projects – ZeroBrine into the BREF document for the textile sector. A recognition of the work done in cooperation with the collaboration programme.
Last year, Water Europe has joined forces with EU-ASE to stress the key role of the water-energy nexus for water-efficiency. 11 recommendations were shared with the EU policy makers particularly during the Energy Efficiency Day. The revision of the energy efficiency directive is now closed, and the final agreement recognises the importance of the water-energy nexus by encouraging the enterprises to provide information in their annual report about their yearly energy consumption and volume of water consumed with a comparison of their consumption with the previous years.
Water Europe also co-signed a joint statement on biogas to support the energy-water nexus, particularly in the context of wastewater management. This open letter, signed by several companies and organisations, calls to set up binding targets to support the strategic energy autonomy and the climate objectives of the EU.
In 2023, Water Europe’s ambassador – Gonzalo Delacámara – was appointed in the Platform on sustainable finance. It’s an opportunity to raise the voice of the water sector during the next two years. It also strengthens the involvement of Water Europe on this dossier after the publication of the policy-oriented paper two years ago. In the same vein, Water Europe replied to the public consultation on the delegate acts to raise awareness about the concerns and the benefits of this legislation for the water sector.
This topic also opens the discussion on the different financial tools to support investment and the transition towards a Water-Smart Society. The Policy Advisory Committee already met with some institutions to discuss the R&D, regional or ad hoc funds.
In October 2022, the European Commission opened a public consultation to work on the new Soil health law. Water Europe released a position on this topic to maintain the importance of the water-soil nexus – as expressed in the Zero pollution Action Plan by the European Commission – and shall provide crucial basis for a resilient ecosystem as well as for other services such as energy, water purification and infiltration, carbon sequestration.
In line with the European Parliament resolution in April 2021, Water Europe calls to build an inclusive governance through digitalisation and transparent data; encourage better water quality and circular materials management around the Value in Water approach; and mitigate climate change and pollution with adequate solutions, including the implementation of the technical subsidiarity principle (cf. White Paper 2021). The legislative proposal is expected before this summer.
For the second time, the EU Economic and Social Committee is developing a new annual report. This year, it is dedicated to water, calling on policymakers to develop a Blue Deal. Water Europe follows carefully this initiative and had participated in different meetings with the institution – particularly a hearing the CCMI committee.
Water Europe released in May a new position paper to encourage ambitious position from the EESC and paving the way to a Water-Smart Society. It identifies 3 recommendations per committee. The report is expected at the end of this year.
Water Innovation Europe 2022
Water Innovation Europe is the flagship event of our Advocacy Programme
Water Europe’s annual conference and flagship event of our advocacy programme is Water Innovation Europe. How was the 2022 edition?
UN Water Conference 2023: open-up cooperation
Water Europe’s vision and approach recognised by the global water community!
In March 2023, Water Europe took part of the UN Water Conference, the first one in 46 years – a great opportunity to showcase innovative solutions from Europe and share the updated version of Water Europe’s vision.
The United-Nations Water Conference 2023 brought together 8.000 delegates from all over the world to exchange on water challenges and the required actions. With the first copies of our new vision in our hands, Water Europe team and ambassadors were present to spread the message of the need to build a Water-Smart Society. For this, five side-events were organised with a dedicated agenda covering the key thematic areas of our new vision and remind to EU policymakers the importance to consider water as a top priority for the coming years.
Water Europe also supported the visibility of some projects and partnership such as Multisource, Arsinoe and Ultimate, Water4all, H2OforAll and iWAYS.
Moreover, Water Europe’s vision and its approach was recognised in the UN Water Report 2023 on partnership and cooperation, particularly the Water-Oriented Living Labs. This recognition strengthens our commitment to build together a Water Smart Society by raising awareness about water and include the right drivers in the EU legislation.
Advocacy for HEU projects
Projects4Policy – Building on project inputs for policy recommendations
Within the cooperation between the collaboration and advocacy programme, Water Europe is contributing to raise awareness about the EU research project at the European level both on the scope of their activities and the outcomes of the research. This year, Water Europe contributed to develop 5 policy briefs for iWays. Arsinoe, NextGen, and Multisource on several topics such as water reuse and resource recovery for industry, new methodology to tackle climate change, circular processes around water nutrient and energy in urban areas, or nature-based solutions.
WE COMMUNICATE
+75
214 Total subscribers
+1.125
Followers
6.039 Total followers
+5.889
Followers
15.616 Total followers
+451
Followers
918 Total followers
We are interacting with more than 22.710 social media users every day
8
External Newsletters
12
Members’ newsletters & newsflashes
25
Email campaigns
We are reaching out 18.452 contacts through our emailing list
Our Water Europe article published on EURACTIV
New YouTube videos
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.
Social Media Campaigns
How to become ‘Water-Smart’
Water Vocabulary shared via our social media
New white paper on Grey-Green Infrastructure
Live Streaming of 17 events
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
Water Europe uses its expertise in communication and dissemination activities to facilitate the outreach and impact of 18 EU-funded projects
Communication & Dissemination for EU projects over the last 12 months
20
Social Media accounts managed
3
New websites delivered
8
Websites maintained
10
Dedicated newsletters released
3
Videos produced
4
Communication and Dissemination trainings organised
12
Communication and dissemination reports submitted
3
Visual identity packages created
Involved in 33 EU funded projects
Water Europe facilitates its members’ involvement into EU research projects, and supports their outreach activities, providing communication, dissemination, policy, clustering and networking services to projects that are in line with Water Europe Vision and have at least one Water Europe member in their consortium. Since 2014, Water Europe has participated in 33 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
33 projects since 2014
OUR WATER EUROPE COMMUNITY
How is the Community pillar contributing to our Vision?
256
Members
30
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.
