Annual Report 2022-2023
A year to be proud of
A new era to look forward to
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
Hans Goossens, Water Europe President
A New Vision for Water Europe
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
3 Key Objectives
Water Security
Ensure sustainable access to affordable water that preserves health, fosters socio-economic development, and protects against water-related disasters.
Water Sustainability
Ensure sustainable water infrastructure, management and use that meets current needs without compromising the future.
Water Resilience
Attain long-term water system resilience to prevent consequences like droughts and floods.
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 enduser, 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.
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
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
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 have had regular meetings and have 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 is the flagship event of Water Europe’s Collaboration Programme
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 WPE 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 WPE 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.
WE IMPLEMENT
”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 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 authentic 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 Labs publications
The “WOLLs Notebook Series 1” serve 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
With the completion of the Nextgen project, the marketplace was officially handed over to Water Europe as the platform where technology providers can upload high TRL (Technology readiness levels) tools to meet problem owners. The Market Place is online and operational.
The 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.
Implementation 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.
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”.
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
+ 21 Live Streamings
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.
