RETOUCH NEXUS 5th General Assembly – Moving Toward Performance

As we progress through the third year of the RETOUCH NEXUS project, our consortium gathered in Amsterdam on September 23-24 for our 5th General Assembly, hosted by our partners at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam!

On the agenda: reviewing project progress, intensive sessions on policy briefs and modeling coordination, stakeholder engagement strategies, a field visit to Hoogheemraadschap Hollands Noorderkwartier (HHNK), and defining priorities for the final project phase!

The Amsterdam General Assembly provided an opportunity for all partners to align efforts around three key priorities identified in Malta: policy recommendations and governance frameworks, modeling coordination, and stakeholder engagement. This meeting marked our evolution from parallel case study development toward integrated, cross-cutting approaches.

Our Case Studies

“Forming – Storming – Norming – Performing“

– Bruce Tuckman, 1965

This reference to Bruce Tuckman’s team development model captured the meeting’s spirit – we’re moving from establishing foundations toward delivering real impact.

Day 1: Strategic Alignment

Policy Briefs Taking Shape

Each case study presented progress on their policy briefs, revealing the diversity of challenges across Europe.

Modeling Clinic: Technical Coordination

The modeling session showcased substantial technical progress across diverse approaches. Water pricing emerged as a dual-purpose tool for both cost recovery and promoting efficient water use.

Case studies presented their methodologies:

Spain: Calculating Marginal Resource Opportunity Costs for optimal water allocation
Malta: Dynamic sustainability model linking economy-water-energy in support of agriculture
Slovakia: Input-Output model integrating household demand data
Germany: Linking SWAT outputs with System Dynamics modeling
Netherlands: Cost-Benefit Analysis combining choice experiments with engineering data
Belgium: Rainwater harvesting scenarios comparing greenfield versus greyfield implementations

Business Models and Governance

The Greening the Islands (GTI) team presented progress on the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) framework for managing water facilities. Discussion highlighted the need for greater specificity on how business models align with local governance arrangements and what incentives will attract private investment.

Critical Questions Emerging

Partners identified key challenges that need addressing:

How do we genuinely address the NEXUS approach (not just water in isolation)?
How do we ensure research translates into real-world implementation?
How do we keep stakeholders engaged throughout the project?

Day 2: Field Application with HHNK

The second day brought theory to practice through a comprehensive field visit with Hoogheemraadschap Hollands Noorderkwartier (HHNK), one of the world’s oldest democratic water institutions.

We visited the historic Lely Pumping Station at Wieringer Lake, where HHNK presented the evolution of Dutch water management – showing how centuries of expertise adapt to modern climate challenges.

Learn more about HHNK

Joint Indicator Workshop

At HHNK’s Heerhugowaard office, we engaged directly with their Freshwater Availability Programme through a hands-on indicator workshop led by adelphi and TUM. This demonstrated how RETOUCH NEXUS methodologies can directly support water authority decision-making processes.

Indicator Overview

Build your own indicator

Stepping Forward: Building Momentum for 2026

The Amsterdam meeting reinforced our project’s evolution toward integrated approaches. Key takeaways include the importance of addressing all WEFE Nexus pillars comprehensively, keeping approaches simple and implementable, and ensuring genuine stakeholder engagement.

Check our Results