Throwback on our webinar on innovative water governance practices from current European projects

On 13 June 2024, as part of EU Green Week Partner Events, the Water Governance synergy group hosted a webinar that gathered key stakeholders to explore strategies for enhancing water resilience across Europe. The event highlighted insights from three Horizon Europe projects—InnWater, GOVAQUA, and RETOUCH NEXUS—emphasising innovative approaches to multi-level and cross-sectoral water management.

Unlock the Future of Water Resilience

Missed our immersive online webinar on “Cutting-edge water governance for water resilience”? No worries! The recording is available below.

Webinar Objectives and Highlights

Objectives and Challenges

Nearly 150 participants joined our webinar, featuring leading experts from three Horizon Europe projects focused on advancing water governance for resilience. The event aimed to address water scarcity and flood risks worsened by climate change, despite past anti-pollution efforts. It explored innovative governance mechanisms to improve water resilience, essential for Europe’s aquatic ecosystems and communities. A major challenge discussed was the fragmented water governance system, characterised by poor coordination and inadequate policies.

Strategic Solutions

To address these issues, the webinar presented solutions including new regulatory frameworks, social innovations, and economic incentives. Experts from Horizon Europe projects discussed multi-level governance and community engagement strategies. They also highlighted the importance of securing diverse funding sources for long-term resilience.

Tangible Outcomes

The event facilitated the exchange of best practices and innovative solutions, enhancing understanding of integrated water governance. The GOVAQUA project showcased the use of living labs for balancing water needs, while InnWater emphasised public involvement in sustainable water policy.

Community Impact and Sustainability

The webinar underscored the need for continuous monitoring and a cross-sectoral approach, involving diverse stakeholders. It highlighted testimonials from researchers and policymakers on the importance of innovative governance for water resource protection.

New Policy Brief

Water resilience is built with better water governance

The webinar led to a policy brief advocating for improved water resilience through enhanced governance. It calls for a comprehensive, cross-sectoral approach, integrating research and innovative practices from the Horizon Europe projects—InnWater, GOVAQUA, and RETOUCH NEXUS—to ensure sustainable water management across Europe.

Read Our Policy Brief

Notable speakers

Enhancing Water Resilience through Innovative Governance

Hear from leading experts in the field, including distinguished members from the Synergy Group, who will offer unique perspectives and innovative solutions in water governance.

Dr. Suvi Sojamo

Leading Researcher, Finnish Environment Institute, leads the GOVAQUA project. She has over ten years of experience researching and developing principles and practices of water governance in Finland and internationally.

Dr. Outi Penttilä

Finnish Environment Institute, is a renowned expert in EU water and environmental legislation and is responsible for developing a framework for sustainability transition in water governance in the GOVAQUA project.

Dr. Damián Sánchez García

Senior Project Manager, Cetaqua, leads the development of Living Labs of water governance innovations in the GOVAQUA project and the Lab in Axarquía developing tools for reconciling competing needs.

Dr. Maria Vrachioli

Senior Researcher/Senior Lecturer, Technical University of Munich, maria.vrachioli@tum.de

Juan Pablo Henao

Junior Researcher/PhD student, Technical University of Munich, juanpablo.henao@tum.de

Ema Lazorcakova

Researcher, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra (ema.lazorcakova@gmail.com)

Dr. Natacha Amorsi

Dr. Natacha Amorsi, responsible for the coordination of European affairs at OiEau, possesses a doctoral degree in the economics of the environment, with a specialisation in water resources and public participation. She has dedicated her work to the science-policy interface, communication, dissemination, and exploitation within the domain of water governance, including the coordination of the InnWater EU project.

Dr Laurence Couldrick

CEO of the Westcountry Rivers Trust and has been pioneering Integrated Catchment Management for 20 years. Over that time he has developed several multi-million pound projects and long term funding streams to deliver improvements across multiple catchments including developing Payments for Ecosystem Service schemes for water quality, flood risk, drought and biodiversity offsetting. Alongside this he has pushed to explain the complex problems society faces using tolls like Citizen Science as a way of uniting the myriad of partnerships and interest groups.

EU Green Week Partner Events Overview

Enhancing Water Resilience through Innovative Governance

Throughout the week, partner events organised by schools, universities, business associations, environmental organisations, civil society, and government agencies will take place across Europe and beyond. These will raise awareness and educate people about the importance of protecting the environment and promoting sustainable living practices. They will include a variety of activities such as educational workshops, seminars, and eco-friendly projects highlighting the importance of water resilience.

Check out the event