Water resilience has become a hot topic in Europe as the continent is experiencing more severe droughts and floods because of climate change, and the health of water ecosystems continues to decline. A new policy brief by Horizon Europe research projects GOVAQUA, InnWater and RETOUCH NEXUS emphasizes the critical role of water governance in enabling water resilience and recommends innovative practices spanning beyond the traditional water sector.
Water resilience consists of the capacity of our societies and ecosystems to manage with water-related changes — either by resisting, adapting, or transforming in response to them. Water resilience has been put into a serious test in Europe, as the heatwaves, droughts and floods amplified by climate change have caused social, economic and environmental damage. At the same time, European countries are struggling to improve the status of water bodies and in many areas the ecological status continues to decline due to pollution, over-exploitation and physical alterations to water habitats.
Recent research conducted in three Horizon Europe projects GOVAQUA, InnWater and RETOUCH NEXUS together forming a WaterGovernance2026 Synergy Group shows that strengthening of Europe´s water resilience requires improved water governance, at the EU, regional, national and local levels. Water should be a strategic priority in the work of the new European Parliament, the Commission, and the Member States.
The projects list innovative practices concerning a cross-sectoral regulatory approach, collaboration between public, private and civil society actors, novel financing schemes and digital tools supporting monitoring and evaluation and information sharing as promising solutions with EU-wide scaling up potential.
More information:
Watch the EU Green Week webinar recording from the launch of the policy brief at Youtube: