Over the last decades water governance has drastically evolved, progressively moving from a resource management silo approach to the Integrated Water Resources Management. The validation of innovative and cross sector governance is the forthcoming step to face the multi-dimensions societal challenges such as the climate change impact, population growth at the global scale and ensure a safe cross-sectorial water access and uses at the local scale. The next chapter of water governance still needs to be framed with the clear challenge of involving equally all the stakeholders including the citizen to allow transparency, inclusiveness, and accountability. The governance is foreseen as one major lever to support and orientate water policy and sectoral policies impacting the water sector. Water Energy Food Ecosystem (WEFE) nexus needs to be valued to embrace all the water uses in a sustainable manner across generations. The main objective of InnWater (Promoting social INNovation to renew multi-level and cross sector WATER governance) is to provide a set of digital tools and services (that will be gathered in InnWater Governance Platform) to support tailored multi-level and cross-sector water governance, associated with economic and financial mechanisms to support EU green deal transition while ensuring water systems sustainability. The InnWater project will deliver a governance assessment matrix, quintuple helix and citizen (trust) engagement framework, WEFE Nexus economic and resources allocation simulation including household water tariff and environmental costs, a self-sustaining governance community composed of 5 pilot sites in FR, UK, HU, SP, IT addressing different water challenges, a set of raising awareness and training tools, the identification of replication opportunities in at least 14 EU basins and a set of policy, regulation and economic recommendations to support EU policy implementation and new orientations.

The overall objective of PIANO is to create a strategic cooperation partnership for water research and innovation between Europe and China, promoting the creation of networks of companies (including SMEs), entrepreneurs, not for profit organisations, policy makers, regulators and funding bodies to create business and social opportunities for China Europe Water Cooperation. PIANO will contribute to and is endorsed by the China Europe Water Platform (CEWP), and its 10 active EU Member States. First, PIANO will strengthen the existing CEWP network to create a comprehensive China Europe water research and innovation network. Second, based on a comparative analysis of the water innovation landscape in Europe and China, PIANO will identify European technological water innovations with potential for implementation and replication in China. In addition, PIANO will identify opportunities for joint development to address water challenges, where both Europe and China lack market ready technological water innovations. Third, PIANO will identify drivers and barriers for implementation and replication of technical innovations. PIANO will also identify strategies to overcome obstacles and take advantage of drivers, to facilitate creation of business opportunities. Fourth, PIANO will promote knowledge exchange and a policy dialogue to create an enabling environment for the uptake of technological water innovations. Fifth, PIANO will develop a shared strategic research and innovation agenda between Europe and China in the water sector. PIANO will align with current and future strategic initiatives to optimise opportunities for the EU and China across the water sector. To ensure success and achieve high impact, PIANO will be executed by a consortium of 9 leading European partners from both public and private sectors. Also, 13 leading Chinese partners are active PIANO participants, including the Ministries of Water Resources and of Environmental Protection.

NAIAD aims to operationalise the insurance value of ecosystems to reduce the human and economic cost of risks associated with water (floods and drought) by developing and testing - with key insurers and municipalities - the concepts, tools, applications and instruments (business models) necessary for its mainstreaming. We will do this in detail for 8 demonstration sites (DEMOs) throughout Europe and develop tools and methods applicable and transferable across all of Europe. The assumption is that Natural Assurance Schemes can reduce risk, especially to drought and flooding, and this risk reduction can be assessed and incorporated within insurance schemes. NAIAD´s conceptual frame is based on three pillars: (i) to help build a resilience approach to risk management through nature based solutions, (ii) the operationalisation and testing of scientific methods using a source-to-sea in DEMOs, (iii) the uptake of nature based solutions that are cost-effective and provide environmental, social and economic benefits. Trans-disciplinarity and stakeholder engagement are at the core of NAIAD for two reasons: first, because the conceptual and assessment methodologies combine physical, social and cultural and economic aspects, integrated into tools and methods but second, and most importantly “road tested” and validated with the stakeholders and end users themselves at the DEMOs. NAIAD will contribute to providing a robust framework for assessing insurance value for ecosystem services by (i) enabling full operationalisation through improved understanding of ecosystem functionality and its insurance value at a broad range of scales in both urban and rural context; (ii) making explicit the links between ecosystem values and social risk perception; and (iii) the application of developed methods and tools in water management by relevant stakeholders, especially businesses, public authorities and utilities.