As the world faces a global emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the vital importance of integrated and sustainable water management is exacerbated particularly for the most vulnerable populations. Furthermore, the impacts of climate change continue to add more stress to water security. For youth, the need for a sustainable future is especially important as they will have to live with the consequences of the choices we make today. Youth are already proposing innovative ideas and creating their own spaces to design and improve their future but they are limited by resources, capacity and connections. Once youth are equipped to realize their full potential, youth can become leaders and entrepreneurs in addressing the challenges of sustainable management of water resources and contribute to the SDGs.This program aims to address issues highlighted by youth and partner organisations related to capacity building, employability and a structure to better connect organizations and youth. As such the following objectives have been developed:To develop common and innovative methodologies to strengthen a global youth partnership addressing climate and water related issues and enhance their outreach and impact.To support European youth in acquiring transversal and specific skills in collaboration with program partners at global, regional and country levels allowing them do develop bankable projects or accessing employment opportunities and thus contributing to building a water secure worldThe program will develop material which will be accessible to all European youth on the Youth for Water and Climate platform and will develop a sustainable youth program which will be addressed to a yearly cohort of 20-30 young professionals. The first cohort will target youth aged 18-30 years old from France, Sweden, Slovakia, Hungary and Belgium. Priority will be given to youth with fewer opportunities. Criteria will also be added in the selection process to ensure gender balance. The program will have 3 phases:1. Preparation research and development of materials: This phase will focus on program development and the 4 intellectual outputs: Youth Water and Climate Career Curriculum, a Mentoring guide, Community of Practice and a Youth for Water and Climate Programme roadbook.2. Implementation of the pilot: An open call will be launched. The selected participants will start their journey with 3 modules, 1- Taking up a Career in Water & Climate Change, 2 - Innovation & Problem Solving ,3- Leadership development. Following these 3 modules, youth will be separated into 2 groups according to their specific interests, (i) Entrepreneurship (4a) or (ii)Professional development (4b). The youth will also take part in other learning activities, such as a Mentorship program, internships and International events to either take part in capacity-building workshops or advocacy activities.3. Wrap Up and Evaluation of Tools and Programme: This phase will be dedicated to the evaluation of the project's results and improvement of the outputs produced using quantitative and qualitative data collected throughout the various activities.The program is expected to result in:- an increased capacity of partner organizations and young professionals to work at the European level and increased level of cooperation between the partner organizations;-the development and implementation of innovative replicable methodologies and tools for supporting young people in their professional or entrepreneurial development in the water sector;- for European youth, including underprivileged and marginalized youth, to be empowered and their capacities to be strengthened with transversal skills and water specific skills;- quality assured youth-led business projects and job creation potential are developed by youth, including underprivileged youth, in various countries, contributing to address water and climate related challenges.The expected impact is to have a strong and empowered generation of European youth' civic and entrepreneurial spirit who can play an active role in society particularly in the environmental and climate change sector. These young leaders will be motivated because of their improved knowledge and capacity to take hold of a local issue and provide a relevant solution to it. Also, for partner organisations to gain confidence in the abilities of the younger generation and improve their processes for youth engagement in the future and create more structured and permanent programs. The program overall will cultivate a community of supporting organisations and active young professionals who work together to strengthen youth involvement in the water sector.In the long term, the methodologies and outputs developed will be available to be replicated in other countries and regions. The youth participating will be the beginning of a community of ambassadors for improved youth engagement and connectivity with partner organisations.

Over one million barriers on Europe’s rivers have resulted in extensive loss of river connectivity and 70-90 % of Europe’s floodplain areas are ecologically degraded due to human modifications. Despite having an ambitious EU policy framework in place, implementation of fresh and transitional water ecosystem restoration is lagging behind. Reasons for this lie among others in a lack of knowledge, awareness and participation of local people and business actors. The overall aim of DANUBE4all is the development of a comprehensive Restoration Action Plan for the Danube river basin lighthouse developed in an unprecedented co-creation process with stakeholders, integrating citizens’ interests to support the Mission “Restore our ocean and waters by 2030”. Based on solid scientific knowledge and new findings, the Action Plan will promote the improvement of ecological status, biodiversity and ecosystem connectivity. The development and implementation of innovative “Win-Win Nature Based Solutions” will simultaneously lead to an enhanced free-flowing status of rivers and floodplains, flood and drought risk reduction and enhancement of sediment and biota continuity. The aim is to adapt to climate change as well as to improve the endangered biodiversity of ecosystems. This will be reached by identifying, processing and upscaling effective and economically profitable restoration measures. DANUBE4all will implement innovative demonstration activities at three sites in the Upper, Middle Danube and the Danube Delta. DANUBE4all will link ecological and economic benefits providing tailored business cases for SMEs, and will deliver innovative tools to accelerate citizens’ and stakeholders’ engagement. DANUBE4all will provide GIS and Citizen Science tools for upscaling these restoration actions via ten Synergy Sites to the Danube Basin and will also transfer the outcomes to five Associated Regions by concrete steps towards the development of Replication Roadmaps for restoration action.

Natural/Small Water Retention Measures (NSWRMs) can help mitigate the conflicts between agricultural water uses (e.g. plant production, animals) and other human and environmental demands for water, including drinking water or maintaining environmental flow. This is crucial, since these conflicts will be probably exacerbated by an increasing number of extreme events such as droughts and heavy rainfall. A more careful management of head watersheds will significantly contribute to a more resilient agriculture and society. Moreover, NSWRMs are contributing simultaneously to the achievement of different Sustainable Development Goals and environmental targets formulated in several water- and agriculture-related European Union policies. Despite a comprehensive set of techniques available to increase water retention on both catchment and farm levels, knowledge is still lacking on the effectiveness of different scale- and region-specific measures across various soil-climatic regions and agricultural systems, especially under changing climate conditions. OPTAIN aims to (i) identify efficient techniques for the retention and reuse of water and nutrients in small agricultural catchments across Continental, Pannonian and Boreal biogeographical regions of Europe, taking into account potential synergies with existing drainage-irrigation systems, and - in close cooperation with local actors - (ii) select NSWRMs at farm and catchment level and optimize their spatial allocation and combination, based on environmental and economic sustainability indicators. By building on existing knowledge and addressing these objectives, OPTAIN will improve the Technological Readiness Level of NSWRMs for the benefit of both humans and ecosystems. All gained knowledge will be translated into a learning environment allowing analysis of trade-offs and synergies between multiple values/goals in the management and design of NSWRMs.

The HuT will employ innovative disaster risk reduction solutions, accounting for the potential variations induced by climate change. This will involve integrating and leveraging best practices and successful multi-disciplinary experiences that have been recently developed within various territorial contexts by leading European research groups, institutions, and stakeholders, to deal with extreme climate events. The project’s main ambition beyond the state of the art is to promote the “best set” of trans-disciplinary risk management tools and approaches that could be adopted and used extensively across Europe, in as many situations as possible. The activities of the project will be developed considering the following main critical dimensions: trans-disciplinarity, systemic risk, co-production, cross-fertilization, transferability, and long-term legacy. A set of ten demonstrators will constitute a multi-hazard arena wherein possible disastrous events associated with climate extremes will be dealt with jointly by representatives of the scientific and technical communities, practitioners, policy-makers and local communities. The events associated to climate extremes that will be considered in this project are: forest fires, including wildland urban interface fires; meteorological/hydrological/agricultural droughts, including associated water shortage; heatwaves; weather-induced landslides, including debris flows; fluvial and pluvial floods; storms, including heavy rain, hail, thunderstorms, and storm surges. The HuT will mainly focus on the prevention and preparedness phases of the disaster risk management cycle, explicitly considering climate change scenarios and integrating the proposed set of solutions, for the various events considered, over short- (from days to several months) and long-term (from years to decades) time horizons.

The Danube River Basin (DRB) faces significant challenges associated with river sediments. In the 2021 update of the Danube River Basin Management Plan, sediment balance alteration emerged as a new sub-topic within the existing Significant Water Management Issue titled "Hydromorphological alterations." Additionally, sectors like industry, urban sewage, and agriculture call for sediment quality evaluations throughout the DRB. However, the absence of standard sediment monitoring limits our understanding of risks. Addressing the sediment mismanagement in the DRB, the iNNO SED project aims to establish the Danube Sediment ‘Lighthouse’ Knowledge Centre. This centre will: • Introduce a set of innovative methods for monitoring and modelling sediment quantity and quality, thereby deepening our knowledge of sediment processes. • Provide innovative sediment management practices to improve sediment continuity and quality in DRB sections facing with sediment-related issues. • Showcase co-created innovative measures through demonstration activities, while also evaluating their socio-economic and environmental aspects. • Empower the public with innovative knowledge transfer methodologies. • Collaborate with five Associated Regions, transferring the iNNO SED solutions to other river basins. To accomplish these goals, iNNO SED will leverage the achievements and key contributors of the DanubeSediment and SIMONA initiatives. Moreover, it will engage relevant stakeholders of sediment management, such as ICPDR, policy makers, river managers, hydropower plant managers, waterway authorities, national parks, environmental agencies, SMEs, and more. iNNO SED will represent a pioneering approach to sediment management in large international river basins. This approach sets an example for other major global river systems like the Amazon, Mekong, or Niger. In doing so, it aligns with the Mission's objective of intensifying the European Union's competitiveness.