Among the available freshwater resources, groundwater (GW) plays a key role in providing water supplies and livelihoods to respond the pronounced water scarcity. GW pollution by chemicals (organic and inorganic) and biological agents (viruses and bacteria) originating from human activities is a widespread worldwide problem. The scientific and technological goals of the UPWATER project are (1) to provide scientific knowledge on identification, occurrence and fate of pollutants in the GW with cost-efficient sampling methods based on passive samplers for chemicals and pathogens; (2) to develop sources apportionment methods to identify and quantify the pollution sources, including Compound Specific Isotopic Analysis (CSIA) and (3) to validate and assess the performance of bio-based engineered natural treatment systems designed as mitigation solutions. The monitoring and mitigation solutions will be validated in 3 case studies (DK, GR and ES), representing different EU climate conditions and a combination of rural, industrial and urban pollution sources. The existing hydrogeological models will be updated with innovative water quality modelling tools, allowing the simulation of decision-making scenarios under multiple stressors and climate change projections. The scenarios will also include the expected impacts of scaling-up the mitigation solutions and the adoption of other non-technological preventive measures devoted to minimise the release of chemicals at source (chemicals regulation, taxation, consumption campaigns, public procurement, etc). The exploitation of specific UPWATER results will lead to expected mid-term outcomes including among others: updating the EU chemical priority lists, scaling-up the pilot bio-based solutions to demonstration scale, the adoption of some preventive measures in the case studies and the close-to-market development of the passive sampling devices.

European Water utilities environment is embedded in a context dealing with global issues such as water scarcity and technical-economic issues such as infrastructure aging. Management of drinking water supply is facing key challenges partly related to traditional water meter, such as managing capital and operational costs; water loss (also known as non-revenue water) due to leaks and other system failures; and water scarcity/conservation. The core of the solution lies in the renewed access and use of accurate data that Smart Water Metering can provide to decrease operating costs, identify performance issues, improve customer service and better prioritize infrastructure investments. SMART.MET strongly paves the way to a more efficient management providing for example automatic reading of the household meters and billing, real time assessment of water balance for leak detection, identification of abnormal behaviors and awareness-raising, ability to identify user-meters defaults. However, the lack of common European standards and lack of “open technological platforms” combined to the high transaction cost on the demand side create a lock-in situation in the market and determine a situation of long-term dependency of water operators on technology providers. This determines high average operating costs for water operators and users, as well as collective inefficiency related to the multiplication of different proprietary solutions on the offer side. The objective of the proposal is thus to drive the development of new technologies to manage smart metering data collection and management, driven by a group of 7 water utilities through a joint Pre Commercial Procurement (PCP). They are supported by 6 expert organizations for assessing the technologies, implement the new procurement procedures and disseminate the outcomes of the project to other utilities and solutions suppliers. The duration of the project is 48 months.

Coast-Scapes (rethinking COASTal landSCAPES with climate-resilient interventions: systemic land-to-sea solutions) proposes to rethink land-coast-sea systems under climate change for enhanced resilience and biodiversity gains. We shall co-design systemic resilience solutions for coastal landscapes using transdisciplinary indicators, early and climatic warnings, business models and knowledge-based maintenance to reduce climatic risks and improve land to sea environments. We propose nature-based-solutions (NbS) suited to a broad range of coastal archetypes, governance, climates and resilience deficits, sequenced along resilience-through-adaptation pathways. Such solutions, supported by governance transformation and cross-sectoral engagement, will be applied by regions and communities empowered by an unprecedented combination of technical tools, financial models and social commitment. Coast-Scapes will promote NbS for a climatic resilience compatible with biodiversity gains and existing infrastructure constraints, seeking a reduced environmental footprint under natural resources that are scarce in quantity and quality. Social and technical innovation, associated to a governance shift, will make systemic resilience operational and fill the implementation gap at a pace commensurate with climate change acceleration. The selected Core Pilot regions/communities feature climate sensitive natural/human assets, controlled by land-coast-sea interactions and acting as large-scale demonstrators of scalable resilience plans for replication and export. These plans aggregate Science, Policy, Industry, Society and Environment actors with administrations responsible for local implementation, organised as resilience platforms and linked in a Regions and Communities Board. Resilience solutions will be monitored/maintained/marketed with the project, new standards and business models, for a resilience build up commensurate with unfavourable climate/human stressors.

The NEWAVE project departs from the notion that the global debate about water governance needs a reset, and aims to point the way forward. It does so by developing research and training for a new generation of future water governance leaders, and by equipping them with the transdisciplinary skills to better tackle water challenges. The central organizing framework in NEWAVE is formed by the “three Ps” – which reflects the insight that future water governance leaders should have a deep and transdisciplinary understanding of 1) Problématiques - the nature of nowadays water challenges; 2) Paradigms – the ideational underpinnings of current approaches to water governance; and 3) Patterns – the way in which newly proposed approaches interact with existing institutions. NEWAVE proposes cutting edge research on all these aspects from a global perspective, a highly sophisticated training program to teach the required skills to analyze these issues in a reflexive way and to come up with recommendations about them, and a close collaboration with several of the most prominent players in the water governance debate. NEWAVE will not only be active in Europe, but will additionally target the water governance debate in a carefully selected number of emerging economies and developing countries, and has the right partners on board to do so. Because of its excellent design, NEWAVE will help to recognize and avoid the traps in the current debate on water governance, such as panacea thinking, the disregard of institutional contexts, and the neglect of politics or normative considerations such as justice and equity. NEWAVE thus presents an opportunity to make a step change in an salient societal debate in Europe, and far beyond, and is designed to leave a strong legacy in terms of networks, insights and skills acquired.