Promoting social INNovation to renew multi-level and cross sector WATER governance

Project Information

InnWater

Grant agreement ID: 101086512

DOI

10.3030/101086512

Project closed

EC signature date 8 November 2022

Start date 1 March 2023

End date 28 February 2026

Funded under

• Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Total cost

€ 2 834 847,50

EU contribution

€ 2 834 847,50

Coordinated by

OFFICE INTERNATIONAL DE L'EAU
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - InnWater (Promoting social INNovation to renew multi-level and cross sector WATER governance)

Reporting period: 2023-03-01 to 2024-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

InnWater project "Promoting social INNovation to renew multi-level and cross-sector WATER governance," addresses the critical need for sustainable water governance in Europe. This initiative is motivated by the pressing challenges of water scarcity, pollution, and the need for effective stakeholders engagement in water management. The overall objectives of InnWater are to support innovative and inclusive governance by considering different sectors and management levels for a transition to sustainable water systems.
Therefore, InnWater focuses on several and complementary innovative solutions for water stakeholders, including an Enhanced Water Governance Assessment Tool, InnWater Citizen Engagement Method, digital tools such (i.e. Water Governance Diagnostic Tool, Economic simulation tools). All these solutions will be gathered in InnWater Governance Platform and tested in 5 pilot sites.
InnWater approach is embedded in social innovation. Indeed, InnWater solutions will be presented accordingly to both their technological and non-technological dimensions (governance, capacity development, and economic). The project also focuses on dissemination and impact maximization efforts, including policy briefs and webinars to engage stakeholders and promote InnWater results.
The project aims to enhance water governance processes and practices, promote sustainability, resilience and inclusion in water systems, and support evidence-based decision-making. By involving stakeholders from various sectors (i.e local communities, policy-makers, and water authorities) the project seeks to create a comprehensive and inclusive approach to water governance. The integration of social sciences plays a crucial role in the project, particularly in developing citizen engagement strategies and assessing the socio-economic impacts of water governance models. Overall, InnWater aims to contribute to the EU Green Deal, the EU Water Framework Directive, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals by promoting innovative and sustainable water governance solutions.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The InnWater project has made significant progress in its technical and scientific activities:
-The Enhanced Water Governance Assessment framework is ready. A literature review was completed, and an initial governance assessment method was created, designed to evaluate governance gaps, promote sustainability and resilience in water systems. The framework has been tested in La Réunion Island pilot site, and will be further refined through workshops across the other sites
-A review of EU-wide citizen engagement experiences was completed, highlighting best practices and key challenges. Then, InnWater Citizen Engagement Method was developed, offering practical and tailored guidelines to the pilot sites to support local citizen engagement.
-The development of each digital components of InnWater Governance Platform has started. The Water Governance Diagnostic Tool, which provides an assessment matrix of water governance systems, has undergone early-stage testing. The first drafts of the cross-sector hybrid dashboard and the economic simulation tools are in progress. The development of the InnWater Governance Platform is well underway.
-The 5 pilot sites have been fully operational since the beginning of the project. Preliminary guidelines for the Pilot Site Communities have been established, also ensuring an efficient connexion between PS and project activities. So far, 8 webinars have been conducted with local stakeholders.
-A first policy brief was released. The work leading to the exploitation road map has started and led to the preliminary results of InnWater. The replication method, which aims to up-take InnWater’s innovative solutions across 14 additional sites, has begun. The communication and dissemination activities have been continuously promoted since the start of InnWater.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

InnWater has already listed potential results, already delivered or under development :
-Multi-level and cross sectors governance recommendations – Policy briefs
-A Reference Guide for programming, to provide water managers and practitioners with information and guidance to support governance-related actions.
-A Water governance assessment tool
-WEFE Nexus Macro-economic simulation, providing a cross-sector approach to water governance.
-A methodology for assessing the socio-economic performance of water pricing policy for domestic uses
-Water pricing tool, a digital micro-simulation model that enables to measure the socio-economic performance of a dedicated pricing policy implemented by a water manager.
-Inclusion of environmental costs within water tariff and pricing.
-Raising awareness and training support tools.
-Self-sustaining governance Pilot Sites Communities, made of local stakeholders from the project’s Pilot Sites.
-A critical review of Citizen Engagement approaches.
-A Citizen Engagement framework, outlining a methodology based on a step-by-step process for creating citizen engagement roadmaps tailored to pilot sites.
-InnWater Governance Platform, that will gather all the innovation and key results delivered by the consortium.
Potential impacts of these results include improved water governance practices, increased stakeholders' engagement, and enhanced sustainability and resilience of water systems, for better decision-making processes.
To ensure results' uptake, key actions have been identified: continuous testing and refinement of tools, broader dissemination of methodologies and tools, support for capacity building among water stakeholders and the replication of InnWater’s innovations across Europe. IPR will be carefully addressed. The work on exploitation will also support an effective use of the InnWater results, including funding opportunities.

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