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To boost water resilience and ensure sustainable and equitable water use, we need to try, test and validate innovative water governance practices – that’s what our work in GOVAQUA is all about.  Key takeaways from our 3rd annual meeting below - if you are interested in our topics, get in touch!

GOVAQUA team convened in mid-May at UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in sunny Wallingford to take stock of progress on our analyses and co-creation in Living Labs, and to take first steps towards building transition pathways bringing together our final recommendations. We also had a unique opportunity to hear from various River Thames users on the many meanings of the river and on the criticality to work together for improved river health for the benefit of people enjoying its waters and nature alike.  

Sharing lessons learned on innovative water governance

GOVAQUA experts are currently conducting case studies of innovative water governance practices representing legal and regulatory approaches, participatory and collaborative approaches, economic and financial instruments and digital solutions for information sharing, focusing on their effectiveness, efficiency, inclusivity, reflexivity, replicability and scalability.

Good practices are emerging, for example, from water allocation mechanisms in France, e-flows in Austria, regulating water-intensive value chains across Europe,  water banks in California, Catchment-Based Approach in the UK, and citizen science partnerships and business water risk assessment tools, among others. Towards 2026, the documented practices will be shared via an online repository, tailored factsheets and presentations to the various stakeholder groups – stay tuned!  

Meanwhile, our Living Labs are busy with their Experimentation phase, focusing on

• Crau, France – payments for ecosystem services between hay growers and orchards
• Archipelago Sea Catchment, Finland – water stewardship collective action and results-based financing mechanisms in food value chain to curb diffuse pollution from agriculture
• Axarquía, Spain – digital tools supporting water-user association and hydro-economic modelling in water scarce conditions
• River Thames, UK - open data portal on the status of the Oxfordshire rivers https://oxfordrivers.ceh.ac.uk/  
• Nordic Hydropower, Finland and Sweden – comparison of governance approaches to sustainable hydropower
• Danube Delta, Dunavat, Romania – Nature-based solutions  

GOVAQUA’s good practice case studies feed directly to the work of the Living Labs, which then again provide further validation on the dos and don’ts of the practices in question.

Navigating transition pathways

GOVAQUA conceptualises for the first time sustainability transition in the context of water governance. Our multidisciplinary team discussed the various approaches that can be applied. One of them is transition pathways, which can be described as desirable pathways to support governance experimentation.​ In GOVAQUA, we are looking into three types of pathways – characterised by innovation, policy or pressure driven changes.​ To work contextually, we need look into the conditions for our desired pathways.​

​In GOVAQUA, transition pathways…​

• Bring together lessons from case studies and Living Labs.
• Help understanding the policy conditions for sustainability transitions.​
• Are used to communicate messages to  broader policy audiences.​
• Provide conceptual framing for our research outputs and publications.

First-hand experiences of the River Thames

We concluded our meeting with a wonderful visit to the River Thames in Oxford and Wallingford hosted by our Living Lab team of Thames21, The Rivers Trust and the UK CEH. We had a chance to hear from various river users including swimmers and rowers, historians, citizen science experts, water company representatives, and city council and Environment Agency officials. The Thames is an ecosystem, water source, bathing site, transport route, racing arena and unfortunately, also treated as a sewer, the water quality of which is occasionally so poor it may cause sicknesses and skin conditions. There are, however, signs of its ecological indicators improving.  

The river users we met all emphasized the importance of shared understanding of the many meanings and values of the river, expanding the knowledge base now initiated by the Living Lab and the Oxford Rivers Portal (oxfordrivers.ceh.ac.uk), and further strengthening collaboration between authorities, water companies, municipalities, research, NGOs and citizens. Without the Thames, the Oxfordshire area would not be what it is today.

The visit and the meetings left us inspired and motivated to continue our work, showing how water connects us all. They underlined the criticality of collaboration initiatives and communication tools and platforms, i.e. innovative practices of water governance, in achieving our shared water-related goals.

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Author: GOVAQUA Consortium lead Suvi Sojamo

Looking back at 2024…

Our research teams on legal and regulatory approaches, participatory and collaborative approaches, economic and financial instruments and digital solutions for information sharing have completed their comprehensive reviews and are currently busy with case study analyses and comparisons  

Our Living Labs in Finland, France, Romania, Spain and the UK have started their active stakeholder engagement and co-creation, applying the GOVAQUA Assessment tool for water governance innovations with local partners to reach a shared understanding of the challenges at hand and the desired future states, and agreed on innovative practices to be further experimented with.

We have launched our first digital tool with the lead of the UK CEH and the Rivers Trust https://oxfordrivers.ceh.ac.uk/ , providing past and current data on river conditions in the Oxford area 

We have had excellent discussions with our audiences in our WaterGovernance2025 Synergy Group webinar in the EU Green Week, INBO World General Assembly in Bordeaux, Alliance for Water Stewardship Global Forum in Edinburgh, Water4All consultative workshop and special session in the IAHR Conference in Lisbon, among others.

We’ve launched two policy briefs to support the EU Water Resilience Strategy development 

• Water resilience is built with better water governance with the WaterGovernance2027 Synergy Group (hdl.handle.net)
• Building water resilience: Towards better implementation of ecological flows and water allocation in Europe (hdl.handle.net)

In 2025, we look forward to sharing more publications, completing our case study analyses and systematic comparison, diving deeper into experimentation in the Living Labs, EURO-INBO in Parma, and starting building our recommendations on transition pathways and good practices for sustainable and equitable water governance in Europe.

Many thanks for your collaboration and happy holidays!

GOVAQUA Team 

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The seminar opened with a summary of the Valencia event, where discussions had centered on best practices and governance challenges. This set the tone for an exchange of ideas and tools during the seminar, including the presentation of the GOVAQUA assessment tool and a series of forward-looking governance innovations.

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Key highlights

Reflections from Valencia 2023: Participants revisited key findings from the previous event, including lessons learned from stakeholder engagements and examples of innovative governance approaches.

The GOVAQUA assessment tool: This new tool, designed to evaluate water governance at the catchment level, was a major focus of the seminar. It has already been tested in GOVAQUA’s living labs and aims to enhance transparency, inclusivity, and collaboration in water management.

Innovative governance practices: Presentations covered critical topics, such as water allocation and ecological flows, economic instruments, social innovation, citizen engagement, and digital tools. These were complemented by insights from the WaterGovernance2027 Horizon Europe projects GOVAQUA, InnWater and RETOUCH NEXUS.

Interactive sessions: Participants engaged in interactive discussions, using Wooclap to share real-time feedback on governance tools and explore how these could be adapted to their own contexts. The discussions revealed strong interest in participatory approaches and also highlighted challenges, such as ensuring accessible data and effective stakeholder coordination.

Key messages
The seminar reinforced the importance of effective governance as a foundation for addressing major water-related challenges, including droughts and floods. Key takeaways included:

• Strengthening regulatory frameworks and improving cross-sector collaboration are essential steps.
• Economic instruments, such as water pricing, can play a pivotal role in ensuring sustainable resource management.
• Social innovation and citizen engagement must be prioritized to create more inclusive governance systems.
• Digital tools and open data platforms are critical for improving transparency and supporting informed decision-making.

Next steps
As the GOVAQUA project moves forward, the assessment tool will continue to be tested and refined in living labs across Europe. The next milestone will be a workshop in Parma, Italy, in 2025, within the Europe INBO conference andfocusing on transition pathways toward sustainable water governance.

Familiarize with the presentations (oieau.org).

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.  

Read the policy brief here: Water resilience is built with better water governance (helda.helsinki.fi)

More information: 

• Dr. Suvi Sojamo, Coordinator of the GOVAQUA project suvi.sojamo@syke.fi  
• Dr. Natacha Amorsi, Coordinator of the InnWater project n.amorsi@oieau.fr  
• Dr. Maria Vrachioli, Coordinator of the RETOUCH NEXUS project maria.vrachioli@tum.de  

Watch the EU Green Week webinar recording from the launch of the policy brief at Youtube:

What happens when efficiency targets are implemented in public water supply? How digital tools can help to control over abstraction of water supply and re-allocate scarce water resources between different users? Can impact investments be harnessed for water stewardship? GOVAQUA project will answer these questions in the 8th IAHR Europe Congress in Lisbon.

In one of the GOVAQUA project´s studies impact of implementation of efficiency targets in public water supply was studied by using energy consumption as an indicator. Leakages from water supply systems cause interconnected negative impacts such as over-extraction of water, increased energy and chemical consumption, and economic costs. Lowering water losses from the EU average (23%) decreases per capita energy consumption. Minimizing the water supply leakages holds significance for climate change adaptation by preserving non-abstracted water for future droughts and enhancing the quantitative condition of water bodies. Furthermore, the reduction of losses is intricately connected to energy and chemical consumptions, contributing to climate change mitigation. (Esther Díaz-Cano¹ and Julio Berbel¹)

In another study, the Axarquía region (Andalusia, Spain) acts as a Living Lab for testing governance innovations aiming at a sustainable management of water resources. Innovative water governance instruments can play a key role in accelerating a path to sustainability transition in water management. Preliminary results from the Living Lab are presented: benefits from the use of a new digital tool to overcome the challenges related to control of over abstraction and the re-allocation of scarce water resources and competition between users. (Damián Sánchez-García² and Suvi Sojamo³)

Third study introduces impact investments to address water impacts of food production value chains and offers a timely exploration of how impact investments can be harnessed for water stewardship and water protection in general. By providing a context-sensitive analysis of impact investments tailored to a specific geographical setting, the study offers valuable insights and a general scheme that can be adapted and applied to other regions facing similar challenges. It underscores the potential of innovative financial mechanisms to drive meaningful environmental stewardship while maintaining economic growth and sustainability in the food production value chains. (Liisa Saikkonen³, Soile Oinonen³, Suvi Sojamo³, Outi Penttilä³ and Esther Díaz-Cano¹)

All studies are part of the Horizon Europe project GOVAQUA, which aims to identify, assess, develop and validate innovative governance instruments and approaches to support and accelerate a transition towards sustainable and equitable water use in Europe. Such a transition is urgently required to reconcile water uses and environmental needs and to reach the aims of the EU WFD, the EU Green Deal and the UN SDGs. With putting innovative approaches into test in altogether six newly established Living Labs in collaboration with key stakeholders, the project aims to come up with good practices with European wide scaling up potential.

IAHR (International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research) Europe Congress takes place in Lisbon, Portugal 4–7 June 2024.

Recearch instutes involved in these GOVAQUA studies:

• ¹ WEARE- Water, Environmental and Agricultural Resources Economics Research Group, Universidad de Córdoba, Spain
• ² Cetaqua Andalucía, Spain
• ³ Finnish Environment Institute, Finland

GOVAQUA project collaborates actively with the EURO-INBO network of river basin managers in identifying and developing innovative water governance solutions.

The annual Europe-INBO conference in October 2023 hosted a workshop dedicated to water governance innovations by GOVAQUA and our sister projects InnWater and RETOUCH NEXUS. The workshop provided an opportunity for the participants to learn about innovative water governance practices thus far identified by the three projects and to provide their feedback.

Abundance of good water governance practices thrives in Europe and one aim of the workshop was to bring together examples of these. Innovation in water governance can be seen as an evolving practice that embraces new, not yet broadly applied solutions that could pave the way for a more adaptive and resilient water management.

Water governance innovations may relate to, for example, stakeholder participation, digital tools, economic instruments, or the Water–Energy–Food–Ecosystems Nexus approach that highlights the interdependence of water, energy and food security and ecosystems. In the workshop, real-world case studies from the three research projects offered a tangible connection to the issues at hand while an interactive working session fostered lively debate and brainstorming among attendees.

Examples from Spain
For example, in the Jucar River Basin case study in Valencia, Spain, the RetouchNexus project focuses on sustainable water management amidst challenges like climate change, water allocation conflicts, and ecological concerns, especially for L’Albufera wetland. Agriculture dominates water use (80%), followed by urban (14%) and industrial (6%) needs. The Water Court is an interesting example of effective traditional governance: an institution that dates back to medieval times still today plays a pivotal role in water distribution. The study highlights the necessity of integrating local customs and modern policies for adaptive governance, emphasizing stakeholder balance and resilience against intensifying droughts due to climate change.

In Spain's Axarquía region, the GOVAQUA project uses the DPSIR framework to analyse water governance, focusing on economic analysis and environmental impacts under Water Framework Directive analytical scheme. Key challenges in the region include excessive groundwater exploitation and seasonal fluctuations in demand, leading to innovative responses such as management and cost recovery for reused water and the future integration of desalination. The Living Lab process hosted by GOVAQUA prioritizes wastewater quality improvement, water allocation management and improved monitoring of groundwater resources. New innovative governance practices include pricing mechanisms, investment in advanced treatment, allocation planning, groundwater abstraction monitoring and policy, and stakeholder engagement to promote water use efficiency and mitigate crisis conditions caused by water scarcity and high demand.

Yearly workshops at EURO-INBO
The workshop gathered 70 experts and specialists working in basin management and in the implementation of the European Union´s Water Framework Directive, its "Daughter Directives" and other related regulation. The WaterGovernance 2027 synergy group will continue to host workshops in the forthcoming EURO-INBO conferences, sharing their findings and diving deeper into the topic.

Your insights are needed
The GOVAQUA project collected examples of innovative water governance practises at the workshop and this work continues now online. The online survey will be open until the end of February 2024. GOVAQUA´s researchers will use the responses to identify potential case studies for more in-depth analysis of good practices. The responses will also help the project to build a good practice repository.

Take part in the online survey on innovative water governance practises via this link (enquetes2.oieau.fr)

This May, GOVAQUA hosted a workshop at EURO-INBO 2025 on transition pathways for sustainable water governance, exploring innovative legal, economic, participatory, and digital approaches.  

Speakers included our experts Yannick Pochon, Jani Lukkarinen and Cesar Casiano Flores, as well as Juan Diego Restrepo for insights from our sister project InnWater (innwater.eu). Over 100 participants from river basin organisations, ministries, public agencies, and universities joined the discussion. Here’s what some of them had to say:  

“It takes into account complexity and all water sectors and users.”  
“It makes it easier to move away from silos in governance.”  

Thank you for all of you who came and discussed with us!

You can find the presentation slides here: 

If you are working with water issues, please take a look at our Assessment tool for water governance innovations (syke.fi).

Innovative water governance practices - Insights from Horizon Europe projects

The Europe-INBO conference held next week in Bordeaux, France, will again host a workshop dedicated to water governance innovations. . The GOVAQUA project is one of the organizers of the workshop. The workshop will be held on Monday, 7 October 2024, from 9:30 to 12:00 at the Cité Mondiale Congress Center.

Participants of this workshop will learn about innovative water governance practices from three sister projects. The workshop will also present an assessment tool developed in GOVAQUA project and lessons learnt from applying it by the Living lab partners. Over all, the workshop will discuss various governance innovation cases and provide tools, for example, to better govern the problems related to water protection and restoration or sustainable water use.

GOVAQUA has also published a new Policy brief for the event: Building water resilience: towards better implementation of ecological flows and water allocation in Europe (helda.helsinki.fi)

The workshop is targeted to experts and specialists working in basin management and in the implementation of the European Union’s Water Framework Directive, its “Daughter Directives,” and other related regulations.

The workshop is organized by the WaterGovernance 2027 synergy group. The group includes three research and innovation projects funded under the Horizon Europe programme by the European Commission: GOVAQUA, InnWater and RETOUCH NEXUS.

Europe-INBO 2024 International Conferences for the Implementation of the European Union water directives
7–10 October 2024
Bordeaux, France
More information at the conference website

Unlock the Future of Water Resilience 

Join us for an immersive online workshop on “Cutting-edge water governance for water resilience”, taking place on 13 June 2024 at the EU Green Week Partner Events. Hosted by the Water Governance synergy group, this webinar will feature three Horizon Europe research projects— GOVAQUA, InnWater and RETOUCH NEXUS—exploring multi-level and cross-sectoral water governance.

 Home>Research & development>Research and development projects>Projects>Governance innovations for a transition to sustainable and equitable water use in Europe GOVAQUA>News and Events>Register for our webinar during EU Green Week on innovative water governance practices from current European projects!
Register for our webinar during EU Green Week on innovative water governance practices from current European projects!
Unlock the Future of Water Resilience
Join us for an immersive online workshop on “Cutting-edge water governance for water resilience”, taking place on 13 June 2024 at the EU Green Week Partner Events. Hosted by the Water Governance synergy group, this webinar will feature three Horizon Europe research projects— GOVAQUA, InnWater and RETOUCH NEXUS—exploring multi-level and cross-sectoral water governance.

Webinar Overview:
Enhancing Water Resilience through Innovative Governance

This webinar delves into the pivotal role of governance in bolstering water resilience within the EU. By examining the interplay between legislative frameworks, collaborative strategies, and economic incentives, we aim to uncover and discuss innovative governance mechanisms that can significantly enhance water resilience. Join us to gain valuable insights from leading experts involved in three Horizon Europe projects dedicated to advancing water governance.

Register here

Webinar Objectives and Highlights

• Exploring Objectives
  This webinar aims to explore innovative water governance practices, share valuable insights from ongoing EU projects, and foster collaboration among stakeholders to enhance water resilience.
• Target Audience
  Designed for policymakers, researchers, NGOs, and stakeholders interested in EU water management and resilience, this event promises to engage and enlighten.
• Interactive Format
  Expect a dynamic format featuring interactive sessions, panel discussions, and expert presentations from the Synergy Group of three Horizon Europe projects on Water Governance.
• Notable Speakers
  Hear from leading experts in the field, including distinguished members from the Synergy Group, who will offer unique perspectives and innovative solutions in water governance.

Draft Programme Overview
Explore the structured timeline of our webinar, detailing the schedule, key topics, and interactive activities planned.

10:00 - 10:10 CET    Welcome Session
Introduction to the webinar, outlining the objectives and a brief overview of the three Horizon Europe projects involved.

10:10 - 10:30 CET    Interactive Poll
Discuss in a live Mentimeter poll what aspects are crucial in water governance for enhancing water resilience.

10:30 - 11:00 CET    Showcase of Practices
on innovative water governance practices from the three Horizon Europe projects, illustrating real-world applications and outcomes.

11:00 - 11:20 CET    Open Discussion
A facilitated discussion allowing participants to ask questions, share insights, and delve deeper into the topics presented.

Published May 23 2024

The Europe-INBO conference held next week in Valencia, Spain, will host a workshop dedicated to water governance innovations. The GOVAQUA project is one of the organizers of the workshop. The workshop will be held on Wednesday 18 October 2023 at 9.30 – 12.00 at the Melia Hotel Oceanic.

Participants of this workshop will learn new ways to tackle burning water governance issues. The workshop will discuss various governance innovation cases and provide tools, for example, to better govern the problems related to water protection and restoration or sustainable water use.

The workshop is targeted to experts and specialists working in basin management and in the implementation of the European Union´s Water Framework Directive, its "Daughter Directives" and other related regulation.

The workshop is organized by the WaterGovernance 2027 synergy group. The group includes three research and innovation projects funded under the Horizon Europe programme by the European Commission: GOVAQUA, InnWater and RETOUCH NEXUS.

At the Europe-INBO conference GOVAQUA coordinator Dr. Suvi Sojamo will also deliver a keynote in the session on the role of the different stakeholders in the implementation of the Water Framework Directive on Tuesday 17th. Dr. Sojamo´s keynote will highlight the innovative collaborative governance approaches from Finland.

EURO-INBO 2023 International Conferences for the Implementation of the European Union water directives
16–19 October 2024
Valencia, Spain
More information at the conference website

Published September 2023