Water for all – launch of the new BMBF funding measure GRoW

"Water as a Global Resource" (GRoW), a new funding measure by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), had its kick-off conference in Karlsruhe on 12 and 13 September. 

More than 150 experts met at the Centre for Art and Media (ZKM) to present the joint research projects funded by GRoW and to identify common challenges and potentials for synergies. With GRoW, the BMBF aims to contribute to the implementation of the “Clean Water and Sanitation” Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) set by the United Nations in the Agenda 2030. Representatives from more than 90 participating institutions from the research and business sectors participated in the event.

GRoW has been set up with the goal of developing innovative solutions for global water problems and implementing these in local contexts. To this end, it aims to provide tools for improving forecasting and management, and systems to support decision-making – for example, to reduce water pollution and increase the efficiency of water use. GRoW will also fund training schemes to help relevant stakeholders apply and implement this newly acquired knowledge and transfer it to other regions. The overarching objective is to increase good governance in the water sector.

Global analysis and local solutions

A key characteristic of the GRoW funding initiative is the connections it draws between local and global action. Increasing water stress in many regions of the world will also have impacts here in Germany, given that the country is one of the world's largest importers of "virtual water", i.e. water used in production processes of goods and services. Within GRoW, the project partners want to analyse these interlinkages and develop solutions for sustainable water management, building on a better understanding of the state of water resources and the evolution of global water needs. In addition, GRoW aims to spread and transfer solutions for water problems developed in Germany.

Strengthening and integrating sciences for a better transfer of practical knowledge

To support cooperation among the 12 joint projects and transfer research results into practice, the funding initiative has been accompanied by the setting up of GRoWnet, a networking and knowledge-transfer project. GRoWnet is managed by adelphi, a Berlin-based organisation.

At the kick-off event, experts started to identify the first connections between their projects. They were particularly able to identify common challenges and potential synergies in relation to methodological approaches and the transfer of results into practice.

The funding initiative "Water as a Global Resource (GRoW)" is part of the funding priority area “Sustainable Water Management (NaWaM)”, within the "Research for Sustainable Development (FONA³)" framework programme of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).