WaterInnEU - Online Marketplace for sustainable water management in the EU

The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) is the legal framework for water resource management within the European Union (EU). It defines comparable standards and criteria for the ecologically, socially and economically sustainable use of surface and ground waters. The main instruments for implementing the WFD are management plans and action programmes, which must be set up and employed for each river basin.

The European Commission supported the WaterInnEU project as part of Horizon 2020, which adelphi implemented together with a consortium of European partners. The goal of the project was to combine existing water management instruments and information platforms into a virtual marketplace, making them more accessible and supporting river basin managers in utilising them in their water management practices throughout the EU.

To this end, adelphi worked with seven research institutions and organisations to analyse the way in which existing water management instruments are currently being used. A stakeholder-needs analysis revealed the current barriers to the implementation and use of such instruments. Based on these insights, the consortium created a new online platform tailored to suit users’ needs, containing comprehensive information on recent research results, innovative strategies and solutions for water management. The stakeholder-needs analysis delivered important insights into designing the required functionality and services of the online marketplace, guaranteeing improved accessibility and the efficient use of existing instruments and information.