Athens Annual Meeting: the agreements
An overview of the agreements we reached with each other in Athens is shown below. Please contact Watershare’s director, Theo van den Hoven, if you would like more information.
Communities of Practice
- The CoP on Emerging Substances (ES) will focus on the creation of a Knowledge Base (KB) for emerging chemical and microbial agents. ES will thereby build on existing KBs within the membership (such as AbatES) and elsewhere.
- The CoP on Resilient Urban Water Management (RUWM) will apply the current toolbox for stress-testing of urban water systems in several cities in member countries.
- The CoP on Future-Proof Water Infrastructures (FPWI) will focus on a KB related to asset management, by further developing the PIPE-Works Knowledge Base. A striking observation during the meeting was the multiple applications of the Water-Use Info tool by several members. The FPWI CoP will organise an event to share lessons learned from the applications.
- The CoP on Subsurface Water Solutions (SWS) recently reached a milestone, when it delivered a guide and tools for the implementation of subsurface water solutions and an online KB to search and share advances in these solutions, building on outcomes of the SUBSOL project. The many reference projects in SWS show that subsurface solutions can be vital building blocks in solutions for water scarcity. It was decided to refocus future SWS work on the broader scope of water scarcity, including water reuse.
- The CoP on Resource Recovery and Upcycling is developing an agenda for future activities.
The attendees stressed the importance of developing project outlines to facilitate cooperation among the membership. The coordinators will develop such project outlines before next January for all three priority CoPs. Knowledge exchange events such as webinars will also be organised for all CoPs.
Governance
The attendees also discussed a KWR proposal for an adjusted governance model. The proposed model reflects the evolution of Watershare from a focus on tools to one on actual collaboration on the basis of tools. The proposal was generally approved. KWR will further develop the model for a final decision.
Annual Meeting 2019
The meeting accepted the kind offer of JWRC to host the 2019 Annual Meeting in Yokohama, in connection with the 11th International Symposium on Water Supply Technology on 9-11 July.