Innovative & resilient water basin management for cities and regions

UDiTE the European Federation of Local Government Chief Executives joined forces with VEOLIA to host an EU Green Week 2024 partner event on the importance of resilient water basin management to our cities and regions. Quality of life & prosperity are vital to our cities & regions. Water is a resource of fundamental economic value. Speakers touched upon innovation, behavioural change, digital innovations & circularity reuse schemes that are all helping out cities and regions to drive water resilience & helping their communities to continue to thrive.
 

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EU BLUE DEAL LOCAL APPROACHES TO WATER RESILIENCE 
 

The quality of life & economic prosperity of our citizens are vital to our cities & regions. Local authority CEOs, from France, Spain and Malta represented UDITE. Stephane Pintre, UDiTE's president underlined the vital leadership role of local authorities are playing at a time of great change with the ecological transition. With uncertainty stemming from conflicts on Europe’s borders, climate change & the challenges of recovering from the recent pandemic, it is at the local level where the impacts of these threats occur. Water basin management is a major priority for cities & regions, industries, and citizens. Water is a resource of fundamental economic value and without water, there is no local economy! From future water policies to practical lost cost tips the Green Week partner event in a short time illustrated how innovation, behavioural change & circularity schemes at water basin management level are helping communities to become more water resilient & thrive.

The event took place at the EU Committee of the Regions and was professionally moderated by our moderator Tamsin Rose who gave participants the opportinity to engage with our experienced panel on water resilience. Jean Leonetti, the Mayor of Antibes Juan Les Pins introduced the REUT project, an ambitious partnership scheme with VEOLIA to recycle around 9 million cubic metres of water a year, that would have been lost into the Mediteranean, to water municipal parks and clean streets. Ruben Wetink from he GreenLED Life project talked about the difference between member states and regions on water hygene regulations. Jeromina Albertini from Veolia showed a series of successful solutions and replicable case studies from across the world.  Ildefonso Cobo Navarrate, the Chief Executive of Granada City Council and UDiTE/Cosital member spoke of the importance of working closely with citizens and industry representatives locally. Our speakers were drawn from the water industry, EU water associations, local government spoke knowledgeably about their innovative experiences and a lively debate took place with the audience online and in Brussels on issues including the management of competing demands for water between their population and surrounding agriculture areas. How technical systems provide accurate real-time data to manage water effectively? Encouraging greater cooperation between Islands in the 2030 initiative over water resilience. Applying the polluter pays principle effectively at the local level and ensuring the better management of water leaks and waste through new technologies. If you missed the Green Week partner event scroll down to find the video presentations, the slides and a recorded webstream from the event below.

Edited by: Simon Pascoe