As the world faces a global emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the vital importance of integrated and sustainable water management is exacerbated particularly for the most vulnerable populations. Furthermore, the impacts of climate change continue to add more stress to water security. For youth, the need for a sustainable future is especially important as they will have to live with the consequences of the choices we make today. Youth are already proposing innovative ideas and creating their own spaces to design and improve their future but they are limited by resources, capacity and connections. Once youth are equipped to realize their full potential, youth can become leaders and entrepreneurs in addressing the challenges of sustainable management of water resources and contribute to the SDGs.This program aims to address issues highlighted by youth and partner organisations related to capacity building, employability and a structure to better connect organizations and youth. As such the following objectives have been developed:To develop common and innovative methodologies to strengthen a global youth partnership addressing climate and water related issues and enhance their outreach and impact.To support European youth in acquiring transversal and specific skills in collaboration with program partners at global, regional and country levels allowing them do develop bankable projects or accessing employment opportunities and thus contributing to building a water secure worldThe program will develop material which will be accessible to all European youth on the Youth for Water and Climate platform and will develop a sustainable youth program which will be addressed to a yearly cohort of 20-30 young professionals. The first cohort will target youth aged 18-30 years old from France, Sweden, Slovakia, Hungary and Belgium. Priority will be given to youth with fewer opportunities. Criteria will also be added in the selection process to ensure gender balance. The program will have 3 phases:1. Preparation research and development of materials: This phase will focus on program development and the 4 intellectual outputs: Youth Water and Climate Career Curriculum, a Mentoring guide, Community of Practice and a Youth for Water and Climate Programme roadbook.2. Implementation of the pilot: An open call will be launched. The selected participants will start their journey with 3 modules, 1- Taking up a Career in Water & Climate Change, 2 - Innovation & Problem Solving ,3- Leadership development. Following these 3 modules, youth will be separated into 2 groups according to their specific interests, (i) Entrepreneurship (4a) or (ii)Professional development (4b). The youth will also take part in other learning activities, such as a Mentorship program, internships and International events to either take part in capacity-building workshops or advocacy activities.3. Wrap Up and Evaluation of Tools and Programme: This phase will be dedicated to the evaluation of the project's results and improvement of the outputs produced using quantitative and qualitative data collected throughout the various activities.The program is expected to result in:- an increased capacity of partner organizations and young professionals to work at the European level and increased level of cooperation between the partner organizations;-the development and implementation of innovative replicable methodologies and tools for supporting young people in their professional or entrepreneurial development in the water sector;- for European youth, including underprivileged and marginalized youth, to be empowered and their capacities to be strengthened with transversal skills and water specific skills;- quality assured youth-led business projects and job creation potential are developed by youth, including underprivileged youth, in various countries, contributing to address water and climate related challenges.The expected impact is to have a strong and empowered generation of European youth' civic and entrepreneurial spirit who can play an active role in society particularly in the environmental and climate change sector. These young leaders will be motivated because of their improved knowledge and capacity to take hold of a local issue and provide a relevant solution to it. Also, for partner organisations to gain confidence in the abilities of the younger generation and improve their processes for youth engagement in the future and create more structured and permanent programs. The program overall will cultivate a community of supporting organisations and active young professionals who work together to strengthen youth involvement in the water sector.In the long term, the methodologies and outputs developed will be available to be replicated in other countries and regions. The youth participating will be the beginning of a community of ambassadors for improved youth engagement and connectivity with partner organisations.

WaterInnEU’s primary vision is to create a marketplace to enhance the exploitation of EU funded ICT models, tools, protocols and policy briefs related to water and to establish suitable conditions for new market opportunities based on these offerings. WaterInnEU will build upon existing knowledge bases and platforms developed in previous projects but will provide new concepts, connections, and components that are essential for a marketplace to work. The primary goals can be detailed in five major objectives: a) Gather the outcomes of previous European funded projects, and contribute to their dissemination and exploitation to be used as an instrument for supporting the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). b) Assess the level of standardization and interoperability of these outcomes as a mechanism to integrate ICT-based tools, and incorporate open data platforms and generate a palette of interchangeable components that are able to use the water data emerging from the data sharing processes and data models stimulated by initiatives such as the INSPIRE directive. c) Create the marketplace as a service: a forum formed by water research projects representatives, stakeholders in the water domain, and companies (in particular SMEs), who are capable of moving current products into the market and offer them to, for example, river basin managers, at different levels. The user segment will mainly benefit from the capability of the water partnerships (e.g. the Global Water Partnership), in bringing together a wide variety of water sector stakeholders and practitioners such as decision makers, public and private users, local, regional and international entities, multidisciplinary stakeholders. d) Build an open virtual marketplace that includes the Water Knowledge Portal of projects and research (WISE-RTD), a user feedback facility and a success stories portfolio, additionally to the current tools and policies lists.

The HuT will employ innovative disaster risk reduction solutions, accounting for the potential variations induced by climate change. This will involve integrating and leveraging best practices and successful multi-disciplinary experiences that have been recently developed within various territorial contexts by leading European research groups, institutions, and stakeholders, to deal with extreme climate events. The project’s main ambition beyond the state of the art is to promote the “best set” of trans-disciplinary risk management tools and approaches that could be adopted and used extensively across Europe, in as many situations as possible. The activities of the project will be developed considering the following main critical dimensions: trans-disciplinarity, systemic risk, co-production, cross-fertilization, transferability, and long-term legacy. A set of ten demonstrators will constitute a multi-hazard arena wherein possible disastrous events associated with climate extremes will be dealt with jointly by representatives of the scientific and technical communities, practitioners, policy-makers and local communities. The events associated to climate extremes that will be considered in this project are: forest fires, including wildland urban interface fires; meteorological/hydrological/agricultural droughts, including associated water shortage; heatwaves; weather-induced landslides, including debris flows; fluvial and pluvial floods; storms, including heavy rain, hail, thunderstorms, and storm surges. The HuT will mainly focus on the prevention and preparedness phases of the disaster risk management cycle, explicitly considering climate change scenarios and integrating the proposed set of solutions, for the various events considered, over short- (from days to several months) and long-term (from years to decades) time horizons.

Natural/Small Water Retention Measures (NSWRMs) can help mitigate the conflicts between agricultural water uses (e.g. plant production, animals) and other human and environmental demands for water, including drinking water or maintaining environmental flow. This is crucial, since these conflicts will be probably exacerbated by an increasing number of extreme events such as droughts and heavy rainfall. A more careful management of head watersheds will significantly contribute to a more resilient agriculture and society. Moreover, NSWRMs are contributing simultaneously to the achievement of different Sustainable Development Goals and environmental targets formulated in several water- and agriculture-related European Union policies. Despite a comprehensive set of techniques available to increase water retention on both catchment and farm levels, knowledge is still lacking on the effectiveness of different scale- and region-specific measures across various soil-climatic regions and agricultural systems, especially under changing climate conditions. OPTAIN aims to (i) identify efficient techniques for the retention and reuse of water and nutrients in small agricultural catchments across Continental, Pannonian and Boreal biogeographical regions of Europe, taking into account potential synergies with existing drainage-irrigation systems, and - in close cooperation with local actors - (ii) select NSWRMs at farm and catchment level and optimize their spatial allocation and combination, based on environmental and economic sustainability indicators. By building on existing knowledge and addressing these objectives, OPTAIN will improve the Technological Readiness Level of NSWRMs for the benefit of both humans and ecosystems. All gained knowledge will be translated into a learning environment allowing analysis of trade-offs and synergies between multiple values/goals in the management and design of NSWRMs.

The Danube River Basin (DRB) faces significant challenges associated with river sediments. In the 2021 update of the Danube River Basin Management Plan, sediment balance alteration emerged as a new sub-topic within the existing Significant Water Management Issue titled "Hydromorphological alterations." Additionally, sectors like industry, urban sewage, and agriculture call for sediment quality evaluations throughout the DRB. However, the absence of standard sediment monitoring limits our understanding of risks. Addressing the sediment mismanagement in the DRB, the iNNO SED project aims to establish the Danube Sediment ‘Lighthouse’ Knowledge Centre. This centre will: • Introduce a set of innovative methods for monitoring and modelling sediment quantity and quality, thereby deepening our knowledge of sediment processes. • Provide innovative sediment management practices to improve sediment continuity and quality in DRB sections facing with sediment-related issues. • Showcase co-created innovative measures through demonstration activities, while also evaluating their socio-economic and environmental aspects. • Empower the public with innovative knowledge transfer methodologies. • Collaborate with five Associated Regions, transferring the iNNO SED solutions to other river basins. To accomplish these goals, iNNO SED will leverage the achievements and key contributors of the DanubeSediment and SIMONA initiatives. Moreover, it will engage relevant stakeholders of sediment management, such as ICPDR, policy makers, river managers, hydropower plant managers, waterway authorities, national parks, environmental agencies, SMEs, and more. iNNO SED will represent a pioneering approach to sediment management in large international river basins. This approach sets an example for other major global river systems like the Amazon, Mekong, or Niger. In doing so, it aligns with the Mission's objective of intensifying the European Union's competitiveness.