Launch of the ESPON WATER project!

Across Europe, governing water resilience requires institutions and policies able to respond to hydrological interdependencies that cut across sectors, scales and administrative boundaries. This is the challenge at the heart of ESPON WATER – Governing Water-Resilient Territories, a new project coordinated by CRAFT- DAStU and involving CALL, launched on 15 September 2026.

ESPON WATER supports the implementation of the European Water Resilience Strategy and contributes to the ESPON programme’s mission of providing territorial evidence for policy and practice across Europe. It treats water resilience as a territorial governance issue: water flows, risks and competing uses often cross borders, while responsibilities, policies and resources remain fragmented across sectors and scales.

The project will connect European and national policy frameworks with river basins, cross-border territories, and regional and local contexts. It will examine how governance arrangements, institutional capacities and financing mechanisms support water resilience, where they fall short, and which multi-level, cross-sectoral and cross-border approaches can help.

Over 18 months, the project will produce a pan-European analysis of water governance, territorial typologies, a portfolio of effective practices and four in-depth case studies, informing policy recommendations for decision-makers at EU, national, regional and local levels.

👉 Find out more about the project here!

ESPON WATER is tendered by  ESPON EGTC, and coordinated by  DAStU – CRAFT at Politecnico di Milano (Valeria Fedeli and Irene Bianchi). It involves a multidisciplinary consortium including OSMOS Network, the University of Alcalá, IMDEA Water and CNR-IRSA.