Closing the Water Cycle Gap with Harmonised Actions for Sustainable Management of Water Resources - WATER HARMONY

Water is a scarce resource. Unsustainable use and the rapidly increasing population amplify the negative impacts on natural, environmental, geographical and social conditions, which are already under increased pressures from Climate Change. Emerging micropollutants (MPs) and their discharges, even at trace concentrations, contribute to accumulation in the aquatic environment with potentially detrimental consequences to both aquatic ecosystems and human health. Man-kind faces a self-inflicted impending crisis as a result; Europe is no exception to this widening gap between the demand and supply of water. Numerous national and transnational initiatives have led to a better understanding of needs and opportunities in the water sector. Nevertheless, competencies in Europe and beyond remain fragmented and underutilised. Many leading scientific communities across the globe are engaged in finding innovative and cost-efficient solutions to these water-related issues. However, their resources are irrationally utilised and the potential for synergies are heavily underutilised due to insufficient communication. The ambition of the Water Harmony project is to unite competent researchers, end-users, policymakers and the public to develop and jointly demonstrate best practices that are potentially valuable for Europe and beyond. The project addresses SDG6 *Ensure access to water and sanitation for all*, maximising synergies and rationalising resources and efforts. The objective of the Water Harmony project is to close the water cycle gap by harmonising good global practices of sound and smart water management concepts that address emerging challenges and mobilise stakeholders. The project is organised as an ERANET WaterJPI activity. Twelve partners from Norway, Sweden, Spain, Poland, Romania, Israel, USA, Australia, Singapore and China and has demonstrated strategies that close the water cycle gap via 4 innovative management demo projects and 7 cutting-edge technological showcases. The project is carried out partly by each partner and partly jointly. Each partner carries out their own research activities, while several joint activities like innovation camps, expert review forums and knowledge exchange visits are planned. COVID-19 restrictions have heavily impacted joint activities, and virtually no physical meetings have taken place since December 2019 until 2022. Two of the main collaborating activities- the two innovation camps, which were scheduled in 2020 in Israel and Spain have been postponed several times and finally completed in 1Q2022. While most international partners had to cease or postpone field activities in 2020, many of them have managed to carry out their local activities fully or partially in 2021. Some joint activities, for example, data analysis between Swedish, Polish, Norwegian and Dutch partners, were carried out remotely. Most partners have applied for an extension either until the end of 2022 or mid-2023 and have received approval from their respective national authorities. NMBUs activities were also severely delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions in 2020. However, field activities were intensified in 2021 and 2022. NMBU led the technology review forum, and joint Innovations camps were conducted in Barcelona (Spain) and Arad (Israel), with overlapping physical project meetings. Partners have presented their individual research results which have been evaluated and commented on by other partners for follow-up. Planned activities were completed by 30.06.2023 and the final report was submitted to the JPI secretariate.

OUTCOMES (Norwegian Component): The project demonstrate how pollution in a catchment can be reduced using real-time water pollution load estimation leading to more optimised sewer rehabilitation. Real-time water quality measurement using hybrid sensors which are inexpensive and with low maintenance cost were demonstrated. The combination of water quantity estimation using widley used models in combination with innovative water quality estimations, it is possible to estimate the pollution loads in sewers and stormwater pipes, which can be used as an additional criteria when prioritising rehabilitation of networks. IMPACTS: Water Harmony will strengthen the coordinated approach to research and actions on preventing macro- and micro pollutants creating a transnational platform of scientists from 10 countries; provided solutions demonstrating its transnational value; created a knowledge-sharing platform; created a unique possibility for synergy and a possibility to exchange and created Best Practices.

Water is a scarce resource. Unsustainable use together with rapidly increasing population amplify the negative impacts on natural, environmental, geographical and social conditions, which are already under increased pressures from Climate Change. Emerging micropollutants (MPs) and their discharges, even at trace concentrations, contribute to accumulation in the aquatic environment with potentially detrimental consequences to both aquatic ecosystems and human health. Man-kind faces a self-inflicted impending crisis as a result; Europe is no exception to this widening gap between the demand and supply of water. Numerous national and transnational initiatives have led to a better understanding of needs and opportunities in the water sector. Nevertheless, competencies in Europe and beyond remain fragmented and under-utilised. Many leading scientific communities across the globe are engaged in finding innovative and cost-efficient solutions to these water related issues. However, their resources are irrationally utilised and the potential for synergies are heavily underutilised due to insufficient communication. The ambition of the Water Harmony project is to unite competent researchers, end-users, policy makers and the public to develop and jointly demonstrate best practices that are potentially valuable for Europe and beyond by addressing SDG 6 *Ensure access to water and sanitation for all*, maximising synergies and rationalising resources and efforts. This the objective of the Water Harmony project is to close the water cycle gap by harmonising global good practices of sound and smart water management concepts that address emerging challenges and mobilise stakeholders. Twelve partners from Norway, Sweden, Spain, Poland, Romania, Israel, USA, Australia, Singapore and China will be demonstrating two strategies that close the water cycle gap via 4 innovative management demo projects and 7 cutting-edge technological showcases.