As one of the flagship actions under the new European Water Resilience Strategy recently published, the European Commission has announced the creation of the European Water Academy (EWA).
Led by the JRC, the academy aims to address capacity needs in Europe’s water sector and to bridge research and real-world application of technologies by offering advanced training, supporting innovation, and fostering collaboration between public and private actors across Europe.
As Europe faces increasing pressure on its water resources due to climate stress, ageing infrastructures and water mismanagement, the academy will build the knowledge, skills, and expertise to fill the capacity gaps to ensure a water-resilient continent.
Anchored in a public-private collaboration, the academy will bring together the JRC, water sector stakeholders, academic institutions, and key industries such as agriculture, energy, and health.
The EWA will offer entrepreneurial training, capacity building and knowledge transfer. It will support researchers and innovators to identify commercialisation pathways for new technologies in areas such as water reuse, desalination, precision irrigation, wastewater surveillance and treatment, and critical infrastructure protection.
The academy will also support the implementation of policies like the recast Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive and enable practical responses to environmental and public health risks.
Pilots leading the way
Two flagship pilot programs are already underway.
- The Wastewater Surveillance Academy for Health offers hands-on training in monitoring pathogens through wastewater, building on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. It operates through JRC’s high-end facilities in Ispra and international pilot projects.
- The second, the Water Reuse Risk Management Community of Practice, equips participants with the skills to scale safe and innovative water reuse solutions, drawing on successful models from across Europe and promoting circular economy approaches.
The academy will make use of JRC infrastructures to deploy a “living lab” approach, where innovative solutions are trialled in real settings. Technologies will be co-created among academia, public institutions such as national agencies or the European Water Association, and entrepreneurs, helping to convert innovations into actionable, impactful solutions.
Network and funding
The academy will operate as a hub within an expanding network of public utilities, research institutions, and regional authorities. It will also launch a digital platform, linked with the EU Academy and the JRC Knowledge Hub for Water, to offer flexible access to training materials, simulations, and expert communities across languages and regions.
The academy will be fully operational from 2026 and funded by various EU sources.
Other JRC contributions to the Water Resilience Strategy
The JRC will contribute to the actions “Enhance EU real time early warning and monitoring systems for floods and droughts by supporting Member States actions, by strengthening the European Drought Observatory and the European Flood Awareness System of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service” and “Launch a Copernicus Water Thematic Hub to serve as “one stop shop” for all water relevant earth observation data, products and tools - under the Copernicus Programme to facilitate access and the use of remote sensing in daily water management decisions.”
