European Horizon 2020 systemic actions for water-smart circular cities, regions and industries : post-conference H2020 report ECOMONDO 2021.
Date: 2022-10-25
Institutions: European Research Executive Agency
Subjects: case study, circular economy, clean technology, digital transformation, green economy, research project, smart city, sustainable development, water management

European  Horizon  2020  Systemic 
Actions  for  Water-Smart  Circular 
Cities, Regions and Industries 

Post-conference H2020 report ECOMONDO 2021 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Written by Clara Borja Barberà, Josué González Camejo, Francesco Fatone, Evdokia Achilleos (REA), 
Andrea Rubini 
March– 2022 

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

European Research Executive Agency (REA) 
Unit REA B.3- Biodiversity, Circular Economy and Environment 

E-mail: Evdokia.ACHILLEOS@ec.europa.eu 

REA-B3@ec.europa.eu  

European Commission 
B-1049 Brussels 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

European Horizon 2020 Systemic 
Actions for Water-Smart Circular 
Cities, Regions and Industries 

Post-conference H2020 report ECOMONDO 2021 

2022 

European Research Executive Agency (REA) 
Horizon 2020 

EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Manuscript completed in October 2022 

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Table of Content 

1. 

INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 6 

2.  Workshop AGENDA ................................................................................... 7 

3.  PRESENTATIONS ...................................................................................... 9 

3.1.1. Focus on Horizon Europe | Evdokia Achilleos, European Commission – European 
Research Executive Agency – Head of Sector B3.002 - Green Europe - Biodiversity, 
Circular Economy and Environment. .......................................................................... 9 
3.1.2. Focus on Water JPI | Giuseppina Monacelli, Chair Water JPI. ....................... 12 
3.1.3. Focus on Water JPI | Maria Chiara Sole, Italian representative in Water4All, 
ISPRA...................................................................................................................... 15 
3.2.1. Digital Transition in Water-Smart Cities: Digital-Water City  | Chair Nicolas 
Caradot, Berlin Competence for Water, Germany – Project Coordinator ................. 17 
3.2.2. Contributions from case studies: CIRCULAR BIOCARBON H2020 .............. 23 
3.2.3. Contributions from case studies: HYDROUSA H2020. ................................... 25 
3.2.4. Contributions from case studies:   NextGen, ULTIMATE and AquaSPICE  
H2020. ..................................................................................................................... 34 
3.2.5. Contributions from case studies: B-WaterSmart H2020 ................................ 40 

4.  CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................ 42 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. INTRODUCTION 

The  workshop  on  ‘European  Horizon2020  systemic  actions  for  water-circular  cities,  regions 
and industries’ is a joint event of Water Europe (WE) European Research Executive Agency 
(REA) and the Ecomondo Scientific Technical Committee organised in  the  frame  of  the 25th 
edition of ECOMONDO & KEY ENERGY The Circular Economy & Renewable Energy Expo 
2021.  

Ecomondo is the reference event in Europe for the ecological transition and the new models 
of circular and regenerative economy. Within the wide programme of conferences, workshops 
and seminars, ECOMONDO highlights a selection of international events, aimed at presenting 
all the key factors for the ecological transition and the new national and international trends 
and scenarios.  

The workshop session took  place  on  27  October  2021  and  was  hosted  by  Andrea  Rubini 
(WE) and Francesco Fatone (Ecomondo Scientific Technical Committee) in collaboration with 
Evdokia Achilleos (REA).  

Water is transversal in systemic strategies for circular transition and sustainable development 
of  cities,  regions,  industries  and  communities.  Green  and  digital  solutions,  combined  with 
proper governance and business approaches are being developed in Horizon2020 Innovation 
Actions and can make a crucial socio-economic impact towards the Green Deal objectives. 
This  workshop  has  brought  together  major  local  and  territorial  innovative  case  studies  and 
deliver a platform of experience to promote living lab approaches. 

The main conclusions, collected in the final chapter of this repost, include considerations on 
the importance of digital transformation in the water sector, the circular transition of water in 
small and decentralized communities demonstration and  in industrialized regions 

6 

 
 
 
 
 
2. Workshop AGENDA 

The programme consisted of  brief  presentations  from  stakeholders of the water’s field related 
to Horizon 2020 explaining their initiatives and experience and the results of ongoing Horizon 
2020 projects and the impact of their actions.   

The participating Horizon 2020-projects were:  

  Digital-Water City (https://www.digital-water.city/)  

  CIRCULAR BIOCARBON (https://circularbiocarbon.eu/)   

  HYDROUSA (https://www.hydrousa.org/)   

  AquaSPICE (https://aquaspice.eu/)   

  ULTIMATE (https://ultimatewater.eu/)    

  B-WaterSmart (https://b-watersmart.eu/) 

Figure 1 H2020 Conference agenda 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Section Chairs 

Evdokia Achilleos, European Commission – European Research 
Executive Agency – Head of Sector B3.002 - Green Europe - 
Biodiversity, Circular Economy and Environment   

Andrea Rubini, Ecomondo's Scientific Technical Committee and 
Water Europe   

Francesco Fatone, Ecomondo's Scientific Technical Committee and 
Marche Polytechnic University   

Timing 

Agenda 

Water in Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe and National Initiatives: 
lessons learnt, aligning programs and synergizing efforts   

Focus on Horizon Europe - Evdokia Achilleos, European Commission   

10:00-10:30 

Focus on Water JPI - Giuseppina Monacelli, Chair Water JPI   

Focus on Water4All - Maria Chiara Sole, Italian representative in 
Water4All, ISPRA   

BUILDING ON RESULTS OF ONGOING PROJECTS: 

Digital Transition in Water-Smart Cities: Digital-Water City |Chair 
Nicolas Caradot, Berlin Competence for Water, Germany – Project 
Coordinator   

Contributions from case studies:   

MILANO - Play with serious game and matchmaking tool  | Marco 
Bernardi, Claudio Gandolfi, Serena Radini, Enrico Marinelli and 
Adriano Mancini – Gruppo CAP, UNIMI and UNIVPM   

PARIS - SIAAP - Demo of Early Warning System for bathing water | 
Sofia Housni, Sanitation for Greater Paris SIAAP   

10:30-11:00 

11:05-11:20 

Circular integration of regional water and waste services: BBI 
CIRCULAR BIOCARBON flagship| Natalia Alfaro Borjabad 
URBASER, Spain – Project Coordinator   

11:20-11:20 

Break 

11:30-12:05 

Circular Transition in small and decentralized communities: 
HYDROUSA |Costas Noutsopulos, National Technical University of 
Athens, Greece – Project     

8 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Contributions from case studies:   

LESVOS island | Fabio Masi, IRIDRA, Italy   

TINOS island |Nikos Bedau, Tinos Eco Lodge, Greece Alessandro 
Zecca, Planet, Italy   

MYKONOS island  |Antonios Eleftheriou, Delaros, Greece   

Replication of Hydrousa circular solutions |  Camillo Palermo and 
Giulia Cipolletta, ASA and UNIVPM, Italy   

Financial Instruments and business models | Eric Mino, SEMIDE, 
France   

Circular Transitions in industrialized regions: NextGen and 
ULTIMATE and AquaSPICE | Gerard van den Berg and Jos Frijns 
Water Research Institute KWR, Netherlands – project coordinator   

ROSIGNANO case – ULTIMATE and AquaSPICE:   

12:05-12:35 

Michele Del Corso and Mattia Ciampechini, ARETUSA, Italy Giovanni 
Cannata, WEST Systems, Italy   

Cecilia Bruni, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy   

Francesco Rossi, Consorzio Polo Tecnologico Magona, Italy Lorenzo 
Bagnoni e Gianluca Pettinello, SOLVAY, Italy   

12:35-12:50  Water-smart coastal regions: B-WaterSmart. General overview and 
Venice case | Patrizia Ragazzo, VERITAS, Italy   

12:50 

Wrap up, conclusions and plans for follow-up | Evdokia Achilleos, 
European Commission  

3. PRESENTATIONS 

(cid:3438).(cid:3436). WATER  IN  HORIZON  2020,  HORIZON  EUROPE  AND 
NATIONAL INITIATIVES: LESSONS LEARNT, ALIGNING 
PROGRAMS AND SYNERGIZING EFFORTS  

3.1.1. Focus  on  Horizon  Europe  |  Evdokia  Achilleos,  European 
Commission – European Research Executive Agency – Head 
of  Sector  B3.002  -  Green  Europe  -  Biodiversity,  Circular 
Economy and Environment. 

Horizon  Europe  (HE)  (2021-2027)  is  the  EU’s  key  funding  programme  for  research  and 
innovation. It substitutes former Horizon 2020 programme and has a budget of €95.5 billion. 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Horizon Europe tackles climate change, helps to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development 
Goals (SDGs) and boosts the EU’s competitiveness and  growth. The programme facilitates 
collaboration and strengthens the impact of research and innovation in developing, supporting 
and implementing EU policies while tackling global challenges. It supports creating and better 
dispersing of  excellent  knowledge  and  technologies.  It  creates  jobs,  fully  engages  the  EU’s 
talent  pool,  boosts  economic  growth,  promotes  industrial  competitiveness  and  optimises 
investment impact within a strengthened European Research Area.  

The New elements in Horizon Europe are the following: 

  European Innovation Council: Support for innovations with potential breakthrough 
and  disruptive  nature with scale-up  potential  that  may  be too  risky  for  private 
investors. This is 70% of the budget earmarked for SMEs.  

  Missions:  Sets  of  measures  to  achieve  bold,  inspirational  and  measurable  goals 
within a set timeframe. There are 5 main mission areas as part of Horizon Europe:  

1.  Adaptation to Climate Change  

2.  Cancer  

3.  Restore our Oceans and Waters 

4.  Climate-neutral and smart cities 

5.  Soil Deal for Europe 

  Open  science  policy:  Mandatory  open  access  to  publications  and  open  science 

principles are applied throughout the programme.   

  New approach to partnerships: Objective-driven and more ambitious partnerships 

with industry in support of EU policy objectives. 

The structure of Horizon Europe programme is shown in Figure 2: 

Figure 2. Horizon Europe programme (How Horizon Europe was developed | European Commission (europa.eu)) 

It must be highlighted that WATER is not a central topic in the  HE Missions, but it is highly 
relevant in Adaptation to Climate Change Mission, Restore our Oceans and Waters Mission 
and Soil Deal for Europe Mission.  

10 

 
 
 
 
 
In HE programme, calls are divided in 6 clusters: 

  Cluster 1 - Health  

  Cluster 2 - Culture, Creativity & Inclusive Society  

  Cluster 3 – Civil Security for Society  

  Cluster 4 - Digital, Industry & Space  

  Cluster 5 - Climate, Energy & Mobility  

  Cluster 6 - Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment  

These clusters are divided in Destinations.   

WATER is specifically involved in Cluster 6. Water-related destinations can also be found in 
Clusters 4 and 5: 

Cluster 4 - Digital, Industry & Space  

  Destination 1 - Climate neutral, circular and digitised production;  

  Destination    2  -  Increased  autonomy  in  key  strategic  value  chains  for  resilient 

industry;  

  Destination  3 - World leading data and computing technologies;  

  Destination 3 - Digital and emerging technologies for competitiveness and fit for the 

Green Deal;  

  Destination 5 - Open strategic autonomy in developing, deploying and using global 

space-based infrastructures, services, applications and data;  

  Destination 6 - A human-centred and ethical development of digital and industrial 

technologies. 

Cluster 5 - Climate, Energy & Mobility 

  Destination  1  -  fosters  climate  science  and  thus  helps  to  identify  effective  and 

efficient pathways and responses to climate change.  

  Destination  2  -  supports  different  cross-cutting  technologies  and  solutions  for 

climate, energy and mobility applications.  

  Destination  3  -  is  about  making  energy  supply  more  sustainable,  secure  and 

competitive;  

  Destination  4 -  is  focusing  on  reducing  energy  demand  of  buildings  and industry 

and enabling their more active role in a smart energy system.  

  Destination  5  - 

increases 

the  competitiveness  and  climate/environmental 

performance of different transport modes;  

  Destination  6  -  advances  mobility  services  and  solutions  at  system  level  for 

passengers and goods. 

11 

 
 
 
 
 
Cluster 6 - Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment 

  Destination 1 – Biodiversity and ecosystem services.  

  Destination 2 – Fair, healthy and environment-friendly food systems from primary 

production to consumption. 

  Destination 3 – Circular economy and bioeconomy sectors.  

  Destination 4 – Clean environment and zero pollution. 

  Destination 5 – Land, ocean and water for climate action.  

  Destination  6  –  Resilient,  inclusive,  healthy  and  green  rural,  coastal  and  urban 

communities.  

  Destination  7  –  Innovative  governance,  environmental  observations  and  digital 

solutions in support of the Green Deal. 

More  information  about  Horizon  Europe  can  be  found  at:  Horizon  Europe  |  European 
Commission (europa.eu). 

3.1.2. Focus on Water JPI | Giuseppina Monacelli, Chair Water JPI. 

Joint  Programming  Initiatives  (JPIs)  are  an  initiative  of  European  Member  States  and  the 
European Commission for tackling Current Grand Challenges with European dimension and 
global outreach through:  

 

Identification of common research, development and innovation priorities.   

  Launch  of  Joint  multilateral  activities  e.g.  calls  for  projects,  networks  of  experts, 

technology transfer.   

  Reinforcement of links to various international initiatives.  

There exists 10 JPIs since 2008, including WATER JPI.  

JPI on “Water challenges for a changing world” aims to tackle the ambitious grand challenge 
of “Achieving sustainable  water systems for a sustainable  economy in Europe and abroad”. 
Water is vital and essential for a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Better results and 
optimization of public funds are obtained through the alignment of water research agendas and 
programmes at European and international”.  

Water JPI partners (Figure 3) currently represent 88% of the European National Public RDI 
investment on Water. 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
Figure 3. Map of WATER JPI members, partners and observer countries. 

Figure 4. Description of Water JPI activities. 

Water JPI has elaborated two documents describing their vision and strategic agenda (updated 
in April 2020):  

1. WATER JPI VISION 2030 (waterjpi_vision2030_web.pdf).   

2.  WATER  JPI  STRATEGIC  RESEARCH  AND  INNOVATION  AGENDA  2025 

(waterjpi_sria2025_web.pdf). 

13 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Seven  Joint  Calls  have  been  launched  (2013,  2015,  2016,  2017,  2018,  2020,2020-21) 
including five calls with support of the European Commission as part of the Horizon 2020 ERA-
NETs  Cofund  WaterWorks2014,  WaterWorks2015,  WaterWorks2017,  ERA-NETs  Cofund 
AquaticPollutants  &  BioDiversa  and  two  calls  implemented  within  the  CSAs  WatEUr  and 
IC4Water. 

2013 Pilot Call: “Emerging Water Contaminants” (budget 9.7M€, 7 projects funded). 

2015  Joint  Call:  “Developing  technological  solutions  for  services  for  water  distribution  and 
measurement,  wastewater  treatment  and  reuse,  desalination,  floods  and  droughts”  (budget 
15.2 M€, 16 projects funded).  

2016  Joint  Call: with the  FACCE  JPI  “Improving water  use  efficiency  and reducing soil  and 
water pollution for a sustainable agriculture” (budget 18 M€, 21 projects funded). 

2017 Joint Call: “Water resource management in support of the United Nations Sustainable 
Development Goals (UN SDGs)” (budget 6.8 M€, 8 projects funded). 

2018  Joint  Call:  “Closing  the  water  cycle  gap  -  improving  sustainable  water  resources 
management” (budget 15.2 M€, 18 projects funded). 

2020  Joint  Call:  with  the  Oceans  and  AMR  JPIs  on  “Risks  posed  to  human  health  and the 
environment by pollutants and pathogens present in the water resources” (budget 24 M€, 18 
projects funded).   

2020  Joint  Call:  with  the  BiodivERsA  JPI  on  “Conservation  and  restoration  of  degraded 
ecosystems and their biodiversity, including a focus on aquatic systems”.  

WATER JPI has also organised 2 Knowledge Hubs: The first one (2018) on Contaminants of 
emerging 
(http://www.waterjpi.eu/implementation/thematic-activities/water-jpi-
knowledge-hub-1).   

concerns 

The  second  one  (2019)  on  UN  SDGs:  WATER4SDGs"New  Water  under  Water  Scarcity“. 
(http://www.waterjpi.eu/implementation/thematic-activities/water-jpi-knowledge-hub-
1/knowledge-hub-on-un-sdgs).  

is  also 

the  Thematic  Annual  Programming  action  (TAP) 
WATER  JPI 
(http://www.waterjpi.eu/implementation/thematic-activities/water-jpi-tap-action),  a  cluster  of 
R&I projects for a common research priority on Ecosystem Services. It is a network of national 
projects focused on specific research needs.   

involved 

in 

It relies on the establishment of a network or cluster of excellence, creating a critical mass of 
research  and 
integration  and  sharing  of  knowledge, 
the 
infrastructure,  data  and modelling  tools, training and  capacity  building,  as  well  as improved 
communication and networking with stakeholders and the scientific community.    

technological  excellence, 

The first Water JPI TAP action on “Developing Approaches for Assessing and Optimising the 
value of Ecosystem Services” run from June 2019 until June 2021.  

Water  JPI  has  also  participated  in  the  organisation  of  the  2021  Water  JPI  Conference  on 
“Pollutants, pathogens, and antimicrobial resistances in the water cycle”, which took place in 
Mülheim a.d.R, Germany, on 17-18 November 2021.   

Water JPI is also an associated partner in European partnership Water4All – Water Security 
for the Planet (see next presentation). 

14 

 
 
Water JPI Contact:   

www.waterjpi.eu  

waterjpisecretariat@agencerecherche.fr  

3.1.3. Focus on Water JPI | Maria Chiara Sole, Italian representative 

in Water4All, ISPRA. 

Water4All is a co-funded European Partnership (under Horizon Europe programme) composed 
of  77  partners,  including  R&I  funders,  sectoral  ministries,  local  authorities,  EU  networks, 
national associations, clusters, RPOs. It has been launched in November 2021 and will last 
until 2027, although some activities can be lengthened until 2032.  

Phase I will take place in 2022-2023, which budget accounts for 90 M€ including 26 M€ from 
EC funding.  

The aim of the partnership: 

  Concentrating  research  and  innovation  and  the  funding  landscape  of  water  in 

Europe and beyond.  

  Enabling  water  security 

term  by  boosting  systemic 
transformations  and  changes  across  the  entire  water  research  and  innovation 
pipeline,  fostering  the  matchmaking  between  problem  owners  and  solution 
providers.Destination 3 – Circular economy and bioeconomy sectors.  

for  all  on  the 

long 

o  cross-sectoral  approach,  encompassing  policy,  environmental,  economic, 

technological and societal considerations.  

o  continuum  from  knowledge  development  to  the  transfer  and  practice  to  the 

actors of policy, operators and society. 

The R&D&I themes, drivers and enablers of Water4All are shown in Figure 5: 

Figure 5. R&D&I themes, drivers and enablers of Water4All. 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Themes 

Sub-
themes 

The themes and sub-themes of Water4All Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) 
are displayed in Figure 6, while the Water4All strategic plan is shown in Figure 7: 

for 

I.  Water 
circular 
economy: 
smart  water 
value 

II.  Water 
for 
ecosystems  and 
biodiversity 

for 
future: 

III.  Water 
the 
sustainable 
water 
management 

IV.  Water  and 
health 

V. 
Infrastructures 
for water 

VI. 
International 
cooperation 

VII.   
Governance 

  Water 

  Functioning 

  Water 

  Behaviour 

supplies for 
socio-
economic 
development 
and activities.  

  Circular 

economy.  
  Empowering 
the public, 
water users 
and 
stakeholders 
in valuing 
water.  

and 
biodiversity.  

  Resilience, 

mitigation and 
adaptation of 
aquatic 
ecosystems 
and ecosystem 
services to 
global 
changes.  
  Developing 
and applying 
ecological 
engineering 
and 
ecohydrology 
for 
ecosystems 
restoration. 
  Integrating 
ecosystem 
services into 
the 
management 
of water 
resources.  

Resources 
Management.  

  River basin 

management.  
  Groundwater 
management.  

  Resilience, 

adaptation and 
mitigation to 
hydroclimatic 
extreme 
events.  
  Tools for 
water 
management.  

and effects of 
contaminants 
of emerging 
concern, 
plastics, 
endocrine 
disruptors.  

  Water 

dimension in 
antimicrobial 
resistance.  
  Innovative 
water tools 
and 
technologies 
for water 
quality 
monitoring 
and water 
treatment, 
remediation 
and 
disinfection.  

  Risk 

Assessment.  

  Adaptation of 
existing water 
infrastructure
s to new 
challenges 

  Water 

infrastructure 
resilience.  

  Water 

infrastructure 
security 
(including 
cyber and 
terrorism 
security).  

  Water 

diplomacy.  
  Establishing 
tools for 
trans-
boundary 
cooperation 
  Developing 
integrated, 
fair and 
adaptive 
water 
resource 
management 
systems.  

  Developing 
methods for 
more efficient 
citizen and 
wider 
stakeholder 
engagement 
  Strengthening 

policy 
integration, 
alignment, 
coherence 
and water 
policy 
coordination 
in order to 
exert a real 
change in 
society.  
  Enhancing 

the regulatory 
framework. 

Figure 6. Themes and sub-themes of Water4All Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA). 

Figure 7. The Water4All strategic plan is divided in 5 pillars: Pillar A, B, C, D and E. 

16 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Contacts:  

    Commision services: Panagiotis Balabanis.  

    Coordinator: Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR): Olivier Bouc 
(Water4all@agencerecherche.fr).  

    Partner: ISPRA: Maria Chiara Sole (mariachiara.sole@isparambiente.it). 

(cid:3438).(cid:3437). BUILDING ON RESULTS OF ONGOING PROJECTS 

3.2.1. Digital Transition in Water-Smart Cities: Digital-Water City  | 
for  Water, 

Chair  Nicolas  Caradot,  Berlin  Competence 
Germany – Project Coordinator   

European  cities  face  major  challenges  to  achieve  sustainable  management  of  urban  water 
systems with:   

  The over-exploitation of groundwater and surface water bodies by the agricultural 

industry and citizens.   

  And the effects of climate change competing with growing demand for liveable and 

resilient cities.     

Digital  technologies  can help.  Mobile  devices, real-time sensors, machine  learning,  artificial 
intelligence  and  cloud  solutions  can  significantly  improve  the  management  of  water 
infrastructures. They can boost the quality of services provided to citizens, as well as the level 
of awareness and collaboration between utilities, authorities and citizens. DWC creates new 
linkages between the digital and the physical world by developing, assessing and bringing to 
the  market  a  panel  of  15  advanced  tailor-made data  and  digital  technologies  for  integrated 
water management. DWC digital solutions are being deployed in five major European urban 
and  peri-urban  areas,  Berlin,  Milan,  Copenhagen,  Paris  and  Sofia,  representing  about  30 
million  inhabitants,  i.e.  6%  of  Europe’s  population,  facing  common  issues  concerning  water 
and wastewater management and digitization, and linked to important events such as the 2024 
Olympic Games in Paris.  

DWC partners consider that the large-scale assessment and communication of the benefits 
provided  by  the  digital  solutions  in  five  major  cities  will  serve  as  lighthouse,  raising  the 
awareness of other European cities, including smaller urban areas, and opening new market 
opportunities for DWC partners and European providers of digital solutions.  DWC takes the 
challenge of developing a large number of solutions (15 DS, TRL 3-7  toward TRL 7-9) that 
address a wide panel of digital techniques for all the water value chain instead of focusing only 
on few isolated solutions. DWC considers that this approach is essential to unleash the full 
potential  obtained  through  the  interactions  of  single  digital  technologies  such  as  real-time 
monitoring  data  empowered  by  artificial  intelligence  and  mobile  visualisation  tools.  DWC 
solutions have been selected based on their level of maturity, on their market potential and on 
their high relevance to address current and future water-related issues, namely the protection 
of  human  health,  the  technical,  environmental  and  economic  performance  and  return  on 

17 

 
 
 
 
investment  of water infrastructures  as  well  as  the  public and  end-user awareness  on  water 
management.  

DWC  solutions  are  developed  in  close  collaboration  with  municipalities,  utilities,  research 
institutes and innovation players from both the digital and physical sphere. Digital-water.city 
integrates the development of digital solutions in a dedicated guiding protocol to cover existing 
gaps in governance, interoperability and cybersecurity. I will take place in 2022-2023, which 
budget accounts for 90 M€ including 26 M€ from EC funding. 

Figure 8. Contributions from case studies:  DIGITAL WATER CITY H2020. 

MILANO - Play with serious game and match making tool | Marco Bernardi, Claudio 
Gandolfi, Serena Radini, Enrico Marinelli and Adriano Mancini – Gruppo CAP, UNIMI 
and UNIVPM. 

Milano  case  is  developed  in  Peschiera  Borromeo  WasteWater  Treatment  Plant  (WWTP) 
(Figure 9): 

18 

 
 
 
 
Figure 9. Peschiera Borromeo WWTP. Milano case study (Italy). 

Match Making Tool  

The  water  and  nutrient  needs  in  the  areas  near  the  WWTP  are  wanted  to  be  estimated. 
Different technologies are wanted to be integrated to support decisions about irrigation.  

The  match-making  tool  (Figure  10)  aims  to  enhance  the  reuse  of  water  in  agriculture  by 
promoting  "smart"  irrigation  that  takes  into  account  real  needs;  supports  the  decisions  of 
various stakeholders to find the match between quality and quantity and integrates data from 
multiple "sources" in order to have an updated vision to support different stakeholders. 

Figure 10. Scheme of the Match Making tool from the Milano case. 

Using Satellite data over fields, it is possible to derive time-series and check the status also 
evaluating different ripening growths. 

Serious Game 

The  serious game  is  based  on a  scientifically  sound  validated  integrated model to  evaluate 
water reuse-carbon-energy-food-climatic Nexus. It is focused on water reuse practice and uses 

19 

 
 
 
 
 
local real-time data to validate the evaluation of the scenarios. It provides a cross-domain real-
time data flow and foot printing for a range of scenarios such as different climatic conditions, 
water  availability,  irrigated  /  fertigated  crops,  water  demand  and  population,  treatment 
performances and related greenhouse gas emissions. The player of the serious game will play 
the  role  of  those  who  manage  the  resources  that  potentially  can  be  recovered  from  urban 
wastewater for a SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE REUSE IN PERIURBAN AGRICULTURE. It can 
be thus used to raise stakeholders and public awareness about sustainability of water reuse 
and to improve public perception of water reuse in agriculture. It can also be used as a decision 
support tool for planning, providing results based on real data and calibrated models.  

Every choice is accompanied by informative mirrors with curiosity and suggestions to continue 
the game. The player will have the opportunity to choose to irrigate different crops by using 
different  irrigation  methods.  They  will  compare  the  relative  benefits  in  terms  of  NEXUS, 
PRODUCTIVITY AND EFFICIENCY in the decision making.  

The serious game is currently in a beta version. Figure 11 shows a screenshot of its display 
during one of the simulations: 

Figure 11. Screenshot during the simulation of the Serious Game. 

Contact: 

20 

 
 
 
 
 
PARIS  -  SIAAP  -  Demo  of  Early  Warning  System  for  bathing  water  |  Sofia  Housni, 
Sanitation for Greater Paris SIAAP. 

There is an increasing social demand from citizens to reduce environmental impacts in urban 
rivers  and  to  benefit  from  urban  bathing  areas.  Several  cities  like  Berlin  have  achieved 
excellent water quality levels for their urban rivers and propose swimming areas at the heart 
of the city.  

A major challenge regarding bathing water management, however, is that concentrations of 
faecal  bacteria  may  show  spatial  and  temporal  variability.  In  urban  rivers,  discharges  from 
combined sewer overflow (CSO) and stormwater may contain high amounts of faecal bacteria 
and contaminant bathing water quality.  

In  many  cases,  even  with  sufficient  water  quality,  bathing  can  be  forbidden  as  current 
monitoring protocols are not sufficient to protect human health. Even modern rapid monitoring 
approaches  still  need  up  to  12-14  hours  before  results  are  available,  and  traditional  grab 
sampling  does  not  allow  tracking  of  pollution  variability  since  events  may  occur  between 
sampling intervals or cannot be collected for logistical reasons (e.g. if events happen at night 
or during weekends).   

If  bathing  waters  are  subject  to  short-term  pollution,  the  current  European  Bathing  Water 
Directive (BWD Article 12(c)) explicitly demands the implementation of early warning systems 
in  order  to  prevent  bathers from being  exposed to  contaminated  water.  However, the  BWD 
neither provides guidance on how to implement early warning systems in practice nor defines 
water  quality  alert  thresholds.  Bathing  water  quality  is  assessed  only  in  the  long  term  by 
estimating parametric 90th and 95th percentiles based on monitoring data of the previous four 
years. The lack of specified thresholds makes it difficult for the responsible authorities to justify 
and defend short-term decisions about closures of or warnings on bathing sites.   

The  early  warning  system  developed  in  the  Paris  case  study  is  based  on  an  innovative 
probabilistic  approach.  The  tool  translates  the  current  approach  of  long-term  classification 
according  to  the  European  BWD  into  real-time  management  for  early  warning,  making  it 
possible to close a major gap in current European bathing water legislation. The availability of 
online water quality prediction significantly improves microbial safety and reduces the risk of 
contamination  at  bathing  waters.  This  can  make  it  possible  to  establish  bathing  waters  in 
challenging  locations  that  are  subject  to  short-term  pollution  (e.g.  urban  agglomerations).  It 
also  enables  management  of  nothing  authorisation  considering  modelling  uncertainty 
and strengthening of bathing water profiles. The tool provides users with a free, user-friendly 
software  that  can  be  easily  implemented  at  new  bathing  waters.  A  mobile  application  is 
proposed to inform key decision makers and citizens of bathing water contamination risks.   

Machine-learning based Early Warning System for bathing water quality 

This early warning system is an open-source software interface that enables real-time bathing 
water quality assessment. Based on machine learning and/or statistical modelling, it predicts 
bacterial concentration in specific river sections using a set of local data such as rainfall, river 
flow, temperature and water quality. 

The system helps to (1) manage bathing authorisations in urban bathing sites, (2) monitor the 
efficiency  of  the  sanitation  policy  and  (3)  improve  the  real-time  management  of  the  sewer 

21 

 
 
 
network and urban bathing sites. The daily functioning of the Early Warning system is shown 
in Figure 12, while the prediction tool is displayed in Figure 13:   

Figure 12. Daily functioning of the Early Warning System. 

Figure 13. Prediction tool of the Early Warning System. 

Two different kind of apps are being developed, according to the end-user (Figure 12) to which 
it is aimed: 

Figure 14. Mobile applications to communicate bathing water quality. 

22 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Contacts:  

KWB Wolfgang Seis: wolfgang.seis@kompetenz-wasser.de   

SIAAP Jean Pierre Tabuchi: Jean-Pierre.tabuchi@siaap.fr   

SIAAP Sofia Housni : Sofia.HOUSNI@siaap.fr  

3.2.2. Contributions  from  case  studies:  CIRCULAR  BIOCARBON 

H2020 

Circular 
integration  of  regional  water  and  waste  services:  BBI  CIRCULAR 
BIOCARBON  flagship  |  Natalia  Alfaro  Borjabad,  URBASER,  Spain  –  Project 
Coordinator   

1300  M  Ton  of  urban  solid  wastes  are  produced  annually  in  Europe  (Eurostat,  2019).  This 
amount is expected to increase up to 271 kg of solid wastes per capita by 2025, 46% of which 
refers to organic content (The World Bank, 2012). 91 kg per capita of organic waste comes 
from wastewater treatment (sewage sludge) to be added to the urban solid waste produced 
(calculated  from  data  of  Eurostat,  2019).  Even  though  the  recycling  of  these  wastes  has 
improved  in  the  past  decades,  municipal  solid  waste  still  contains  a  large  part  of  organic 
fraction that is not used efficiently. Hence there a necessity and gap to be filled. 

Traditionally,  the  solid  residues  from  urban  wastes  and  wastewater  have  been  managed 
separately.  This  management  scheme  can  be  improved  by  joining  both  treatments  in  a 
biorefinery  scheme.  Through  the  concept  of  a  biorefinery,  OFMSW  can  be  managed  more 
efficiently in terms of circular economy. This implies:   

  Reduction of investments costs. 

  Closing the cycle of materials (nutrients, organic matter, etc.).  

 

Increase in profitability. 

  Zero waste. 

CIRCULAR  BIOCARBON  (Figure  15)  is  a  first-of-its-kind  flagship  biorefinery  conceived  to 
valorise  organic  fraction  of  municipal  solid  waste  (OFMSW)  into  value-added  products: 
diamond-like-carbon coatings, green graphene, tailor-made bio-based fertilisers, or bio-plastic, 
as  well  as  a  variety  of  intermediate  products.  To  maximise  replicability  and  boost  potential 
penetration in the market, the biorefinery will be operated for three years in Spain and Italy, 
and  consistent  business  and  exploitation  strategies  will  be  put  in  place.  The  CIRCULAR 
BIOCARBON biorefinery, organised through a pool of cascading technologies, starting from 
anaerobic process steps (after proper pre-treatment) of mixed urban waste streams, of which 
OFMSW is the main one, in order to treat all the biowaste produced by a medium-size city (at 
the end of the project, a commercial scale biorefinery will be fully operative). The fundamental 
objective  of  the  CIRCULAR  BIOCARBON  project  is  to  open  up  new  business  frameworks 
based on a new circular vision of waste treatment in a city towards a sustainable bioeconomy, 
to which actors leading the territorial waste management schemes and policies will be brought 
to maximize impact on the market, on policy makers and on society. 

23 

 
 
 
 
Figure 15. Partners of Circular Biocarbon. 

Locations: Zaragoza (Spain) and Sesto San Giovanni (Italy) (Figure 16). 

1. Zaragoza (Spain) is a province in the autonomous community of Aragon, northeastern 
Spain. The biorefinery will be built in the facilities of “Alfonso Maíllo” Innovation Center (CIAM, 
one of the most important facilities in Spain for research applied to waste management) and 
in the Center for Urban Waste Treatment of Zaragoza (CTRUZ), owned by the Municipality of 
Zaragoza  and  located  in  the  Technological  Park  for  Recycling  (PTR).  Both  facilities  are 
managed by CIRCULAR BIOCARBON coordinator URBASER. 

2.  Located  in  the  suburbs  of  Milan,  in  the  Lombardia  region,  northern  Italy,  Sesto  San 
Giovanni is a town with a long-standing industrial tradition that has left its mark on the territory. 
Italian partner Group CAP will manage the CIRCULAR BIOCARBON biorefinery in the city. 
Following public consultations which started in 2016, construction of the biorefinery in Italy will 
start  in  2022  with  the  reconversion  of  two  biodigesters  in  the  already  existing  thermal-
valorisation plant and the wastewater treatment plant, in Sesto San Giovanni and managed by 
CAP. 

Figure 16. Map of the locations. 

24 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Through  CIRCULAR  BIOCARBON  is  still  in  its  first  year  (from  a  total  of  5  years).  Its  main 
impacts at the end of the project are: 

  Reduction of 100% of Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) sent to 

landfill. 

  4 new bio-based materials. 

  Reduction 400 t/year of Greenhouse emissions. 

  100% reduction of the incineration of the Sewage Sludge (SS). 

  4 new bio-based value chains from the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste 

(OFMSW) and Sewage Sludge (SS). 

  More than 7000 jobs created by 2030. 

  7  new  cross-sector  interconnections between  waste  management,  water utilities, 

coating, electronics, chemical, bioplastics and agriculture sectors. 

3.2.3. Contributions from case studies: HYDROUSA H2020. 

Circular  Transition  in  small  and  decentralized  communities:  HYDROUSA|Costas 
Noutsopulos, National Technical University of Athens, Greece – Project Coordinator. 

HYDROUSA  (www.hydrousa.org)  aims  to  setup  and  demonstrate  on-site  nature-based 
solutions  for  the  management  of  a  variety  of  water  streams  including  rainwater,  sewage, 
groundwater  and  seawater  to  produce  valuable  resources,  which  can  then  be  valorised  to 
increase agricultural production and boost the economic activities of Mediterranean areas. The 
demonstration systems (Figure 15) will be applied at full scale on three Greek islands (Lesvos, 
Mykonos  and  Tinos).  The  implemented  solutions  will  be  complemented  with  innovative 
services based on the formation of new value chains, involving farmer associations and water 
producers.  The  transferability  of  the  solutions  will  then  be  demonstrated  in  10  other 
Mediterranean and water stressed places.   

25 

 
 
 
Figure 17. Schematic representation of the HYDROUSA case studies. 

Impacts and Dissemination activities  

AWARDS:  

  Award  on  “Preservation  of  ecosystems  and  NBS”  in  the  Mediterranean  Climate 

Change Adaptation Awards.  

  WEFE  Nexus  Award  of  the  PRIMA  foundation,  Awarded  by  EC  Director  of  DG 

Research and Innovation.  

PUBLICATIONS:   

  Policy Briefs: HYDROUSA water loops in the context of the EU and international 

policy / Evidence matrix of circular economy facts and policy brief 
www.hydrousa.org   

  WEF Scientific Publications: Cipolletta et al. 2021, on policy and legislative 

barriers (UWWTD; Water Reuse; SSD and other)  
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.12560  

KEY CONTRIBUTOR TO EU CLIMATE ADAPTATION STRATEGY:  

Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) on HYDROUSA case studies. 

26 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 18. Description of Case study 2. 

BUILD AN ACTIVE COMMUNITY AROUND CIRCULAR WATER SOLUTIONS:  

  >100 citizens participating in co-creation activities.  

  22 job opportunities from locals directly contributing to HYDRO development. 

  4  Synergies  applied  between  HYDROUSA  and  local  organisations  for  the  co-

production of activities on dissemination & community activities. 

  Ethnobotanical study based on locals input: >60% of the citizens suggestions on 

crops are applied to the agroforestry (Co-creation, Lesbos). 

  Salinity, pH and microbial contamination identified by locals as main water quality 

parameters to monitor (Co-creation, Tinos). 

27 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
HYDROUSA REPLICATION SITES: 

Figure 19. HYDROUSA replication sites map. 

HYDROUSA SOLUTIONS APPLIED IN OTHER PROJECTS: 

  AccelWater Horizon2020. 

  WATER-MINING Horizon2020. 

  DIVAGRI Horizon2020. 

  FIT4REUSE PRIMA. 

  DECOST ENI CBCMED. 

  CIRC4Food, Greek National Funds. 

  Redirri Greek National Funds. 

  Sustainable islands replication Saint Honorat (France) and in Kerkennah (Tunisia), 

Region Sud (France).  

  UKWIR Tender - What does a circular economy water industry look like? Jacobs, 

Brunel. 

HYDROUSA SOCIAL MEDIA: 

  330 Dissemination activities of HYDROUSA.  

  615 k reach from reported activities so far. 

  128 offline and online features in media outlets, journals, magazines, news portals  

& references  to the project. 

 

 20 k visits to www.hydrousa.org  

28 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 4,250 followers on social media @HydrousaProject. 

 4,500 animation video views on YouTube and on HYDROUSA channel videos in 
total. 

LESVOS island CASE: HYDROUSA | Fabio Masi, IRIDRA, Italy. 

HYDRO  1  consists  of  a  natural-bases  Wastewater  management  system  (Figure  16). 
Monitoring is based on the measurement of COD, TSS, VSS, NH4+, NO3-, NO2-, PO43- , pH, 
Conductivity and turbidity. Turbidity is able to be measured regularly (1 – 2 times/week). The 
rest  of  the  parameters  are  measured  1  –  2  times/month,  while  e.g.  VFAs,  Micropollutants, 
Heavy Metals (2 – 4 times/year) or Na, Ca, Mg etc. (1 – 2 times/month).  

Figure 20. Pictures from HYDRO 1. 

HYDRO 2 consists of an agroforestry system (Figure 21) where there were cultivated: 

  18 species of trees. 

  15 species of bushes.  

  10 species of herbs. 

  7 species of annual crops. 

29 

 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 21. Overview of the plantation design in HYDRO 2. 

The total products obtained so far are shown in Figure 22: 

Figure 22. Production of vegetables and plants in HYDRO 2. 

TINOS  island  CASE:  HYDROUSA  |  Nikos  Bedau,  Tinos  Eco  Lodge,  Greece 
Alessandro Zecca, Planet, Italy. 

30 

 
 
 
 
 
 
It consists of freshwater production, collection, storage and supply from seawater desalination 
(Figure 23). It currently produces: 

  70 m3/year freshwater production.  

  700 kg/year recovered salt. 

  1.5 tons tropical fruits. 

TINOS ECOLODGE  

Figure 23. Water loop scheme. 

Tinos Ecolodge is a self-sustainable hotel placed in Tynos Island (Greece). Its eco-innovative 
designed allows: 

  100% energy produced from renewable sources.  

  To harvest and storage rainwater.  

  Sewage treatment by constructed wetlands.  

  Local material traditional craftsmanship.  

  Local food production (organic garden). 

HYDRO 6: It consists of a rainwater harvesting system that enables to produce water for: 

  Organic vegetable production from farm to table (0 km products).  

  Organic herb production for essential oils and seminars.  

  Unconventional water resources. 

MYKONOS island CASE: HYDROUSA| Antonios Eleftheriou, Delaros, Greece. 

HYDRO 3: It consists of a pilot innovative, nature-inspired, sub-surface rainwater harvesting 
system, which is composed by a 280-m2 sub-surface collector and 2 water storage tanks of 
30 m3 each. 

31 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The  rainwater  harvesting  system  has  been  successfully  tried.  It  has  collected  water  of  2 
hydrological periods (wet seasons) and reached its full capacity for the 2nd year in a row. From 
this  water,  10000  seedling  were  ordered  and  planted  in  December  2019.  50  kg  of  oregano 
were  harvested  from them;  15  kg  were  given to  local  agro-touristic  units and  greengrocers, 
while 35 kg were left to dry and used for essential oil production. nth).  

HYDRO  4:  is  a  novel  decentralised  rainwater  harvesting  and  aquifer  storage  and  recovery 
system which intends to store excess water during the winter months to reuse it in summer, 
with the goal to maximise the use of this resource and increase water management efficiency 
in water scarce areas. More than 200 m3/year of rainwater are expected to be harvested. 

The  system  has  been  installed,  tested  and  operated  from  February  2021.  It  is  remotely 
controlled and monitored. 

Financial Instruments and business models | Eric Mino, SEMIDE, France. 

A financial analysis has been also carried out in HYDROUSA projects (Figure 24). More than 
50 financing instruments have been identified, including direct funding; co-funding; lending / 
venture capital; guarantee / securitisation; equity and bonds; blended instrument; advising, etc.  

Figure 24. Revenue streams/economic savings from HYDROUSA case studies. 

Replication of Hydrousa circular solutions: Gorgona Case study | Camillo Palermo and 
Giulia Cipolletta, ASA and UNIVPM, Italy. 

HYDRO 1 and HYDRO 2 solutions were replicated in the small island of Gorgona (Italy). Here, 
about 15 ha on a total area of 2.2 km2 are exploited for agriculture, but it was necessary to 
improve the wastewater treatment capacity of the island. 

The main water related issues of Gorgona Island are: 

  Limited water resources  

  Preservation of the natural resources from pollution  

  Sludge management  

  Lack of a circular resource management (e.g. water, sludge, crops, plants, etc.) 

32 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For this replication, factors related to social, legislative, technical and economic feasibility were 
considered, giving the following Weight Scale: 

  Social feasibility  

  Legislative feasibility  

  Technical feasibility 

  Economic feasibility 

30%  

30%  

20% 

20% 

Also were considered the local enabling environment in terms of: 

a)  Policies 

b)  Legal framework 

c)  Investments and financing structures 

And the local institutional arrangements in terms of: 

B1 – Regulation and Compliance 

B2 – Water Supply and Sanitation Services 

B3- Coordination and Facilitation 

B4 – Capacity Building 

About  the  dissemination,  in  HYDRO  1  the  engagement  (Figure  25)  has  been  energized 
through 2 key meetings: 

1.  Meeting with Tuscany Water Authority to evaluate replicability of HYDROUSA solutions 

on the island 

2.  Meeting with Gorgona Island (Italy) stakeholders to replicate HYDRO solutions. Local 

people and inmates engaged in delivering sustainable water management. 

33 

 
 
 
  
 
 
Figure 25. Figure explaining the engagement task of HYDRO 1. 

3.2.4. Contributions from case studies:   NextGen, ULTIMATE and 

AquaSPICE  H2020. 

Circular Transitions in industrialized regions: NextGen, ULTIMATE and AquaSPICE  | 
Gerard van den Berg and Jos Frijns, Water Research Institute KWR, Netherlands. 

These  projects  are  based  on  the  application  of  circular  economy  principles  and  industrial 
symbiosis in the water sector.  

Circular  Economy  (CE) aims  to design  waste  and  pollution management  systems  with  new 
value chains, by keeping products and materials in re-use and regenerating natural systems 
(Ellen MacArthur Foundation). 

Industrial Symbiosis (IS) aims to bring together companies from different industrial sectors in 
order to improve the resource efficiency and sustainability by sharing and reusing resources 
(NISP UK). 

Water  Smart  Industrial  Symbiosis  (WSIS)  aims  to  create  economic  value  and  increased 
sustainability  by  introducing  circular  symbiotic  arrangements  between  industry  and  water 
service providers. 

WSIS applies technologies for: 

  Water  reclamation  and  reuse  (recovery,  refining,  and  reuse  of  municipal  and 

industrial wastewater. 

34 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Exploitation  of  energy  and  heat  (extraction  of  energy,  combined  water-energy 

management, water enabled heat transfer, storage and recovery of heat).  

  Nutrient  and  material  recovery/reuse  (nutrient  mining,  extraction/reuse  of  high-
added value exploitable compounds) and assesses the impact with life cycle (LCA, 
LCCs) and risk based (QMRA, QCRA) tools. 

ULTIMATE project (www.ultimatewater.eu) aims to be a catalyst of WSIS, in which water plays 
a key role as a reusable resource, and as a vector for energy and materials to be extracted 
and  reused.  ULTIMATE  aims  to  create  economic  value  and  increase  sustainability  by 
valorising resources within the water cycle. Wastewater is not only a reusable resource but 
also a carrier for energy and components that can be extracted, treated, stored, and reused. 
Drawing  on  “Water  Smart  Industrial  Symbiosis”,  wastewater  recycling  in  various  industrial 
settings is promoted. 

ULTIMATE brings together 9 WSIS cases (8 in the EU and 1 in Lebanon) where it develops, 
tests  and  demonstrates  multi-layered  water-energy-materials  reuse  approaches,  complying 
with strict health and safety requirements while showcasing novel governance arrangements 
and  business  models.  All  cases  build  on  direct  industrial  interest  and  investment,  with 
ULTIMATE  providing  added-value  through  additional  expertise,  novel  technological  ideas, 
software  (process  models  and  control  optimisation  analytics,  whole  system  models,  IS 
matchmaking  algorithms  and  digital  marketplaces),  hardware  (e.g.  advanced  treatment 
technologies, sensors), as well as business intelligence and market analysis. We facilitate the 
design, deployment, monitoring and control of these symbiotic systems and co-develop with 
the main stakeholders (from the industry and water service provision sides of the symbiosis) 
the  business  models  required  to  make  them  profitable  –  ensuring  wide  transferability  and 
uptake. The project also leverages years of experience and millions in investment in industrial 
symbiosis,  by  learning  from  additional  mature  high-profile  cases  (incl.  cases  in  the  UK  and 
China). All demonstrations place emphasis on the valorisation of resources, addressing key 
challenges in scale of production, quality and costs. 

Kalundborg industrial symbiosis plant 

Kalundborg  industrial  symbiosis  plant  (Figure  26)  is  the  first  industrial  symbiosis  plant 
worldwide (since 1972). The cooperation between the  companies in the symbiosis provides 
mutual benefits, economical as well as environmental. The main principle is that a residue from 
one company becomes a resource in another. 

35 

 
 
 
Figure 26. Kalundborg industrial symbiosis plant. 

Nieuw Prinsenland (NL): matching demand and supply. 

This  case  study  focuses  on  wastewater  treatment  to  reliably  remove  pesticides  and  plant 
pathogens for water reuse in Horticulture and looks into heat recovery for greenhouse heating.  

The Nieuw-Prinsenland area is a modern agro- and food cluster aiming at maximum symbiosis 
among  different  industries  with  regards  to  water,  energy,  and  waste.  Maximized  reuse  is 
attained between a sugar factory and the industries. 

Solutions for water and nutrient reuse are demonstrated at De Vlot, a cooperative wastewater 
treatment facility treating wastewater from 160 ha of greenhouses. Exploring water and nutrient 
reuse  opportunities  for  their  facility,  the  system  for  internal  and  external  symbiosis  with 
neighbouring greenhouses and industries is optimized. 

The  use  of  high  temperature  aquifer  thermal  energy  storage  is  assessed  for  heating  of 
greenhouses. 

Further information at www.subsol.org  

Industrial symbiosis in Italy   

Figure 27 shows 5 Italian research pilots regarding Industrial Symbiosis: 

36 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 27. Industrial Symbiosis research pilots in Italy. 

Important to note:  

  Water Smart Industrial Symbiosis is a special type of Industrial Symbiosis in which 
water,  energy  and  materials  from  municipal  and  industrial  wastewater  are 
recovered and reused.  

  Successful  circular  transitions  in  urbanised  industrialised  regions  depends  on 
systematically addressing technological, digital, socio-economic, governance and 
business systems interdependencies.  

  Transformation  of  linear  production-consumption-disposal  chains  in  industrial 
processes to circular systems may reduce the vulnerability to climatic changes and 
environmental degradation and contribute to a more competitive industry.  

  Showcasing  WSIS  cases  (in  living  labs)  with  emphasis  on  cross  synergies, 
transferability  and  applicability  of  the  concept  may  contribute  to  a  further 
acceptance and understanding.  

  WSIS  application  contributes  to  e.g.  the  Circular  Water  2050  goals  (in  e.g.  The 
Netherlands) and the Green and Digital ‘twin’ transition promoted by the EC in the 
EU and beyond. 

ROSIGNANO  case  –  ULTIMATE  |  Michele  Del  Corso  and  Mattia  Ciampechini, 
ARETUSA, Italy / Giovanni Cannata, WEST Systems, Italy / Cecilia Bruni, Università 
Politecnica delle Marche, Italy.   

The  Italian  case  study  in  ULTIMATE  (www.ultimate.eu);  i.e.,  ARETUSA,  is  based  on  a 
successful example of an already established industrial symbiosis, which is to be optimised in 
ULTIMATE. 

The  Rosignano  Solvay  industrial  site  (Figure  28)  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  largest  in  Italy.  It 
produces  sodium  carbonate,  sodium  bicarbonate  (also  for  pharmaceutical  use),  calcium 
chloride,  chlorine,  hydrochloric  acid,  chloromethane,  plastic  materials,  peracetic  acid  and 
hydrogen  peroxide.  In  order  to  deliver  more  sustainable  water  management,  Consorzio 
ARETUSA was established in 2001 as PPP among water utility (ASA Livorno), industry (Solvay 
Chimica Italia) and tech provider (Termomeccanica). Thanks to ARETUSA, since more than 
15 years the Solvay chemical plant is implementing a utility-industry (public-private) symbiosis 

37 

 
 
 
 
 
 
system for optimising the regional water cycle, by reusing about 3 million cubic meters per year 
of  urban  wastewater  treated  in  the  ARETUSA  reclamation  plant.  The  existing  WasteWater 
Reuse  Plant  (WWRP)  contains  flocculation,  sedimentation,  filtration,  activated  carbon  filter 
(GAC), and UV disinfection. 

Figure 28. Technical implementation of Rosignano case. 

Work packages approach of Rosignano Case Study 

WP1:   

  Monitoring  system  to  avoid  high  chloride  concentrations  in  reuse  water  in 

Rosignano (IT);  

  Testing of possible reuse of by-products locally available.  

  Cost assessment (LCC).  

  Risks assessment on human health (screening).  

  Technical risks assessment. 

  Legal risks assessment. 

WP2:  

WP3:  

  Community of practice (CoP).  

  Living labs.  

  Co-creation.  

  Playbook.   

38 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
WP4:  

WP5:  

WP6:  

  Analyse  the  socio-political,  regulatory  and  governance  aspects  of  the  WSIS  to 

identify opportunities and challenges. 

  Maximise  the  impact  of  the  project  through  action  on  business  models,  with 

identification of synergies. 

  Bottom-up activism from local demo cases to build hubs for circularity and sweet 

spot replication at a regional level. 

ROSIGNANO  case  –  AquaSPICE |  Francesco  Rossi,  Consorzio  Polo  Tecnologico 
Magona, Italy / Gianluca Pettinello, SOLVAY, Italy. 

The goal of the Rosignano Case Study in AquaSPICE is to treat the wastewater coming from 
the hydrogen peroxide production department inside the Solvay facility in order to reuse it. In 
particular,  the  pilot  plant  will  be  integrating  (1)  chemical  pre-treatment  for  pH  control,  (2) 
filtration in an Iron Oxide-Coated Gravel/Sand Fixed Bed Column or Iron oxide (geothide) filled 
bed  to  remove  H2O2 and  metals,  (3)  high-loaded  biological  denitrification  in  a  membrane 
bioreactor. The effluent from the pilot plant will be tested for impact and tertiary treatment within 
processes  operated  in  ARETUSA  reclamation  plant  to  increase  the  water  to  be  re-used  in 
Solvay industrial site.  

Digitalisation of the water reuse scheme will include the design for full digital smart control and 
integration in the existing water grid for current operations. Digital solutions will be applied for:  

  Process control in the WAPERUSE processes.  

  The internal re-use of cooling tower blowdown streams;  

  The treatment and direct reuse of slightly polluted process water and dilution steam 

blowdown streams. 

Three different options are tested in this case study (Figure 29): 

1.  Wastewater  is  discharged  to  the  municipal  sewer  network  to  be  treated  in  the 
ROSIGNANO WWTP and in the ARETUSA WRP before its reuse in the Solvay cooling tower 
system  

2.  Wastewater  is  sent  to  ARETUSA  WRP  to  be  treated  before  its  reuse  in  the  Solvay 

cooling tower system 

3. Wastewater is reused DIRECTLY by the Solvay cooling tower system.  

39 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The target parameters to be controlled are COD, nitrates, hydrogen peroxide, sulphates. 

Figure 29. Representation of the 3 options of Rosignano Case Study. 

3.2.5. Contributions from case studies: B-WaterSmart H2020 

ROSIGNANO  case  –  ULTIMATE  |  Michele  Del  Corso  and  Mattia  Ciampechini, 
ARETUSA, Italy / Giovanni Cannata, WEST Systems, Italy / Cecilia Bruni, Università 
Politecnica delle Marche, Italy.   

B-WaterSmart (Figure 30) aims to be a lighthouse project to enable water-smart societies and 
economies  by  building  stronger  links  between  the  technological,  societal  and  governance 
dimensions. This is done through a systemic innovation approach in Living Labs that includes 
but  goes  far  beyond  technology.  The  new  water-smartness  concept  and  assessment 
framework  will  pave  the  way  for  water  services  towards  more  sustainable  and  resilient 
systems.  This  approach  is  currently  unique  in  the  water  sector  and  no  similar  solution  is 
currently available which supports water utilities to do:  

  A comprehensive diagnosis.  

  Solutions prioritisation.  

  Assessment of alternatives scenarios.  

  Monitoring of performances. 

All is based on participatory co-creation of solutions by Communities of Practices (CoP’s) and 
collaborative  work  with  stakeholders  to  develop  solutions  for  societal,  regulatory  and 
governance issues. Local CoPs in six Living Labs: Alicante (Spain), Bodo (Norwey), East Frisia 
(Germany),  Flanders (Belgium),  Lisbon (Portugal), Venice  (Italy).  They  will  implement  a co-
developed water-smartness agenda with a perspective until 2040. They will start to implement 
their strategy through technology, IT, business models & policy/governance solutions and will 
receive training and capacity building on joint challenges, solutions and ambitions through an 
innovation alliance.  

40 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 30. Key data of the project, partners and contact details. 

Venice Case study  

Figure 31. Representation of the Venice Case Study. 

41 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The  objectives,  working  steps  and  targets  of  the  Venice  Case  Study  are  shown  in 
Figure 32: 

Figure 32. Objectives, working steps and targets of the Venice Case Study. 

4. CONCLUSIONS 

Concluding  Remarks from  Evdokia  Achilleos,  co-chair  representing  the  European 
Commission.   

Congratulations to the organisers and all of you who participated in today’s meeting.    

Water is high on the agenda of EU and EU policies and EU funding because it was and remains 
a big societal challenge. This was evidenced also by the EEA report that just came out stating 
that water stress affects at least 30 % of Europeans.    

Water  R&I  projects  have  been  contributing  to  address  the  water  related  challenges, 
vulnerabilities and risks.  Water R&I will have a significant impact on EU priorities supporting 
Green Deal and related policies. Significant funding went to Water R&I in H2020 and this will 
continue  with  HE,  with  the  different  Grant  Instruments  (RIA,  IA,  CSA)  but  also  with  new 
European Partnership and funding under the HE Missions.    

Today  we  heard  the  results  from  the  ongoing  H2020  projects  with  big  innovation 
demonstrations  and  case  studies  at  large  scale,  real  life,  on  field,  paving  the  way  for  the 
transition to sustainable water management.      

  We heard how Digital Transformation of the Water Sector can support and optimise 
water  management  in  cities  and  greater  regions,  improve  the  circularity  of  the 
sector and be key for health & flood risk management, smart irrigation, safe water 
reuse, and early warning systems (e.g. for bathing water quality).    

  We  heard  also  about  the  circular  transition  of  water  in  small  and  decentralized 
communities, which is supported by innovative solutions that combine green, grey, 
and  digital  infrastructure  to  support  adapting  to  climate  change  and  addressing 

42 

 
 
 
 
 
 
water scarcity, as well as supporting policy priorities (for example implementation 
of UWWTD).    

  Finally, we also heard about Circular Transitions in industrialized regions and how 
symbiosis  within industry  and  with  UWTPs  and  agricultural  sector  can  lead  to 
optimising the resources and tackling several problems at same time.    

Some keys take away messages from today’s presentations:    

  There is an abundance of innovative Digital technologies and solutions, which have 
great potential to help to address the challenges of the water sector, in reliable way. 
They use scientific knowledge and vast data, support decision making and smart 
water management, tackling health and environmental risks, and they are also key 
to bringing stakeholders together. Nevertheless, there is still a low uptake from the 
end  users  and  still  there  are  steps  to  be  taken.  These  may  include  making  the 
business case and proving or improving the Return on Investments, which will be 
required  from a  digital  transformation,  the supporting  the  digital  infrastructure for 
open data and interoperability, and the addressing IPR challenges that arise with 
new approaches    

  For addressing the challenges of the water sector, we need flexible solutions that 
can  be  tailored  to  scale,  conditions,  and  needs  of  different  geographical/climatic 
areas.    

  To  enable  the  developed  solutions,  ensure  replicability  and  uptake  of  water 

innovation we need:    

o 

o 

to have the stakeholders on board to reach the market including for example 
industry,  farmers,  municipalities  &  the  public-  we  need  to  have  Active 
communities around water solutions     

innovative  business  models  that  include  appropriate  considerations  for  end-
users and stakeholders    

o  knowledge on the variety of Financial instruments that can support investments 

and analysis on the most effective ones.    

  Utility – industry symbiosis has very good potential and strong technological basis 

as it relies on industrial approach. 

 

Important  enables  for  ensuring  the  success  of  symbiosis  include  not  only 
technologies  and  digital  support  but  also  stakeholder  engagement,  political 
governance  context,  and  exploitation  and  valorisation  plans.  Improving  and 
innovating on the governance aspects and focusing on exploitation of state of art 
symbiosis models will be key to expanding the approach.    

  These new symbiosis models for which we now have evidence form the IAs results, 
need to be consider in the planning /design phase for new or updated infrastructure 
& water management practices. 

43 

 
 
 
 
       
 
 
 
Overall, from the discussion today we can also conclude that:    

o  There is a need to move to greener solutions, combining grey infrastructure 
with  green  infrastructure  in  a  balanced  way,  which ensures  both  financial 
viability and leads to sustainability and achieving the environmental targets and 
addressing risks. The sustainable taxonomy can be an enabler to follow up on 
Innovation Actions with large scale investments.    

o  We  need  systemic  solutions  and  strategies  to  ensure  circularity  of  the  water 
sector and across sectors and ensure sustainability. This means that we need 
solutions for the different scales (cities, regions, river basins), we need all actors 
and communities on board (in co-creation – living lab approach), we need new 
business  models  and  most  importantly  we  need  innovative  governance 
models.    

o  Water  legislation  at  EU  and  correspondingly  at  National  level  has  very  good 
provisions  to  foster  this  change  (e.g.  WFD),  and  is  under  continuous  update 
(e.g. with reuse regulation and UWWTD revision). Beyond any updates, what 
is  needed  is  not  more  legislation  but  improved  implementation  of  existing 
directives, for  example WFD  (which  has  provisions  for many  of the  concepts 
discussed today). The solutions presented from the projects today can definitely 
lead  to  improved  implementation  of  legislation,  thus  enabling the  exploitation 
and further uptake of the projects outputs and results is important.    

44 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
GETTING IN TOUCH WITH THE EU 

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