Platform on integrated water cooperation: enhancing continuous transnational cooperation in the water sector

Abstract

Knowledge transfer has strategic importance influencing the long-term development towards the sustainable Baltic Sea Region. However, in the field of water management, knowledge transfer does not take place unhindered on the transnational level. Limiting factors can be connected with restricted time of project implementation, specifics of national practices on lifelong learning and experience exchange, or insufficient communication efforts in reaching relevant target groups. The project BSR Water – Platform on Integrated Water Cooperation sets an ambitious goal of addressing these matters by creating an interactive online water platform “Baltic Smart Water Hub” for international knowledge and expertise exchange. The Hub gathers experts from water companies and associations, local authorities, academia, private companies producing clean-tech and innovative water-related solutions, as well as NGOs, initiatives and foundations working with water issues. The open access portal promoting most recent good practices, technical solutions and tools covers four water sections: fresh-, sea-, storm- and wastewater. The platform allows wide dissemination of piloted practices and tools leading to improved professional capacity of operators and further implementation of smart management of water resources in the Baltic Sea Region. BSR Water brings together a partnership representing diverse projects with replicable and unique outputs, covering a broad variety of water-related issues: smart nutrient management and sludge handling, stormwater management, wastewater treatment, energy efficiency. Outcomes of the contributing projects are used to facilitate the long-term development of regional environmental policy and recommendations, which will further serve to strengthen policy-practice link in implementation of advanced water protection measures. Development of policy recommendations will enable alignment of national and macro-regional environmental policies further promoting implementation of advanced water protection measures resulting in clean and resilient Baltic Sea Region.