Water Cycles in action during Aquatech Amsterdam to align actions and scale (social) innovations

Second round table session guided by Ianthe – to align enablers and missions  

Key takeaways from the ILF 

The ILF itself was a testament to the importance of international tri-sector partnerships in the face of growing water challenges. It called for practical local action now, stricter regulations in response to climate change, and stronger protection of our precious water cycles. There were many crucial takeaways from the event’s key speakers; for now we already share a few:  

• Water is about National Security (priority) 

Maurice Neo from the PUB Singapore’s National Water Agency, stressed that water is a topic of national security. Sustaining healthy water supplies is the only natural way of survival. Consequently, policy and public action should reflect the urgency of solid water practices. The question is: How do you stimulate public involvement and interest in water? Maurice presented 3 A’s spread Awareness, Accept the undesirable reality, and take Action to fix it! 

• Politics VS climate 

One such undesirable reality that we need to immediately act upon is climate change. That was the resounding message echoing in Prof. Dr. Joyeeta Gupta’s presentation. She is  a professor on Environment and Development in the Global South at the University of Amsterdam, and she strongly advocated against allowing the current political climate get in the way of acting upon the climate, and water crises we are facing.  

Climate change awareness is crucial, and it is just as essential to acknowledge the biodiversity crisis. Our actions have consequences on the environment, but also on ecosystems. We must align policy, on European and International level and design our actions for one ecosystem. Green energy, carbon removal, water and biodiversity protection all start with stronger policies and smarter economic plans. That is what Diederik Samson (Former party leader of the PvdA, entrepreneur and head of private office of the Commissioner for Climate Action of the European Commission), made sure to convey. While nature and water might not make for good business cases in the present, their indispensability must be reflected sooner rather than later if we are to create a structure for future generations of water. It’s the best and only ‘value case’.  

Inspiring keynote speaker Diederik Samson 

New and existing partnerships  

During the ILF, we formalized our collaboration with the World Water Academy by signing a MoU. Together we will work on training the next generations of water professionals by making trainings accessible through digitalisation. 

Continuing in the spirit of the ILF, we have engaged in conversations with other international partnerslike the delegations from Palestine, London and the Singapore’s national water agency PUB. During swims and dinners near the Amstel, we exchanged, complementary stories about the origins of (World) Waternet and PUB Singapore. Also, similar challenges were explored, such as limited space, flood risk and the construction of a large polder in Singapore. It turns out that we can benefit a lot from each other’s’ knowledge and experiences and that both parties are eager to keep up the good relationship. We will meet again in May in Paris during the Global Water Summit - including another inspiring Leading Utilities of the World (LUOW) meeting. This LUOW meeting in Amsterdam included a valuable masterclass in Crisis Communications by Vincent Covello, Director, Centre for Risk Communication “state what you know, state what you don’t know and state what you are doing to achieve greater certainty or knowledge”.  

Group picture of PUB Singapore delegation and (World) Waternet colleagues 

Dutch Water Authorities networking day – Blue Deal 

Also, part of Aquatech Amsterdam, the Dutch Water Authorities (DWA) network day brought together water specialist from across Netherlands to connect and collaborate, not only on a national level, but also internationally. Featuring speakers including Marie Evo (CEPRI) from France and Chrisoula Nikolarou from the Greek Ministry of teh Environment and Energy, as well as project leaders from international projects. Their shared stories showed that we are all facing similar challenges: floodings during the rainy season, and extended droughts during the dry season, unprecedented water demands and policy disagreements. We all have something to learn from each other: from the institutional constitution of flood management in France, to the agricultural water policies in Greece, knowledge exchange and strategic collaboration can only strengthen all parties. This extends beyond Europe, as Marieke van Noord, director of the Blue Deal, presented the role and scope of the international projects part of the Blue Deal. Communicating about these projects is just as crucial as doing the work, or in the words of Luzette Kroon - Chair Dutch Water Authorities Fryslân, we must shine a light in the darkness. 

Collaboration in action 

With separate sessions on different topics (waste water & social inclusion?), including our very own Tanah Meijers and Richard Oudhuis. In each session we could see collaboration in action, as the presentations quickly transformed into brainstorming sessions about how to improve processes, employ better solutions and better involve communities. It is moments like these, where collaboration comes to life, and we believe that the potential of these partnerships can and should go beyond conferences, and manifest on the ground. 

Final reflections: what’s next? 

As the week ended, a powerful message emerged: water governance isn’t just about infrastructure and investment—it’s about people, resilience, and shared responsibility. There is no single solution, but through collaboration, innovation, and bold policy decisions (including missions-oriented thinking), we can shape a future where the water cycle is valued as it should be. 

The engagements at Aquatech Amsterdam underscored the value of meeting each other live within the right platform is impactful. We are committed to keep on running and keeping you posted on our Water Cycle Action agenda. Looking forward to learning and hearing your reflections. 

Frodo / Toine chatting and running at AquaRun to raise awareness and funds for Water for Life foundation.