Water has been a major issue for local and regional authorities across the continent. From drought-stricken regions in the south to the scenes of water sodden flooded homes earlier this year in the north of France, 2023 and 2024 has seen water resilience issues rocket to the top of the local authority agendas everywhere. To mark this, UDiTE hosted a Green Week partner event, Innovative and resilient water basin management for cities and regions.
 

This topic is important for all cities and towns that are more and more confronted with various aspects: providing quality drinking water, controlling flooding, confronting the effects of drought and one that threatens local economies in all sorts of ways etc. Participants heard how water reuse is a complex issue from a regulatory standpoint with differing hygiene rules across the European Union.  UDiTE President Stephane Pintre, introduced a short video made by his Mayor Jean Leonetti, about how Antibes has managed to recycle over 9 million cubic meters of water that it now uses to water its parks and clean the streets. His video presentation was followed by a presentation by former President Paul Gatt and Executive Secretary Naxxar Local Council who identified some of the practical lower costs solutions that Maltese authorities are doing to build their own resilience. Spanish member association representative, Ildefonso Cobo Navarrate, regional president of COSITAL and chief executive of Grenada City Council spoke about the importance of engaging citizens to successful water resilience initiatives. The partner event was expertly moderated by Tamsin Rose and was joined by speakers from VEOLIA, experts for the Committee of the Regions and heard from a cutting-edge example of a municipal EU funded LIFE Green LED project that is paving the way for future water resilience initiatives across Europe. UDiTE thanks the President of the Aude Region in France and rapporteur for the water resilience opinion in the Committee of the Regions, Andre Viola for sponsoring the venue for our partner event in the heart of Brussels. If you missed the event, go to our website and stream the event, view the video case studies and  download all of the speaker presentations. 

 

CLICK HERE TO STREAM EVENT, DOWNLOAD PRESENTATIONS AND VIEW VIDEOS