World Water Day: relying on nature to foster resilience

Alongside conventional engineering solutions known as "grey solutions", "green" SFNs are ecological and sustainable responses to natural hazards. In the water sector, they can be broken down into a wide range of actions to meet various technical challenges.

For many years now, OiEau has been using Nature-based Solutions to fuel its thinking and actions in favour of sustainable management of our water resources.

In this way, the International Office for Water supports various stakeholders in their projects on this theme, through its 4 areas of expertise.

OiEau is coordinating the Natalie project, the aim of which is to deploy SFNs in Europe, in consultation with local stakeholders, through measures that are resilient to climate change and beneficial to ecosystems. Over a period of 5 years (2023-2028), the Natalie project will bring together 12 European Union countries and develop 25 concrete, innovative solutions in terms of financing, technical innovation, modelling, IT solutions and governance.

As part of the Horizon Europe programme, dedicated to research and innovation, the SpongeScapes project aims to improve scientific knowledge of the sponging role of soils and aquatic ecosystems, in order to improve the resilience of landscapes to floods and droughts. For the duration of the project (2023-2027), OiEau will be responsible for capitalising on this knowledge and disseminating the results.

Coordinated by the International Office for Water and involving 14 partners, the LIFE Water&Climate project aims to help those involved in the local management of water resources, particularly within the framework of water development and management schemes (SAGE), to assess the effects of climate change and take them into account in their planning and the implementation of adaptation measures.

Data analysis and knowledge sharing have been part of OiEau's DNA since its creation. Through its various missions and projects, OiEau produces and disseminates reliable and educational information for public and private stakeholders and citizens, with the aim of mobilising them for better water management in France and around the world. It is in a spirit of general interest that our teams make various educational resources available free of charge.

In particular, OiEau runs the "wetlands" resource centre, with financial support from the French Office for Biodiversity, by organising awareness-raising events, technical meetings and the production of documentary and scientific resources to increase understanding of wetlands and promote their protection.

For example, watch the replay of a french webconference on the national method for assessing wetland functions (2024).

Les petits ruisseaux is a french podcast in 9 episodes that will take you on a tour of France to find solutions that use nature as a basis for better water management. Meet some of the people who have carried out concrete initiatives, from one-off actions on an individual scale to large-scale projects across a whole region!

For nearly 15 years, the International Office for Water has also run the document skills network, which brings together and federates documentalists in the fields of water and biodiversity around the "Water & Biodiversity" partnership document portal. It enables the distribution of technical documents on water, aquatic environments and biodiversity, held by the documentation centres of the 30 different partner organisations of the Portal.

Cities are highly exposed to the risk of disasters and climatic hazards, and they must be given the appropriate facilities to become resilient in order to adapt to the challenges of climate change. As far as urban rainwater is concerned, despite a relatively stable overall amount of rainfall, all uses have to cope with more intense meteorological phenomena (floods, droughts, etc.). That's why Urban Rainwater Management (URM) is a key element in the fight against climate change.

OiEau provides training to help elected representatives understand the key concepts involved.

To support water professionals, our training centre has a platform dedicated to integrated stormwater management. This means that our expert trainers can carry out practical work with learners and apply the techniques in real-life situations.

The WATERUN project, for which OiEau is leader of the "Communication and Dissemination" action, aims to develop an innovative methodology for preventing and mitigating diffuse pollution caused by urban run-off. The aim is to transform the management of diffuse water pollution by developing tools for identifying, planning and assessing risks, as well as new working procedures (advice), with the early involvement of the main players in urban water management and governance (co-creation process), with a view to ensuring wider and faster adoption.