WATERWISE

A Governance Toolbox for Designing and Testing Water Management Strategies of Headwater Catchments

Climate change and human pressure are increasingly impacting mountain headwaters, the main sources of freshwater in the Alpine Space. Large alterations in water availability and quality pose significant challenges for Alpine communities and have profound implications for the ecosystem services on which they depend. 

WATERWISE aims to leverage recent advances in modelling techniques tailored to assess the vulnerability of mountain headwaters to climate and land-use changes, and to make them accessible to local water and land managers. Through collaboration between scientists, communities and protected area managers, an innovative digital toolkit will be co-designed and tested in seven pilot areas. This toolbox, accessible via a user-friendly web- platform,  will facilitate the collection, analysis and visualisation of in-situ climate and ecohydrology data, while also enabling mountain headwaters vulnerability assessments.

The project will provide local stakeholders with the necessary scientific basis for co-designing robust and participatory management strategies, thereby enhancing the resilience of water resources, ecosystems and communities. Once validated, the toolbox will be implemented across a network of complementary sites covering the diversity of mountain headwater sources and challenges in the Alpine Space.

Combined with educational materials, creative storytelling and public outreach events, the results of WATERWISE will raise awareness among Alpine communities about the vulnerability of mountain headwaters ecosystem services. WATERWISE will strengthen the dialogue between scientific experts and policy makers and stimulate the joint development of transnational solutions to secure water resources in the Alpine region.