LIFE at the heart of #WaterWiseEU campaign

Launched at the EU Green Week in May, the #WaterWiseEU campaign attracted attention for its ambition and innovative approach. 

Aiming to unite Europeans to ‘See Water Differently’ and advocate for a water-resilient Europe by 2050, the campaign included a partnership with Euronews which created videos covering important elements of water resilience and examined water local initiatives across the EU. It also showcased LIFE projects offering sustainable, cost-effective answers. 

The LIFE Programme has been making a splash across news and social media during the #WaterWiseEU initiative. LIFE WAT’SAVEREUSE featured in Euronews Water Matters episode shows how the tourism and hospitality industry can reduce water waste and produce food using less water. Nature based solutions as a driver of water resilience were a key element of the campaign. LIFE CONNECTS is just one of many projects that utilise nature-based solutions to bring life back to our waters. Cutting pollution at source was vital for LIFE PINNARCA, highlighted in The Guardian, helping to undo decades of eutrophication in Europe’s biggest saltwater lagoon. 

Given the recent tragic floods in the Valencia region of Spain, and across Central and Eastern Europe, future-proofing European cities against extreme weather is a top priority for the European Commission. Projects such as LIFE SPARC — also featured in a special Euronews report — demonstrate the value of restored river basins and estuaries in helping make our cities flood-proof.  

Throughout the campaign, over 150 #WaterWiseEU social media posts – including more than 30 which specifically featured LIFE projects — were created using eye-catching infographics, videos and messages.   

The €20 million Freshabitat LIFE IP won the LIFE Special Award 2024, and RocPopLIFE was shortlisted in the 2024 Natura 2000 Awards. Another award winner was LIFE Flusserlebnis Isar, which picked up the 2024 LIFE Award for Nature for its work to restore the famous River Isar in Bavaria, Germany.  

LIFE projects have been central to the success of the #WaterWiseEU campaign. Among those featured were LIFE Coast Adapt (a ‘radically different approach to protecting beach-front properties’); LIFE OCEAN and its amazing green superyacht; LIFE BEAVER, which included educating local communities about re-wilding for flood prevention; and the fairytale frogs of LIFE AMPHICON.  

As much of Europe endured another summer of record high average temperatures, LIFE and the #WaterWiseEU initiative explored unsustainable water use. DESALIFE — a cutting-edge project to provide clean water in Gran Canaria using offshore desalination technology which benefited from EU funding in 2024 — and LIFE Green LED, collecting and reusing an astonishing 87,000 m3 of rainwater at two pilot sites in Spain and the Netherlands, were just two of the projects featured. 

These are just a small selection of the LIFE projects which have helped make the 2024 #WaterWiseEU campaign such an outstanding success. You can find out more about how the LIFE programme contributes to water resilience in the EU and beyond, by downloading our recently published factsheet. As well as helping achieve the European Green Deal and the European long-term climate strategy, LIFE projects with a focus on water resilience support the EU Directives on water, urban wastewater treatment, nitrates, drinking water, bathing water, and environmental quality standards.