Commissioner Stavros Dimas at the launch of Aquawareness

The Vision, which was initiated by the European Water Partnership (EWP) in 2008, was elaborated in an open multi-stakeholder process, including representatives from the EU Commission, the EU Presidency, the EU Parliament as well as leading multinationals and NGO’s. It was handed over to the European Union Institutions on 30th June 2008 during the launch of Aquawareness, the European Water Awareness and Water Stewardship Program.

For more information on the launch, please click here.

After this expert view on the basic vision text, a broad discussion, dissemination and commitment of a maximum of stakeholder groups throughout Europe was crucial. Therefore, a regional consultation process across Europe was launched by the EWP providing the opportunity to add region-specific points. Four regional workshops took place in Castellon, Copenhagen, Vienna and Brussels (for more information on the workshops please refer to the Modules section).
Finally the Water Vision for Europe, enriched by the outcomes from the regional workshops was presented to a global audience during the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul.

Currently a vision animation is being created in order to translate the complex contents into easily understandable language.

As an outcome of the regional workshops, vision mapping has started to elaborate the status quo of Europe’s water and to identify gaps and obstacles which hinder the implementation of the Vision aims. On the basis of this Vision mapping a guidance document with recommendations for actions for the incoming European Commission and European Parliament will be prepared and handed over in autumn 2009.

Download the Water Vision for Europe.