32 world-wide water partners to bring the City of the Future one step closer

SWITCH seeks a shift in how large cities manage their water systems

SWITCH proposes a global shift in urban water management for the City of the Future. The project is a partnership between the European Union and a consortium of 32 world wide partners led by UNESCO-IHE (see list of partners below). It has a budget of 22 million Euros, mainly funded by the European Union within its efforts to promote efficient water use and integrated water management to address water-related Global Change pressures. These pressures include population growth, urbanization and climate-change.

The project will develop scientific, technological and socio-economic solutions that contribute to effective urban water management schemes. It deals with challenges related to the quantity and quality of water, ineffective sanitation systems, poor governance and costly water management. The implementation of the results of SWITCH are expected to shape the City of the Future by 2050. The director of UNESCO-IHE, Richard Meganck says: “The City of the Future depends on the success of this project”’.

Using a very innovative approach, SWITCH is designed to cover all elements of the urban water cycle, from water demand management, to storm water management, waste prevention, treatment and reuse, governance and asset management, to river rehabilitation and eco-hydrology.

It will integrate three activities: Research, Training and Demonstration, carried out by all partners. Learning Alliances will be set up to ensure smooth exchange of knowledge and experiences between these activity clusters, and between the Demonstration cities. SWITCH will engage in semi-full scale testing of new solutions in nine Demonstration cities: Accra (Ghana), Alexandria (Egypt), Belo Horizonte (Brazil). Beijing (China), Birmingham (UK), Hamburg (Germany), Lodz (Poland), Saragossa (Spain) and Tel Aviv (Israel).