Changing the “business as usual” mode is hard, especially if roles and responsibilities are spread across many actors and institutions. This is especially true for urban water runoff management: Many Institutions from different parts of the government, private sector and civil society have a say in water-related urban planning. To adequately respond to this fact, the WATERUN project includes a co-creation component, where key actors are invited to discuss the development of the WATERUN solutions for better urban water management together with the creator of these solutions. This is why seecon has joined the WATERUN project team.
seecon is a Swiss organisation focusing on innovations for sustainable development with broad expertise in participatory processes. Within the WATERUN project, the seecon team will lead the co-creation process (WP1) and aspects related to IP Management and Exploitation (WP6) designed to boost WATERUN solution market uptake. The seecon team develops, manages and participates in innovative projects in Switzerland, Europe, as well as in various countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Therefore, seecon's wide network of contacts around the world and its long-standing experience in developing effective co-creation processes towards tailored solutions to the needs of communities is an essential contribution to the successful implementation of WATERUN solutions.
Together with WATERUN project partners, seecon will organize and facilitate workshops with local stakeholders in the WATERUN case study cities Aarhus, Santiago de Compostela and Amman. These workshops will provide a unique opportunity for the developers and users of the WATERUN solutions alike to discuss key aspects of the final outputs of the project: What should these solutions be capable of? What is important in terms of user friendliness? Who should be in charge of applying the tools? In that sense, one of seecon’s main role in the project is to ensure that the WATERUN research and development activities are tailored to the needs, wants and preferences of the end users. Find out more on: https://www.waterun.eu/
Authors: Simon Joncourt, seecon gmbh, simon.joncourt@seecon.ch (May 2023)