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About Dessin

shutterstock_179605946Why this project?

Water scarcity and water quality are important issues in urban areas across Europe and beyond. New technology or management approaches to tackle these issues are needed. Those approaches are more likely to turn into real innovations that are actually implemented and taken up by the market if there is evidence of their benefits or added value in economic, environmental and societal terms. Therefore, a method to prove the value of new solutions is needed too.

What do we do?

DESSIN demonstrates and promotes innovative solutions for water scarcity and water quality / the implementation of the Water Framework directive (WFD) and shows the value of those solutions for the water sector and society by also demonstrating a methodology for the valuation of ecosystem services (ESS) as catalyser for innovation. By this twofold approach, DESSIN will be able to demonstrate how innovative solutions in the water cycle can increase the value of the services provided by freshwater ecosystems, enabling a more informed selection of the most promising solutions in regards to their impact on the water body and their economic implications.

How do we do it?

Scientists, public and private water management organisations and end-users, technology providers (SMEs), supporting RTD experts and relevant public authorities within DESSIN will test, validate and demonstrate innovative solutions at five demo sites across Europe with special focus on urban areas.

shutterstock_97190870The solutions include technological, monitoring, modeling and management approaches for a more resource-efficient and competitive water sector in Europe, such as decentralized water treatment units, real time control of large scale systems, sewer mining and storage of freshwater in aquifers, among others. The demo sites Emscher (Germany) and Hoffselva (Norway) contribute to ecosystem services related to water quality/Water Framework Directive and the demo sites Westland (Netherlands), Athens (Greece) and Llobregat (Spain) to water scarcity.

Additionally, DESSIN develops and applies an Evaluation Framework to assess the sustainability aspects of the mentioned solutions and to valuate changes in ecosystem services (ESS) of water bodies that result from the implementation of these solutions. The ecosystem services approach is a method that enables a standardised evaluation of impacts and benefits from technology and governance innovations in multiple sectors. One of its main advantages lies in its capacity to integrate the economic, environmental and societal dimensions. That means, the ESS methodology enables a monetary valuation of the impact of water management measures based on the new solutions, which makes a direct comparison of measures possible and generates arguments for market uptake and practical implementation.

Data about DESSIN.