A transnational strategy extending the role of roads to support rural water systems

Programme 2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-B North West Europe

Date of latest update: 2025-09-24

Description

Description (EN):

Climate change causes an imbalance between water supply by rivers and rainfall and the urgent demands from various users. In short periods, extreme weather events provide water surplus, whereas increasingly longer dry periods face water shortages. Existing systems of storage are not sufficient. Roads and highways are crossing the NWE territory abundantly. They usually drain the runoff water from rainfall events swiftly to canals/rivers, whereas local stakeholders would urgently need this surplus water. Rural_Roadwater_Rescue will demonstrate an actionable strategy how to save, treat (clean) and locally distribute water through transformation of existing roads/highways. The strategy will comprise an integrated, multi-stakeholders and cross-sectoral methodology. It will be inspired by two use cases (BE:Heverlee, NL:Oirschot/Kloosters) to be comprehensible. The project demonstrates how roads/highways can transform from mono to multifunctional: How they can be technically turned into temporary water reservoirs for runoff water (next to/under the road), while being compliant with the legal regulations for infrastructure and water quality in the respective regions. In a next step, it will be demonstrated how distribution of water will be arranged in cooperation with local stakeholders (farmers, households, public services/facilities, industry etc.), integrated in the local spatial planning procedures, depending on the different local need profiles of the target groups in the various territories that they cross. The "Rural_Roadwater_Rescue-strategy" will develop: a guidance covering regulatory frameworks, practicable solutions, community involvement, action plan for implementation. The project will build a long-term, transnational, cross-sectoral, multidisciplinary cooperative network. Rural_Roadwater_Rescue is envisaged as launching pad for a larger roll-out of heavy investments, replicable transformation initiatives and implementation pilots in the future.

Actual Achievements (EN):

General progress The project is good on track. We found a pleasant way of working together, made good progress on P1 deliverables and had some interesting transnational experiences and learnings. We mainly worked on activities A1, A5 and A7 that have deliverables in P1, but also started on A2, A3 and A4. Delivery of D111 and D172 have been postponed to P2 for content reasons (planning was good) and communicated this with the JS. Projectmanagement As lead partner RWS has contact with all the activity leads. Every Thursday morning the projectmanagement team (projectmanager, projectsecretary, communication and financial officer) comes together. We check the progress of all the activities and if needed we discuss how we can help to solve problems. All project partners have met each other 2 times live (Lille and Karlsruhe) and in between a few times digitally. We have contact with Eva Clymans to inform and discuss about the progress of our project. Meetings We started with a project meeting in Lille (February 2024) to establish subgroups, working patterns and activity approaches. In June we had a progress meeting in Karlsruhe in which we agreed how to finalise the deliverables for P1 and outlined P2 deliverables. Also we exchanged and agreed on how to report in JEMS. In-between there were subgroupmeetings for the deliverables. Activity 5: Communication Communication contributed to all the public aspects of the activities, by providing communication means (A5), but also in formulating and distributing the survey (D113). A communication strategy was developed as first deliverable (D151), together with building the project websites at interreg.eu, compulsory communication actions by all partners and some inspiring articles (D152) to make target groups (both internal as external) interested in our project. Activity 1: Scoping This activity started with the formation of a subgroup with representatives of each partner. They came together in several (online) exchange meetings (D112), conducted internal interviews and researched existing knowledge. This subgroup produced an online survey (D113) and a draft report (D111) of how participating NWE-countries now work on roadwater management, cleaning and community involvement. Activity 7: Building transnational learning community Each live partner meeting has a project focus (D173) corresponding with the activities. In Lille we focused on project management (A0), transnational cooperation & communication (A5), in Karlsruhe on scoping roadwater rescue (A1). Coming partner meetings will focus on community involvement (A4, october) and legal knowledge (A2, november). P1 turned out to be too early to organize the field trips, therefore we postponed them to P2 (October & November). Program evaluation Most partners needed more time to deliver than they budgeted for. Also there is quite some P3-stress about the short length of P3. This stress is fortunately acknowledged by JS. General progress The project has continued at a good pace. Delayed deliverables of period 1 have been carried out, we worked on period 2 deliverables and started with period 3 deliverables. Evaluating period 1 we concluded that we should keep a better balance between deepdiving in content and working towards contracted deliverables. Our work on activity 1 (scoping) was extensive and built a solid base for the other activities but has delayed work on activities 2 and 3 (legal issues & solutions) that both have a dependance on activity 1. In consultation with JS deliverables D121 and D131 have been postponed to March 2025. Communication deliverables have been met. More concrete, in period 2 we: - finished all postponed deliverables of period 1: D111 and D171 - finished the following deliverables of period 2: D172 - postponed 2 deliverables to period 3: D121 and D131 - finished the following deliverables of period 3: D174 Meetings In period 2 we had 1 live partner meeting (Leuven, november), two fieldtrips (Oirschot D171 & Leuven/Antwerp D172), online partner meetings in July, September and December. Specific workgroup meetings were held on activities 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7. JS project officer joined Leuven partner meeting and fieldtrip in November. Additional LP-JS online progress meetings were held in September, November and December. Activity 1: Scoping This activity was discussed in an online partner meeting in August. Partners added the information per country and after the analysis of the survey (D113) a final report was agreed upon in October. Publication was made on the project website. Activity 2: legal issues This activity was the focus of the November partner meeting. Information on European, national and local level was gathered and is currently put together and checked per country. Report draft will be ready at partner meeting in February and finished end of February. Activity 3: solutions This activity follows activities 1 and 2 and is therefore postponed to period 3. In the November Leuven partner meeting we started this activity with a survey amongst project partners to gain more insight on how partners perceive solutions. Activity lead TZW will rework this into a first draft to be discussed in a subgroup meeting in February 2025. Planning date for final report on D131 is March 2025. Activity 4: community input A focus meeting on this topic was held after the Eindhoven field trip, in the field trip all stakeholders shared their perspective on the water situation on the site of Kloostersland. A first draft was made on community approach to be used for the deliverables D141 & D142 and in the strategy (activity 6) Activity 5: Communication Communication activities were carried out following the communication strategy. Definite project reports, interviews and articles have been communicated on the project website. A save-the-date and Program Draft was made for the final conference on May 19-20 in Brussels, including a strategy of how to involve EU-civil servants working on climate adaptation & infrastructure. Activity 6: Strategy We started with backcasting discussions on how the strategy should look like so that other activities can work towards that. An online sharing platform (D164) is made on nextcloud, but not yet opened for interested third parties. For them the project website is currently enough. Activity 7: Building transnational learning community The online sharing platform on nextcloud is filled with knowledge exchange between partners on all activities (D174). Two field trips (Oirschot D171 & Leuven/Antwerp D172) were organized, well visited and archived on nextcloud. Three documented focus meetings (D173) have been held: 1) on scoping (Aug 20th online), 2) on community involvement (October 21st Eindhoven), 3) legal issues (November 21st Leuven). Program evaluation Partners were happy with the additional 3 months for small scale projects permitted by INTERREG NWE. During the last LP-JS progress meeting activities on output 1 have been clarified. A survey to measure this output will be elaborated in the February ‘25 live partner meeting.

Project outputs: CAWH - Strategy for Roads and Highways (CAWH = Climate Adaptive Water Hubs)(EN)
Website: https://rural-roadwater-rescue.nweurope.eu/

Thematic information

Water management Logistics and freight transport Climate change and biodiversity

Priority: (VI-B_NWE_1) Smart climate and environmental resilience for NWE territories

Priority specific objective: RSO2.4. Promoting climate change adaptation and disaster risk prevention and resilience, taking into account eco-system based approaches

Priority policy objective (Interreg specific objective): PO2 A greener, low-carbon transitioning towards a net zero carbon economy and resilient Europe by promoting clean and fair energy transition, green and blue investment, the circular economy, climate change mitigation and adaptation, risk prevention and management, and sustainable urban mobility

Type of intervention: 064 Water management and water resource conservation (including river basin management, specific climate change adaptation measures, reuse, leakage reduction)

Partners (6)

Lead Partner: Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 967944377

Partner’s ID if not PIC: NL82.16.99.180.B.01 | Dutch Chamber of Commerce (EN)

Department: Rijkswaterstaat

Address: Rijnstraat , 2515XP 's Gravenhage, Netherlands

Department address: Magistratenlaan , 5223 MD 's Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Infrastructure and (public) service provider

Website: https://www.rijkswaterstaat.nl

Total budget: EUR 331 528.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 198 916.80

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 132 611.20

Interuniversitair Micro-Electronica Centrum vzw

Name: Interuniversitair Micro-Electronica Centrum vzw

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 999981149

Partner’s ID if not PIC: BE0425.260.668

Address: Kapeldreef, 3001 Leuven, Belgium

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: https://www.imec-int.com

Total budget: EUR 39 896.37

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 23 937.82

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 15 958.55

Centre d'études et d'expertise sur ..., l'environnement, la mobilité et l'aménagement

Name: Centre d'études et d'expertise sur ..., l'environnement, la mobilité et l'aménagement

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 948933735

Partner’s ID if not PIC: FR94130018310

Address: Cité des mobilités - 25 Avenue François Mitterrand, 69674 BRON cedex, France

Legal status: public

Organisation type: National public authority

Website: http://www.cerema.fr/en

Total budget: EUR 34 243.02

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 20 545.81

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 13 697.21

DVGW-Technologiezentrum Wasser

Name: DVGW-Technologiezentrum Wasser

Department: Water Microbiology

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 998224867

Partner’s ID if not PIC: DE114341970

Address: Karlsruher Str., 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany

Department address: Karlsruher Str. , 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany

Legal status: private

Organisation type: Other

Website: http://www.tzw.de

Total budget: EUR 109 141.17

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 65 484.70

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 43 656.47

Coöperatie Kloostersland

Name: Coöperatie Kloostersland

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 878917777

Partner’s ID if not PIC: NL 8646.37.251.B01 | 88463648 | Dutch Chamber of Commerce (EN)

Address: Kerkstraat, 5091BE Oostelbeers, Netherlands

Legal status: private

Organisation type: Interest groups including NGOs

Website: http://www.kloostersland.nl

Total budget: EUR 151 200.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 90 720.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 60 480.00

Flemish Environmental Agency

Name: Flemish Environmental Agency

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 953383125

Partner’s ID if not PIC: BE 887.290.276

Address: Dokter De Moorstraat, 9300 Aalst, Belgium

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Sectoral agency

Website: https://www.vmm.be/

Total budget: EUR 122 372.22

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 73 423.33

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 48 948.89

Partners map

Partners and Projects info

Interuniversitair Micro-Electronica Centrum vzw

A transnational strategy extending the role of roads to support rural water systems

Partners and Projects info

Centre for Studies on Risks, the Environment, Mobility and Urban Planning

A transnational strategy extending the role of roads to support rural water systems

Partners and Projects info

DVGW Water Technology Center

A transnational strategy extending the role of roads to support rural water systems

Partners and Projects info

Cooperative Kloostersland

A transnational strategy extending the role of roads to support rural water systems

Partners and Projects info

Vlaamse Milieumaatschappij

A transnational strategy extending the role of roads to support rural water systems

Partners and Projects info

Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management

A transnational strategy extending the role of roads to support rural water systems

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): A transnational strategy extending the role of roads to support rural water systems

Project acronym: Rural_Roadwater_Rescue

Project ID: NWE0300406

Project start date: 2024-01-01

Project end date: 2025-06-30

Project status: closed

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 788 380.78

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 473 028.46

Total EU funding (co-financing rate): 60.00%

Co-financing sources:

ERDF: Amount, EUR 473 028.46. Co-financing rate, 60.00%.

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

(bullets are inserted automatically and may be incorrectly placed)

Deliverables:

Integrated set of information: Report as a basis for further work
Integrated set of information: Documented exchange meeting
Survey for collection of experiences to wider stakeholder groups / networks including access to CEDR
Inventory of EU and EU member states regulations
Report: Set of possible, integrated, cross-sectoral solutions
Illustrated Fact-sheets on two use cases
Two documented, exemplary sessions with stakeholders
Use case meeting
Communication strategy
Communication diary summarising all communication activities in all phases
Communication drafts on relevant deliverables
Draft Strategy part A: CAWH (climate adaptive water hubs) strategy for roads and highways
Draft Strategy part B: Documented mapping of opportunities
Implementation pathway for larger activity
Sharing platform and database
Documented field trip to use case in Kloosters (near Eindhoven, NL)
Documented field trip to use case Heverlee (near Leuven, BE)
Four documented Focus meetings
Library of key materials to be added to the pool of knowledge
Final conference

Programme Common Output Indicator:

RCO 083 - Strategies and action plans jointly developed, Measurement unit:

Programme Common Result Indicator:

RCR 079 - Joint strategies and action plans taken up by organisations, Measurement unit:

Programme Result Indicator:

PSR 1: Organisations with increased institutional capacity due to their participation in cooperation activities across borders, Measurement unit: Organisations

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-B North West Europe

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2025-09-24

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

70 / 70 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

742 / 742 (100%)

Notes on the data

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A transnational strategy extending the role of roads to support rural water systems

Description

Thematic information

Partners (6)

Partners map

Summary

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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