ESPON WATER – Governing Water-Resilient Territories is an applied research project developed within the ESPON programme. It examines the role of governance in building territories that are resilient to water-related challenges. Coordinated by DAStU at Politecnico di Milano as part of the activities of CRAFT – Competence Centre for Anti-Fragile Territories, the project brings together an international consortium of academic institutions and research centres with expertise in spatial planning, public policy and water resource management.

Across Europe, the effects of climate change and growing competition among water uses pose new challenges for territorial governance. Agriculture, industry, energy production, digital infrastructure, domestic consumption and ecosystem protection often place competing demands on water resources, generating interdependencies and conflicts across sectors and territorial scales. At the same time, water systems follow geographies that rarely align with administrative boundaries, highlighting the need to move beyond fragmented, sector-based approaches.

ESPON WATER approaches water resilience not only as an environmental or infrastructural concern, but as a challenge of territorial governance. It investigates how institutional arrangements, coordination mechanisms, planning tools and administrative capacities can help manage the interdependencies between hydrological systems, socioeconomic dynamics and territorial transformations.

This perspective connects with CRAFT’s research agenda by examining the ability of institutions to learn, adapt and innovate in their ways of acting in response to complex environmental and territorial systems. Particular attention is given to mismatches between hydrological and administrative geographies and to the conditions that enable integrated, collaborative and adaptive forms of governance.

The research combines quantitative and qualitative analysis, territorial mapping, policy analysis and the involvement of experts and stakeholders. Activities include developing a pan-European analytical framework for water governance, preparing comparative profiles of river basin districts, identifying effective governance practices and conducting four in-depth case studies.

The findings will inform actionable recommendations for different levels of government, identifying transferable models and practices to strengthen coordination between territories, sectors and institutions and to support the implementation of the European Water Resilience Strategy.