Slovak Workshop

400 participants

On April 8th, 2025, Slovakia held its National Seminar on Water, organized by the Faculty of International Relations at the University of Economics in Bratislava (EUBA), during the 18th edition of the Model Conference. The seminar brought together over 400 participants from public sector, private enterprises and international organizations to answer to the most pressing water-related questions and knowledge gaps at the national level. Some notable speakers were invited to participate: see the list below*.

Key priorities

The seminar identified five key national priorities:

1. Weaknesses in water governance,
2. Climate resilience and resource security,
3. Economic and sustainability incentives,
4. Public participation and local capacity,
5. Education for responsible consumption.

A platform for dialogue

The National Seminar on Water provided a platform for constructive dialogue among diverse stakeholders, emphasizing the urgency of integrated and inclusive water governance that supports both national resilience and broader European strategic objectives.

Insights from the seminar will contribute to the ongoing development of the Water4All Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda.

_____

*Notable speakers included: Michal Kiča- Former State Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Environment Policy Specialist,  Jakub Hrbáň – Executive Director Klíma Ťa potrebuje, Danijela Popović-Efendić – Head of the UNHCR Office in Slovakia, Nikoleta Lorinczová – Head of CSR, Kaufland, Roman Havlíček – Director of the Environmental Section for Environment at Bratislava city, Jari Silander – as a foreign expert, Leading Expert, SYKE, Finland.

Danish Workshop

The Danish workshop was held in a Mirror Group format.

The meeting took place in April to discuss national water research and innovation priorities in the context of the Water4All Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda. This meeting complemented the responses collected through the Water4All questionnaire, which reflect a broad consensus among Danish stakeholders on the most pressing challenges in water management. Key priorities identified include:

• Addressing pollution and emerging contaminants,
• Enhancing resilience to climate change impacts (such as floods and droughts), and
• Improving water quality monitoring and assessment.

Other recurrent concerns included:

• Inefficient water use, particularly in agriculture and urban areas, 
• The need for a better implementation of EU legislation and local governance capacity. 

To support a more circular and sustainable water economy, Danish stakeholders emphasized the importance of

• technological innovation,
• economic and regulatory incentives, 
• real-world testing environments, such as water living labs.

Knowledge gaps that need to be addressed include:

• The combined effects of pollutants,
• long-term ecological impacts,
• The development of predictive models and adaptive management frameworks.

Solutions for improved water efficiency in agriculture and industry focused on

• Precision irrigation,
• AI-driven tools,
• Nature-based solutions.

Finally, stakeholders called for strategies to accelerate innovation adoption, including:

• Regulatory reform,
• Market-based instruments,
• Stronger cross-sector knowledge transfer.