Measuring water scarcity across contexts

This interactive hybrid event explores innovative, community-driven approaches to measuring water scarcity and promoting resource efficiency. Anchored in the principles of circular water use, the event aligns with the overarching EU Green Week 2025 theme, 'Circular solutions for a competitive EU.'

As water insecurity continues to challenge cities and communities across Europe and beyond, there is growing recognition that conventional, top-down metrics often fail to capture local realities. This event addresses that gap by showcasing how participatory data collection and context-sensitive measurement frameworks can help design smarter, more sustainable water policies.

Programme overview

The programme combines two key components:

• Lecture and discussion series
• Led by academic experts, this series will present new research on composite water insecurity metrics, with insights from recent fieldwork in Jordan—a case that parallels challenges of supply intermittency, adaptive behaviour, and equity seen across many regions.

Hands-on workshop

Facilitated by academic researchers, participants will work with a curated, real-world dataset to construct and validate their own composite water metrics using open-source tools (e.g., R). Through guided activities, attendees will gain practical skills in indicator development, data normalisation, and performance testing (e.g., validity, internal consistency).

Participants will also be introduced to inductive-deductive 'triangulated' (mixed method) frameworks, which bridge qualitative insights and statistical rigor. This approach is increasingly relevant for implementing circular, inclusive resource management strategies.