New heights for Urban Water
The research programme Urban Water took new form as its Mistra funding came to a close. The results will benefit society on broad fronts.
Urban Water developed methods and tools for producing documentation to support informed decisions about sustainable water management systems for urban environments. At the end of the programme three years ago, the consulting firmCITUrban Water Management AB (UWAB) was created. The company is co-owned by Chalmers Industriteknik and about 15 of the original researchers. UWAB uses and further develops the research results in applied projects for counties and others in Sweden and abroad. A broad sense
“We work in a broad network comprised of researchers, consultants and practitioners. We run something called Urban Water Brukarförening (users´ association), with over 20 members from counties and private companies. The users´ association meets regularly for presentations and discussions about developments in water management in a broad sense," says the former Program Director Per-Arne Malmqvist.
The countryside
Urban Water´s tools are also being further developed in a range of projects, and in collaboration with universities and research institutes. In several of the applied projects, tools and methods have been used for other service systems than cities´ water and sewage. Per-Arne Malmqvist explains that this is true, for example, for treating organic waste, water and sewage in the countryside and in transition areas, as well as measures for adapting service systems to climate change.
Wise decisions
Urban Water´s planning strategy builds on the so-called Strategic Choice Advisor method (SCA), which is a systematic way to make informed and grounded decisions. “Different decision-support tools — from simple numerical methods to graphic computer support methods — are used to provide assistance. The task of making wise decisions about future water management systems is so complex that decision-support tools are very useful. Our experience will soon come out in book form," says Malmqvist.
