Living Labs Are Key to a Sustainable Water Future

Author: Dr. Uchechi Obinna, Lead of the ENoLL Water and Oceans Working Group & Researcher at the Center of Expertise Water Technology (CEW) and WaterCampus Innovation Ecosystem Leeuwarden

The newly released UNU-INWEH Global Water Bankruptcy report makes a stark and urgent point: humanity is no longer facing episodic water shortages, in many basins and aquifers around the world, water systems have passed the point where they can return to historical “normal” without transformative action.

This condition, water bankruptcy, reflects chronic over-extraction, pollution, and climate pressures that reduce water security for billions of people and ecosystems alike.

At a time when “crisis” framing can imply temporary disruption, framing today’s reality as bankruptcy challenges us to shift from reactive fixes to structured, long-term management and recovery rooted in science, equity, and collaboration.

The role of Living Labs

Living Labs, with their emphasis on place-based experimentation, stakeholder co-creation, and iterative learning, are essential to making this shift happen on the ground.

They can help:

• Co-design water solutions with communities ensuring that responses reflect local needs, rights and knowledge, especially of those most affected by water insecurity.
• Test and scale innovations in water governance, data sharing, ecosystem restoration, sustainable agriculture and demand reduction in real-world settings.
• Explore adaptive practices that work within planetary boundaries, rather than assuming past water availability will return.
• Facilitate multi-actor learning bringing together citizens, researchers, municipalities, industry, and policy makers to experiment with equitable water allocation, pollution controls, and resilience strategies.

As the global water agenda resets around the 2026 UN Water Conference, Living Labs offer a bridge from awareness to action: from acknowledging water bankruptcy to testing equitable, sustainable, and locally adapted pathways forward.

We call on partners, policy makers, and funders to invest in living labs as pivotal engines of innovation and justice in water stewardship.

Together, we can generate solutions that are scientifically robust, socially inclusive, and environmentally regenerative!