Water as Leverage

Climate change-induced floods, droughts, pollution, starvation, diseases, and conflicts are fundamentally related to water. Coupled with rapid and unplanned urbanization, these issues threaten the resilience of life support mechanisms on earth. Cities worldwide face water-related challenges, growing population density, and urban expansion. Siloes between science, national and local governance, communities and financiers of urban infrastructure and housing development is causing a disconnect and is hampering sustainable urban development. Thereby often aggravating water and climate risks instead of mitigating them. But cities can become part of a solution when water is a lever and a unifying force for sustainable urban development.

The global Water as Leverage (WaL) initiative is based on this conviction. The programme facilitates resilient solutions by connecting long-term urban planning with short-term innovative transformations, ambitious climate adaptation plans with bankable projects, and water system knowledge with the construction of resilient cities. WaL integrates science and research, design, finance and implementation practices with inclusive urban partnerships.

The objective of the global Water as Leverage program is to accelerate climate change adaptation through innovative interventions developed in and with communities at risk, and with the partners that need to see through the implementation.

“Water as leverage is all about resilience. As citizens we will feel the impact of climate change. If we want to have liveable cities, we have to leverage water through engaging communities.”

Meike van Ginneken, Special Envoy for International Water Affairs for the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Water is the leverage for best climate impact, yet 'it takes millions to invest billions wisely'. The Water as Leverage programme invests these catalytic first millions, with the aim of leveraging the necessary investment for the implementation of catalytic projects, that in turn leverage water for real urban climate resilience. Thereby involving the international financial world, development banks and governments in the advancement of this innovative approach, to create an inclusive and innovative pre-project preparation facility.

For more information see the documents:

Infographic: Rethinking the approach for urban climate resilience

Water as Leverage Reflect: an in-depth analysis and reflection on the program, its inclusive, integrated and sustainable approach, the process, the design methodology, the partners, the places, the impact and follow-up

All photographs were taken on location by Cynthia van Elk. If you have any questions, please contact wal@rvo.nl

Academy

The Water as Leverage (WaL) Academy is a core pillar of WaL’s scaling strategy, alongside WaL initiatives in cities and the Multilevel Climate Action Programme.

In March 2023, the global WaL partnership committed to strengthening the capacity of water practitioners and changemakers—both urban and rural—through the WaL Academy. The goal is to foster inclusive, transformative climate adaptation and water security by enabling application of the WaL approach in cities.

WaL Academy key objectives:

Evolve Water as Leverage as a living cultural approach—resilient to change, adaptable to different contexts, and proactive in meeting future needs.
Scale the WaL approach to advance global urban water resilience.
Inspire a global community to overcome challenges such as fragmented approaches, political divides, and historical patterns of replication in urban water resilience.

Go to Water as Leverage Library

Initiatives

Semarang • Khulna • Chennai• Cartagena • the Wadden Sea • Nakuru • Prayagraj • Bangkok

WaL initiatives are undertaken in cities, following the WaL approach, to develop and deliver transformative and inclusive projects through different stages of project development.

WaL Asia Inspired by the Rebuild by Design competition held in New York in the aftermath of hurricane Sandy, Water as Leverage for Resilient Cities Asia (WaL Asia) was developed as the first initiative of the WaL programme by the Dutch government and global partners.

Following a call to action on World Earth Day 2018, six multidisciplinary teams of international and local experts developed innovative solutions for three cities in Asia: Semarang (Indonesia), Khulna (Bangladesh), and Chennai (India). In May 2019, the teams submitted 24 project proposals, each tailored to address the specific resilience challenges of these cities. In Chennai, this culminated in the inauguration of a demonstration project in 2023.

WaL Initiatives Since WaL Asia, new WaL initiatives have been developed in Cartagena (Colombia), the Wadden Sea (Denmark, Germany, Netherlands), Nakuru (Kenya), Prayagraj (India), and Bangkok (Thailand).

Factory

The WaL Factory provides opportunities to run WaL initiatives in urban landscapes in different countries, provides process guidance to larger partners to drive their own WaL initiatives, and mobilises funding and finance.

Meet our team!