Water as Leverage for Resilient Cities
Cities are on the frontlines of the climate crisis. Worldwide, they face growing water-related challenges such as flooding, drought and pollution. Yet responses remain fragmented. Too often, projects operate in silos or never move beyond the planning stage. Water as Leverage (WaL) aims to change that.
Water as Leverage is a design-driven approach that supports cities in developing bankable, integrated solutions for urban water resilience. By bringing together local governments, designers, engineers, financiers, and communities, it connects spatial planning, design, and investment to move projects from concept to implementation.
Through this approach, WaL uses water as a catalyst for inclusive and sustainable urban development. WaL supports cities transforming urgent water challenges into opportunities for resilience and social progress.
The WaL approach is executed under Partners for Water in collaboration with a network of Dutch and international partners.
What Water as Leverage does
From revitalising canal systems in Bangkok to co-creating flood resilience strategies with communities in Nakuru, Water as Leverage works with cities to turn water challenges into opportunities. In Chennai, for example, WaL brought together international design teams and local residents to tackle chronic flooding – resulting in a neighbourhood-scale demonstration project that shows how integrated water management can work in practice. In Cartagena, multidisciplinary teams are developing inclusive, water-centred solutions for one of Latin America’s most climate-vulnerable coastal cities. These are just a few examples of the work WaL is doing with cities and communities across the globe.
Since its start in Semarang (Indonesia), Chennai (India) and Khulna (Bangladesh), the WaL approach has expanded across Latin- and North America, Africa and Europe. New projects have been developed in Prayagraj (India), Bangkok (Thailand), Cartagena (Colombia), Nakuru (Kenya) and the Wadden Sea region spanning Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. Currently, WaL is active in Colombia, the United States, Kenya, Thailand and India.
WaL brings together a broad coalition of partners: national and local governments, communities, knowledge institutions, the private sector, development banks and civil society organisations. Vulnerable communities are at the heart of each initiative, involved from the very first stages to ensure that solutions respond to local needs.
Three pillars of Water as Leverage
The WaL approach is delivered through three pillars: the Academy, the Initiatives and the Global Programme. Together, they ensure that knowledge feeds into practice, practice is supported by institutional expertise, and local action contributes to global impact.
1. The Academy – Knowledge and capacity
The WaL Academy is WaL’s platform for knowledge development, capacity building and shared learning. Shaped in collaboration with Deltares, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, and a growing network of knowledge partners, the Academy develops practical tools, guidance and thematic research that cities can put into practice to advance urban water resilience
The Academy works with cities on the ground, introducing the WaL approach and exploring how it can be applied in each specific context. Through workshops, training and field visits, practitioners and city leaders connect WaL insights with local knowledge and develop concrete pathways for action. In Bangkok, for instance, the WaL Academy initiated a conversation on the challenges and opportunities of integral and inclusive water management in the city. By using the WaL Principles, cross-sectoral and silo-breaking conversations are taking place how water can be an asset, instead of an issue. By connecting these discussions to concrete examples on how the Bangkok canals can be a thriving space, the collaboration becomes tangible. The Academy is also active in the USA, for example by facilitating conversations between South Florida, the City of Rotterdam and other Dutch and US stakeholders, through knowledge exchange on solutions for heat stress, water retention and community activation.
2. The Initiatives – Local action, global impact
WaL Initiatives are locally driven processes that develop concrete water resilience projects for specific cities — from initial analysis and co-design through to pre-feasiblity or feasibility. Multidisciplinary teams of urban planners, designers, engineers and financial experts work alongside communities and local governments, using a participatory, research-by-design approach to develop project proposals that are inclusive and integrated.
In Water as Leverage for Resilient Cities Asia, this process brought together six international teams, in partnership with governments, private sector and local residents. The process resulted in 24 project proposals and a neighbourhood-scale demonstration project at the Little Flower Convent School. In Cartagena, Colombian and Dutch teams co-created climate adaptation strategies and project proposals, combining urban water management solutions with improvements for ecology, economy and communities’ livelihoods. In Nakuru, one of Kenya’s fastest-growing cities, WaL is working with local stakeholders to explore nature-based solutions that address water scarcity, urban flooding and soil erosion.
The Global Programme – Technical support and policy integration
The Global Programme is the pillar that connects WaL’s local work to international platforms, partnerships and policy frameworks. Coordinated by UN-Habitat in collaboration with RVO, it supports WaL Initiatives with technical and financial expertise and works to embed urban water priorities into global, national and local policy agendas. The Programme also works towards building partnerships with international financial institutions and governments to help secure funding for WaL projects.
The Global Programme is actively present at major international forums such as the World Urban Forum, Stockholm World Water Week and the UN Water Conference. These platforms position urban water resilience as a global priority and create space for WaL cities and partners to share their work. The WaL City Champion Challenge is a concrete example of this work in action. Launched at WUF13 in Baku in May 2026, this global call identifies and connects local water resilience initiatives to the WaL network and the international stage.
Bangkok is the first city that the Water as Leverage Academy has partnered with. All the projects we are working on are shifting the mindset around water in the city. We try to bring back nature, so the canals can have value back to the people’s hearts once again.
How Water as Leverage works
Water as Leverage began in 2017 as a competition for innovative, integrated solutions for climate-vulnerable cities, inspired by the Rebuild by Design competition in New York after Hurricane Sandy. Six multidisciplinary teams developed and piloted water resilience concepts in Semarang (Indonesia), Chennai (India) and Khulna (Bangladesh). The lessons from these early initiatives have shaped the approach and its methodology as it exists today.
Eight principles and six project stages
The WaL approach is shaped by an integrated methodology built on eight guiding principles, aimed at addressing water and climate change adaptation in an inclusive and design-driven way. These range from investing early in project development and being inclusive from start to finish, to ensuring projects are bankable and linking local actions to global goals. The principles are applied consistently across the approach. They guide how the Academy develops knowledge, how the Initiatives shape projects, and how the Global Programme builds partnerships. Six project stages structure the journey from idea to impact: initiation, ideation, (pre-)feasibility, implementation, operations and maintenance, and scaling.
We harness the knowledge within the city, leaving no one behind, and end up with a better solution that addresses the challenges we face on the ground.
In practice
See how the WaL approach comes to life in cities and communities across the globe. Below are three examples, one from each pillar of the programme.
WaL Bangkok
Bangkok, Thailand
In Bangkok, the WaL Academy brought together Thai practitioners, government officials and international experts to reshape how the city thinks about water. Through a series of workshops and field visits, participants co-created new approaches for the revitalisation of Bangkok’s canal systems and explored nature-based solutions for coastal erosion. The experience strengthened collaboration between local and international experts and opened new perspectives on water management in the city.
Learn more about the WaL Academy in BangkokChennai, India
The WaL approach brought together international design teams and local communities to address chronic flooding and water scarcity in Chennai, India. The initiative resulted in the Water Balance Pilot at the Little Flower Convent School. This demonstration project was inaugurated in 2023. It showcases integrated water management at the neighbourhood level.
Learn more about WaL’s Initiative in Chennai
A garden that captures and infiltrates rainwater to recharge the aquifer – Water Balance Pilot at the Little Flower Convent School, Chennai.
City Champion Challenge
As part of WaL, the City Champion Challenge (CCC) is a global call for innovative urban water resilience initiatives at the neighbourhood scale. The first edition in 2024 drew 27 submissions from five continents, with winning initiatives from Kenya, Peru and Colombia. The second edition launched at the World Urban Forum in Baku, Azerbaijan, in May 2026.
Read more about the launch of the CCC 2026Are you a city government, designer or community organisation working on water challenges? Join the WaL City Champion Challenge 2026!
Latest Water as Leverage news
Designing for delivery: the next step of Water as Leverage Cartagena
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Water as Leverage: how a holistic approach is changing the way we deal with water
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Water can be used as a leverage for the broader development of Cartagena
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Inclusive workshops for co-designing water solutions in Colombia
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Two multidisciplinary teams have been selected to become part of Water as Leverage Cartagena
Full articleUpcoming events
Beyond its ongoing work with cities and communities across the globe, Water as Leverage is present at major international forums throughout 2026. After participating in the World Urban Forum in Baku, Azerbaijan, in May, the programme will be present at:
- Stockholm World Water Week from 23 to 27 August
- The UN Water Conference from 2 to 4 December in the United Arab Emirates
These events offer opportunities to connect with the WaL network, learn from ongoing initiatives and explore collaboration.
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.
Get involved
Water as Leverage is built on partnership. Get in touch – contact us if you want to know more about the approach, or to discuss how the Water as Leverage can support your city or organisation. You can also follow us on LinkedIn for the latest updates on our initiatives.
Partners for Water is a Dutch government programme enhancing water security internationally in long-term cooperation with local partners and the Dutch water sector. By facilitating strategic planning and support in the early stages of innovation, the programme aims to contribute to systemic change for sustainable water management and infrastructure. This is how we initiate impactful changes for a better living environment.
