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 programme 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 programme is executed under Partners for Water in collaboration with a network of Dutch and international partners.
How Water as Leverage works
The WaL programme 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. The three pillars of the programme – the Academy, the Initiatives and the Global Programme – provide the operational structure, ensuring that knowledge feeds into practice, that practice is supported by institutional expertise, and that local action contributes to global impact.
Eight principles & six project stages
Eight core principles guide each initiative. 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. Additionally, six project stages structure the journey from idea to impact: initiation, ideation, (pre-)feasibility, implementation, operations and maintenance, and scaling.
Water as Leverage’s six stages and eight principles
Three pillars of Water as Leverage
The Academy – Knowledge and capacity
The WaL Academy is the programme’s platform for knowledge development, capacity building and research. It creates and shares the tools, methodologies and training that practitioners and decision-makers need to advance urban water resilience.
The Initiatives – Local action, global impact
Initiatives from the WaL programme are locally driven processes that identify urban water challenges, engage communities and develop tailored strategies and project proposals, aimed at implementation.
The Globale programme – Technical support and policy integration
The Global programme is a global and local network of urban water hubs providing the technical, planning and financial expertise to develop and scale initiatives. Coordinated by UN-Habitat, it also supports the integration of water priorities into national and international policy frameworks.
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.
How it started
The WaL programme was created to bring a more integrated and inclusive approach to the early stages of urban water project development. Inspired by the Rebuild by Design competition held in New York after Hurricane Sandy, the Dutch Government launched the programme in 2017 as a competition for innovative, integrated solutions for climate-vulnerable cities. Six multidisciplinary teams developed and piloted water resilience concepts in Semarang (Indonesia), Chennai (India) and Khulna (Bangladesh) – pioneering a transformative design approach built to scale. Since then, the approach has expanded across continents.
In 2023, during the UN Water Conference, the Dutch Government and its global partners committed to scaling up WaL for worldwide urban climate resilience as part of the UN Water Action Agenda. This commitment laid the foundation for the programme’s current structure: the Academy, the Initiatives and the Global Programme.
Where we work
Since its start in Semarang (Indonesia), Chennai (India) and Khulna (Bangladesh), the WaL programme has expanded to other locations globally, including Latin 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.
Who we work with
The programme 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. They are involved from the very first stages of project development to ensure that solutions respond to real needs.
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.
In practice
Chennai, India
The WaL programme brought together international design teams and local communities to address chronic flooding and water scarcity. 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 in ChennaiCartagena, Colombia
Through its “Construyendo con el Agua” initiative, The WaL programme is tackling climate adaptation in coastal and informal settlements. Working closely with local partners, the project applies lessons from The WaL programme Asia to develop inclusive, water-centred solutions for one of Latin America’s most climate-vulnerable cities.
Learn more about WaL in Cartagena
City Champion Challenge
As part of the WaL programme, the City Champion Challenge 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 launches at the World Urban Forum in Baku, Azerbaijan, in May 2026. Are you a city government, designer or community organisation working on water challenges? More information on how to join will follow soon.
Upcoming events
Water as Leverage is present at major international forums throughout 2026. The programme participates in the World Urban Forum from 17 to 22 May in Azerbaijan; the Stockholm World Water Week from 23 to 27 August; and 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.
Latest Water as Leverage news
Designing for delivery: the next step of Water as Leverage Cartagena
Full article
Water as Leverage: how a holistic approach is changing the way we deal with water
Full article
Water can be used as a leverage for the broader development of Cartagena
Full article
Inclusive workshops for co-designing water solutions in Colombia
Full article
Two multidisciplinary teams have been selected to become part of Water as Leverage Cartagena
Full articleWater 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 programme, or to discuss how The WaL programme 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.
