DESSIN: How can we make sustainable use of the ecosystem to solve water problems?

The ecosystem can offer solutions to many of the ‘water’ problems that confront us, such as water scarcity and poor water quality. The challenge is to make sustainable use of the ecosystem and, if possible, to actually improve it instead of harming it. But evaluating the options is difficult. The EU-financed DESSIN research project therefore proposes to develop an evaluation framework to help the companies and authorities concerned with the use ‘ecosystem services’ to choose the right, sustainable measures – for example, to purify polluted water, or to make up for water shortages in agriculture or in urban areas through the provision of extra freshwater.

Developing an evaluation framework

Photo: Visit by the DESSIN project group to the Prominent showcase, where freshwater is temporarily stored in the subsurface for use in greenhouse horticulture in drought periods.