The Netherlands has traditionally been a water-rich country where people are accustomed to draining water as quickly as possible to prevent flooding of agricultural land, homes and businesses. As a result, water scarcity, drought and soil desiccation are recurring problems.
The Twente region, too, has long been struggling with soil desiccation – a structural shortage of water in the soil and a decline in groundwater levels – but the urgency of the problem has increased significantly in recent years, partly due to climate change. Due to historical infrastructure designed for water drainage, intensive land use, compacted soils and increasing water demand, the water system is becoming increasingly unable to retain water. This results in water scarcity and has a negative impact on agriculture, nature, industry and housing.
The region is already working hard on solutions – significant and often successful experiments are already taking place on a small scale, but these rarely lead to wider implementation. For example, there have already been several pilot projects using greywater for industrial or sanitary applications. Investment costs, strict legislation (particularly regarding applications in the food industry) and limited funding opportunities constitute a major barrier to this. A recurring theme here is that there is no business case for water and that fewer subsidies are available for it (compared to other sectors such as energy).
In 2025, the Climate Centre at the University of Twente, with support from the Climate Initiative Netherlands (KIN), launched a Knowledge-in-Action programme. The aim: to no longer approach the drought challenge as a series of isolated technical problems and symptom management, but as a transition. The analysis shows that a fundamental change is needed in how we think about and deal with water, space, governance and societal values.
Methodology: Transition analysis, Crutzen workshop and grant program
In early 2026, the University of Twente conducted a transition analysis in collaboration with and validated by regional authorities, businesses and other relevant organizations. The transition analysis is based on interviews with regional public and private stakeholders, previous research in East Brabant and insights from various regional and international programs.
The following overarching transition question emerged in this context:
How can the water transition in Twente be shaped in such a way that—given increasing drought, historical choices, and other societal transitions—a resilient and equitable water system is created?
Seven transition themes
The interviews and analysis show that a truly resilient water system requires coherent changes in thinking, practices, policy and organisation. Based on the analysis, seven themes have been identified that determine the pace and direction of the water transition. Transition questions have been formulated for each of these dimensions: areas where knowledge, policy or cooperation is still lacking in order to take steps forward.
What transition questions have we identified?
- Urgency & perception: How do we create a stable, shared sense of urgency that enables fundamental change
- Roles & responsibilities: What distribution of roles and responsibilities supports system change?
- Vision, collaboration & governance: How do we arrive at a shared and guiding vision, and who takes the lead in this?
- Policy instruments (legal, economic, communicative): Which instruments are needed to steer water use towards sustainability and future-proofing?
- Local approach versus system requirements: How do we link local initiatives with regional and cross-border system challenges?
- Interactions with other transitions: How do we ensure that transitions reinforce rather than hinder one another?
- Spatial planning: How do we ensure that water availability actually guides spatial decisions?
Crutzen Workshop
The Crutzen Workshop, organized in collaboration with Twentse Golf, the UT Climate Center and KIN, took place in April 2026 on the University of Twente campus under the theme: 'Water Transition Twente: Toward a More Resilient Water System'. Following the transition analysis, more than 60 people - each with a role within the regional water system - gathered. The way in which elements are interconnected within a system was a recurring theme in several discussions throughout the day.
The focus of the day was on gathering the participants’ practical experiences and translating them into systemic questions. The diversity of participants - including policy staff from the province, water boards and municipalities, researchers, entrepreneurs, consultants from consulting firms and representatives from the financial sector and industry - helped make abstract systemic questions more concrete.
Grant program
Based on the discussion of the transition analysis and its seven transition issues during the Crutzen workshop, the KIN office, in collaboration with its partners in Twente, identified two approaches for a grant program:
- Subtheme 1: System Choices
What are the critical substantive breakthroughs in the transition toward a resilient future in which water and soil play a leading role? - Subtheme 2: Transition, Governance, and Organization
How do we collectively organize change within a long-standing and risk-averse system?
To address the fundamental changes needed to enable a just and sustainable water transition, this call for proposals poses the above questions to a broad and transdisciplinary audience. We are calling for collaboration among researchers, practitioners, policymakers, creative professionals, civil society organizations and/or businesses. By learning by doing and doing while learning, the knowledge drawn from a wide range of expertise and perspectives can truly make a difference for the urgent water transition in Twente.
A detailed description of each subtheme and more information about this grant can be found in the call for proposals 'Knowledge in Action – Water Transition Twente', which can be downloaded from the NWO website via this link.
Partners
Universiteit Twente/UTClimate Centre, De Twentse Golf
