The Water Commons: A pioneering Public-Community Partnership for Rural Resilience. Lessons from one of Europe’s Rainiest Regions

In Pontevedra, 25% of citizens self-manage groundwater through community boards. Yet, 70% are unregistered and lack technical capacity—a critical gap as climate change drives summer water shortages. Through +AQUA & +NOVAQUA (€6.2M), our Public-Community Partnership has reached 1,000+ communities: legalizing them, training volunteers, and funding infrastructure and digital tools for 32,000 citizens.Like Energy Communities, this social innovation professionalizes long-standing traditions to empower users as active resource managers. Join our session to discover a transferable framework for European regions to tackle depopulation, protect aquifers, and guarantee the human right to safe water.