PROJECT: SWEDISH WATER HOUSEConcluded platforms
SIWI has organized platforms (also known as cluster groups) within a broad range of fields since 2003. Below is the list of concluded platforms:
The water for resilient landscapes platform focuses on how productive landscapes can support livelihoods and biodiversity, which is also important for climate change adaptation and mitigation.
The group works to strengthen Swedish actors’ understanding and competence in integrating hydrological aspects of landscape restoration. The aim is to support the objectives of Sweden’s Global Development Policy and to ensure that an effective contribution can be made to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and international restoration initiatives.
The finance sector can play a crucial role pushing for improved water management, not least through what economic activities they choose to invest in.
The multi-stakeholder platform Water and Finance works to raise the awareness of water risks in investments, and ensure that the financial sector has the available tools to analyze and calculate water risks as well as opportunities.
Faith-based organizations often have a strong spiritual relationship with water that can inspire both important conversations and behavioural change.
The Water and Faith cluster group has attracted great attention from Sida, UNEP and the World Bank as an innovative way to address social norms and values. The unique collaboration has been hailed as a new way to encourage behavioural change and has resulted in the international web-based course People and Planet.
The Sweden Textile Initiative (STWI) started as a cluster group in 2015 to encourage resource efficiency in the fashion textile industry. The methodology was developed by Swedish brands over a two-year period with the aim of reducing the negative impacts of emissions from energy, chemicals, greenhouse gases and water.
The project led to impressive gains. Between 2015 and 2017, 80 million kWh of energy was saved and 11 million m3 of water, which equals the daily need for 220 million people. Furthermore, the project is expected to have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 460,000 tons.
The Water and Food cluster group worked with the food and beverage sector. In 2017, five field visits were undertaken, including to India and Peru, together with business representatives from ICA, Axfood, Hermansson & Co, Santa Maria, and Systembolaget.
The results from Peru are presented in the report To the Last Drop, produced by Swedwatch and Diakonia, with support from SIWI (also available in Spanish). The report calls for Swedish companies to take more responsibility for the water impact of their production. SIWI encourages companies to monitor their water impact.
Examples of networks and standards for this include Swedish Water House’s Water Journey, Alliance for Water Stewardship Standard, the Solidaridad Network and the CEO Water Mandate Stewardship.
In 2014-2016 Swedish Water House facilitated a cluster group on Water and Pharmaceuticals in response to new research about pharmaceutical production’s impact on water resources. The groundbreaking work led to the projects Reducing Emissions from Antibiotic Production through Resource Efficiency (REAP, active 2016-2020) and the Responsible Antibiotics Manufacturing Platform (RAMP, started in 2020).
- Climate, Water and Vulnerability
- Conflict and Water Group
- Large-Scale Water Infrastructure
- Swedish Network for the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture (CAWMA)
- The Resilience and Freshwater Initiative
- The Swedish Environmental Flows Initiative
- Transboundary Water Management
- Water and Anti-corruption Network
- Water and Corporate Responsibility
- Water and Disaster Risk Reduction
- Water and Energy
- Water and Rights
- Water and Sanitation in Peri-urban Areas
- Water and Wastewater