2025 WiCE Annual Review: a year of collaboration for water

In their preface to the 2025 WiCE Annual Review, programme managers Joep van den Broeke and Henk-Jan van Alphen make it clear that the circumstances in the past year highlight the importance of a sustainable and resilient society. They say that the extremely dry spring, the scarcity of raw materials, and political unrest, as well as conflicts at home and abroad, demonstrate that change is required. At the same time, they outline positive prospects in which the Netherlands and Europe have opportunities to take the lead in the transformation to a circular economy based on preserving values.

Read the entire 2025 WiCE Annual Review.

Through the eyes of the outgoing and incoming chairs

An interview with the outgoing and incoming chairs – Riksta Zwart and Paulien Pistor – describes both the path WiCE has taken so far and the direction for the future. “We have dared to acknowledge the ‘blue thread’ where we have to look for the solutions of the future,” says Zwart. “In other words: working with all stakeholders involved with water.” Pistor also believes in that shared approach. She sees how drinking water utilities have embraced WiCE. “I think that WiCE deserves to move on to the next phase now. That means taking a stand”

WiCE in the news

The 2025 Annual Review also provides an attractive range of reports and publications, a ‘WiCE in the News’ section, and an overview of ongoing and completed projects. The spotlight is turned on four KWR researchers, who talk about how their work contributes to accelerating the circular economy. For example, in the ANCHOR project, Noor van Dooren is exploring water reuse applications for resilient cities that are also circular, sustainable and social. With fifteen projects, 2025 was ‘an unprecedentedly active year’, according to Van den Broeke and Van Alphen, with the growing interest in WiCE emphasising its relevance.

Read the entire 2025 WiCE Annual Review here.