Fostering wAter cIrculaRity in peri-urban landscapes.

The Fostering Water Circularity in Peri-Urban Landscapes (FAIR) project aims to establish an integrated framework for circular water management in peri-urban areas, enhancing a new paradigm for urban water cycles. The project addresses the pressing need for conventional water infrastructures and systems, which often relies on "take-use-dispose" models, and are inefficient under climate stress (such as water scarcity, water excess) for a circular transformative approach. This need is particularly urgent in peri-urban regions where urban, rural, and industrial elements converge, often under high developmental pressures. Therefore, FAIR focuses on three European peri-urban areas—Midden-Delfland, Weiz and Prato—representing varied climatic zones to develop adaptable, site-specific water circularity strategies. The project aims to (1) evaluating integrated water resource management approaches that optimize ecological, economic, and social sustainability; (2) analyzing peri-urban water flows and governance dynamics to inform scalable models; (3) co-designing water management practices following a landscape systemic design and the 5R principles (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover, Restore) through stakeholder engagement workshops; and (4) creating a decision model to guide policy recommendations and transfer circular strategies across Europe. Outcomes of FAIR will include a comparative analysis and atlas of the studied regions, a circular water management catalogue, and a robust framework for policy recommendations, to be disseminated widely among regional authorities, NGOs, and landscape urban planners. This work lays the foundation for resilient, ecologically aligned water management practices and strengthens Europe’s capacity to address climate-induced water challenges through a circular economy approach.