D1.1. Identification of RI users and UDS community needs

This document is a Deliverable 1.1 “Identification of RI users and UDS community needs” of the Co-UDlabs project, funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101008626. The Deliverable is drafted within the Work Package 1, “Sectorial Integration and Sustainability Strategy”. The lead beneficiary of the Work Package is the Group of Research, technical coordination and water information (GRAIE). GRAIE is the main author of this Deliverable.

The aim of this document is to collect and identify needs and visions from different stakeholders involved in the transitioning of Urban Drainage Systems within the European Union and associated countries towards sustainability and smart infrastructure. Therefore, different sources were considered: (i) policy documents existing in the countries represented in the project; (ii) inputs from the academic researchers and scientists involved in the Co- UDlabs project; and (iii) feedback from early adopters and (potential) users of the Research Infrastructure of urban drainage made accessible within the project.

The evaluation of the identified needs serves as a blueprint for a further identification of the role of Research Infrastructure in the research and innovation capacity needed to transition to more sustainable and smart urban drainage systems within the project. The aim of this report is to identify in a first step for which areas the different stakeholders define a need to be fulfilled that enables this transitioning.