Project

FairWater

The need for more coherent water management in Sweden is well acknowledged. Climate change is impacting our water bodies, affecting both volume and quality. Therefore it is essential for society’s actors to collaborate effectively to implement innovative and equitable governance.

Active project

2023–2026

Project contacts

Åsa Gerger Swartling / asa.swartling@sei.orgKarin André / karin.andre@sei.org

Blonde girl stands in front of a large waterfall, Motala Ström. — Motala Ström in Norrköping, Sweden.

Photo: Piero Facci / Getty Images.

FairWater is a project that focuses on creating collaborative and fair catchment-based water management solutions. The project aims to develop innovative strategies addressing the water-society-ecology nexus within Swedish water management.

FairWater is led by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI). SEI and Linköping University are collaborating partners. The project is funded by Formas. Formas’ funding contributes to delivering research outputs and results, engaging with relevant stakeholders, and enabling synthesis and actionable change in the form of co-creation of sustainable water management solutions.

The Motala Ström river basin in Sweden serves as our pilot area. Drawing on scenario analysis and examples of fair governance, we are facilitating a collaborative process to generate new goals, priorities, synergies and incentives. Our overarching goal is to establish catchment-based water governance that is effective, equitable and resilient, where nature-based solutions and green infrastructure are at the forefront.

FairWater will be:

Stress-testing various management options during different climate change and hydrological scenarios for integrated planning in river basins. This involves risk reduction and effective water use, applying state-of-the-art science in hydrology and water resource engineering.

Analysing and understanding challenges such as power dynamics and conflicting interests, as well as identifying opportunities good practices. The aim is to propose and test new methods of cooperation, collaboration and coherence.

Utilising learning and innovation labs, we are engaging stakeholders in a series of workshops. These labs are grounded in theories of participatory processes, adaptive co-management, and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning.

Throughout the project period, we will monitor our achievements to evaluate progress and the effectiveness of the approaches applied or suggested in managing the water-society-ecology nexus.

Modern street in Wageningen, Netherlands, showing eco-friendly middle-class family homes along both sides of a river with a natural flow and lush vegetation along the riverbanks.

Implementing systemic nature-based solutions as a cross-sector service for resilient landscapes

Journal article / This article explores how nature-based solutions use the protection, restoration and sustainable management of ecosystems to address societal challenges.

26 May 2026 / About Adaptation

Water injustice in a changing climate: a literature review of empirical cases across OECD river basins

Journal article / Systematic review of water injustice across OECD countries, highlighting key challenges and implications for research and practice in a changing climate.

19 March 2026 / About Climate policy and Water resources

Sweden’s meteorological and hydrological institute (SMHI) is a leading government agency under the Ministry of Climate and Enterprise and are a primary informant on Sweden’s climate and weather patterns. SMHI contributes their specialist expertise as the project lead to guide the development and implementation of the FairWater project.

Linköping University contributes to the FairWater project as a collaborating partner, supporting key research that foregrounds the project and helps to inform partnership discussions, solutions and external outreach.

The project is funded by Formas, a Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development, centralised around the environment, agricultural sciences and spatial planning.