Building Collaborative Urban Drainage research labs communities

The EU’s Urban Drainage Systems (UDS) have been valued at 2.5 trillion€.

They are critical infrastructure providing flood risk reduction, safe sanitation by limiting contact between people and pathogens, and environmental protection by returning treated waste and storm water securely to the natural water cycle.

Many UDS are at risk, their economic life is coming to an end and it is unclear how low operational knowledge, population growth, the climate emergency, and public health threats caused by emerging pollutants and pathogens can be addressed.

Co-UDlabs brings together 17 unique ‘field scale’ urban drainage experimental facilities, providing innovation, collaboration and high level training opportunities.

The main aim of CO-UDlabs is to integrate research and innovation activities in the field of UDS to address these pressing challenges and provide opportunities for pervasive monitoring of water quality, UDS performance and smart and open data approaches.

The advanced Co-UDlabs facilities are run by experienced research groups with extensive industry networks and strong records of innovation.

Co-UDlabs delivers Transnational Access to these facilities to enable the scientific community and industry innovators to develop and validate internationally leading innovations before safely deploying them in full-scale UDS.

CO-UDlabs will conduct interlinked Joint Research Activities to enable faster and wider uptake of innovation in traditional buried pipe systems and newer green-blue infrastructure, specifically focusing on increasing our understanding of asset deterioration and improving system resilience.

Also, CO-UDlabs will develop innovative smart monitoring technologies, digital water analysis tools and foster the innovation potential of human resources.

CO-UDlabs will foster a culture of co-operation within the UDS community by conducting Networking Activities to attract diverse users, improve their data literacy and sharing of knowledge.