Water smartness and sustainability assessment framework and user guide

The objective of the WIDER UPTAKE water smartness and sustainability (WS&S) framework is to assess the water smartness of a Symbiotic Circular Economy Solution (SCES) and its contribution to sustainable development as defined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The framework is part of the overall WIDER UPTAKE roadmap guide towards wider uptake of water-smart solutions but may also be used as a standalone tool. The framework consists of a user guide (in this report) and an Excel-spreadsheet tool. The intended users are decision-makers in public sector and private companies, consultants and researchers that want to assess the water smartness and sustainability of their solutions. The framework can be used for both strategic and tactical level planning with the aim to assess how water-smart a process, a product or solution is, and how it contributes towards achieving the SDGs. The point of departure is the vision of a water-smart society by Water Europe [Water Europe, 2023] and the SDGs. The WS&S framework in WIDER UPTAKE has been developed and tested in five demonstration cases from Norway in the North to Ghana in the South, involving local stakeholders and research partners through workshops, and is structured in three levels (objectives, criteria, and indicators) for each of the five dimensions (social, environmental, economic, governance, and technical performance). The overall assessment is done through 15 WS&S objectives that are combined in a WS&S index.