A Chair for sustainable water management

On 28 February 2025, the University of Strasbourg and the Foundation of the University and University Hospitals of Strasbourg inaugurated the ‘Water and Sustainability’ Chair, headed by Professor Karl Matthias Wantzen. This project reflects the ambition to position itself as the driving force behind a collective dynamic around the major societal challenge of sustainable water management.

The Water and Sustainability Chair is part of the strategy of Eucor – The European Campus. It will involve teacher-researchers from the five universities in France, Germany and Switzerland, and in particular from the Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT). This makes the chair one of the network's cross-border professorships.

Climate change and the artificialization of hydrosystems are increasing uncertainties about the availability and quality of water. Floods, droughts and pollution have a direct impact on vital sectors such as drinking water supply, energy, industry, agriculture and ecosystems.

Sustainable water management is therefore a strategic challenge requiring major innovations as part of an interdisciplinary approach. The aim of the Water and Sustainability Chair is to explore and implement innovative solutions for the resilient and sustainable management of continental hydrosystems.

Developing sustainable solutions to strengthen regional resilience

Set up in close partnership with the École nationale du génie de l'eau et de l'environnement de Strasbourg (Engees), the project was initiated with the support of the Préfecture de la Région Grand Est, the Région Grand Est, the Collectivité européenne d'Alsace and the City and Eurométropole of Strasbourg as part of the three-year ‘Strasbourg European Capital’ contract. It has also received significant support from private sponsors.

A number of local companies have pledged to support the project for 3 years, to a total value of €520,000: EDF, Bürkert via the Christian and Dorothée Bürkert Foundation, Les Grandes Sources de Wattwiller, Kronenbourg, Heppner, the Autonomous Port of Strasbourg and Véolia. Aware of the environmental challenges that we must face collectively, these companies have chosen to invest in public research in dialogue with the socio-economic players in the water sector, through this chair.

A new generation of experts

Thanks to a network of 320 partners and active involvement in international projects, the Chair will act as a genuine ‘network of networks’, encouraging the emergence of sustainable solutions to strengthen the resilience of territories.

Prof. Wantzen points out that the Chair will develop a new master's degree in ‘Continental Water Sustainability’ aimed at training a new generation of experts capable of tackling the complex challenges associated with water management. It will be based on an interdisciplinary approach, integrating ecology, engineering, urban planning, sociology and law, and will encourage the emergence of cross-disciplinary skills, such as conflict resolution, scientific communication and the management of collaborative projects,’ explains Karl Matthias Wantzen, who holds the chair.