5 days, 42 early-career researchers, 6 interdisciplinary groups and one shared ambition: to move beyond siloed approaches and rethink water as a common good, at the heart of interactions between environments, territories and societies.
Working in interdisciplinary groups, participants brought together their knowledge, compared their methods and moved beyond their usual research frameworks. Drawing on scientific contributions, field observations and discussions throughout the week, this co-construction process opened up new avenues of research on socio-hydrosystems.
This approach fully embodies the OneWater spirit: considering water in all its dimensions, encouraging dialogue across disciplines and collectively building knowledge capable of supporting future transformations. It is a tangible way of advancing the programme’s ambition: “Understanding and innovating for viable, equitable and sustainable water management.”
More than just a week of training, the 2026 OneWater Open School provided a new generation of researchers with a space for scientific and collective experimentation, encouraging them to think differently and address water-related challenges together.
