STIFTELSEN STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL WATER INSTITUTE

Their core work

The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) is an independent policy institute that works at the intersection of water science and governance. They translate water research into policy recommendations, facilitate international dialogue between governments and research communities, and assess the economic and social value of water management approaches. In H2020, they contributed to EU–China water cooperation frameworks and to quantifying the economic value of nature-based water management solutions. Their distinctive value is bridging scientific findings and decision-making processes at international scale — something academic or technical partners rarely do.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Both projects started in the 2015–2016 window, so the timeline is compressed and evolution is limited. The earlier project (PIANO) focused on diplomatic and institutional frameworks for international water cooperation between Europe and China — a policy-networking role. The later project (NAIAD) shifted toward valuing nature as economic infrastructure for water management, signaling a move from diplomatic facilitation toward evidence-based economic argumentation for environmental policy. The absence of extracted keywords limits confidence in this reading, but the project titles support a gradual turn toward quantifying environmental value rather than just coordinating policy dialogue.

SIWI appears to be moving from international coordination roles toward providing the economic and scientific evidence base that justifies nature-based water management investments — positioning them well for future Green Deal and climate adaptation consortia.

How they like to work

SIWI has never taken the coordinator role in H2020 — they consistently join as partners, contributing policy expertise and international network access to consortia led by others. With 30 unique partners across just 2 projects, they work in large, diverse consortia rather than small focused teams. This pattern suggests they function as a credibility anchor and policy bridge — valuable for projects needing international governance reach without wanting to manage the administrative burden themselves.

SIWI has engaged 30 unique consortium partners across 13 countries in only 2 projects — averaging 15 partners per project — indicating large, geographically diverse consortia. Their network spans well beyond Europe, consistent with their global water governance mandate.

What sets them apart

SIWI occupies a rare niche as an internationally recognized, independent water policy institute with direct connections to governments, UN agencies, and the global water community — relationships that universities or technical institutes typically lack. They bring policy translation capacity: the ability to take scientific findings and move them into governance processes at national and international level. For consortium builders, SIWI adds legitimacy and stakeholder access in the water and climate space that is difficult to replicate with academic partners alone.

Highlights from their portfolio

• NAIAD
  The largest H2020 investment for SIWI (EUR 313,110) and one of the first EU projects to frame nature as an economic insurance mechanism for water management, running through 2020.
• PIANO
  Positioned SIWI in a cross-continental role bridging EU and Chinese water policy networks — unusual scope for an H2020 Environment project.