TURKIYE SU ENSTITUSU

Their core work

Türkiye Su Enstitüsü (SUEN) is Turkey's dedicated national water research institute, based in Istanbul, focused on the full spectrum of water sector challenges including distribution infrastructure, treatment technologies, desalination, and climate-related water stress (floods and droughts). Their H2020 participation was exclusively through the WaterWorks ERA-NET-Cofund program, which coordinates national water research programs across Europe and associated countries — meaning SUEN's role was to represent and integrate Turkey's water research agenda into the European Water Joint Programming Initiative (JPI). More recently their focus has moved toward resource efficiency in agricultural water use, reflecting Turkey's acute water stress in irrigated farming regions.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their earlier H2020 work (WaterWorks2014, 2015–2021), SUEN's focus was anchored in core water infrastructure — distribution networks, treatment processes, desalination, and managing extreme events like floods and droughts. Their second project (WaterWorks2015, launched in 2016) signals a shift toward the demand side: sustainable use of water in agriculture and resource efficiency. This is a small but meaningful pivot — from "how do we supply and manage water" toward "how do we use less of it in food production", which aligns with broader EU and Turkish policy priorities around agricultural water stress.

SUEN appears to be tracking the policy shift from water supply management toward water demand reduction and efficiency in agriculture — a direction that will grow in importance as Turkey faces increasing drought pressure in its farming regions.

How they like to work

SUEN has never coordinated an H2020 project — both participations are as a consortium member in ERA-NET-Cofund networks, which are inherently large, multi-country coordination structures. The 43 partners across 25 countries reflects the ERA-NET architecture rather than SUEN's own network-building, so these numbers should not be read as evidence of an unusually well-connected institute. In practice, working with SUEN means accessing a Turkish national water authority with links to the Water JPI, not a partner with a track record of leading technical work packages.

SUEN's recorded network spans 43 partners in 25 countries, but this is a product of ERA-NET-Cofund consortium design rather than bilateral relationship-building. Their genuine network likely centers on Water JPI national contact points and Turkish water sector institutions.

What sets them apart

SUEN is Turkey's national water institute, which gives it a specific value in European consortia seeking non-EU Mediterranean or semi-arid country perspectives on water scarcity, desalination, and agricultural water stress — all pressing issues in Turkey that differ meaningfully from Northern European water challenges. For any consortium working on water under climate stress, Turkey is a high-relevance case study country, and SUEN is the institutional entry point. However, with only two ERA-NET coordination projects on record, their technical research depth in H2020 is not yet demonstrated.

Highlights from their portfolio

• WaterWorks2014
  Largest of SUEN's two projects (EUR 59,812) and the broadest in scope, covering the full water cycle from distribution and treatment to desalination and climate extremes, under the Water JPI 2014–2019 framework.
• WaterWorks2015
  Marks SUEN's thematic shift toward agricultural water efficiency and sustainable use, aligning with the WaterWorks2015 program's focus on food-water nexus challenges.