RESCCUE · Project

Software Platform Helping Cities Protect Water Systems and Services from Climate Disasters

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Imagine your city gets hit by a massive flood, heatwave, or drought — and suddenly the water supply, electricity, and transport all fail at once because they're all connected. RESCCUE built software that lets city managers see exactly how these systems depend on each other and what breaks when extreme weather hits. It was tested in Barcelona, Lisbon, and Bristol with real data, ranking different protection strategies by cost so cities know where to spend their money for the best results. Think of it as a stress-test simulator for urban infrastructure, but focused on water as the thread that connects everything.

By the numbers

EU cities used as validation testbeds (Barcelona, Lisboa, Bristol)

consortium partners across the full value chain

countries represented in the consortium

industry partners ensuring market readiness

57%

industry ratio in the consortium

total project deliverables produced

The business problem

What needed solving

Cities worldwide are losing millions when extreme weather knocks out water systems, which then cascades into power outages, transport shutdowns, and telecom failures. Most cities plan for these hazards in isolation, with no way to see how one failure triggers the next or to compare which investments actually deliver the best protection per euro spent.

The solution

What was built

RESCCUE built an integrated software platform that models how urban water, energy, transport, and telecom systems interact under multiple climate change and hazard scenarios. It includes resilience assessment tools, adaptation strategy portfolios ranked by CAPEX/OPEX cost-efficiency, and validated resilience plans for 3 European cities. The project produced 35 deliverables including a demonstrated resilience plan for each pilot city.

Audience

Who needs this

Municipal water utilities facing increased climate-related service disruptionsCity resilience officers responsible for climate adaptation planningEngineering consultancies advising municipalities on infrastructure protectionInfrastructure insurers needing better climate risk quantification modelsUrban technology companies building smart city management platforms

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Water Utilities

enterprise

Target: Municipal water and wastewater operators

If you are a water utility dealing with increasing service disruptions from floods, droughts, or extreme heat — this project developed a software platform that models how climate scenarios impact your network and ranks adaptation measures by their CAPEX and OPEX cost-efficiency. It was validated across 3 EU cities (Barcelona, Lisboa, Bristol) with real infrastructure data. This means you can prioritize investments that deliver the most resilience per euro spent.

Urban Planning & Consulting

any

Target: Engineering consultancies advising municipalities on climate adaptation

If you are a consultancy helping cities prepare for climate change — this project created an integrated resilience assessment platform covering water, energy, transport, and telecom interdependencies under multiple hazard scenarios. With 35 deliverables including city resilience plans, the toolset gives you a ready-made methodology to offer clients. The 3-city validation provides case studies you can reference when pitching to new municipal clients.

Insurance & Risk Assessment

enterprise

Target: Property and infrastructure insurers covering climate-related losses

If you are an insurer struggling to price climate risk for urban infrastructure — this project built multi-hazard models that quantify how cascading failures spread across interconnected city services. The platform evaluates adaptation strategies by their cost-efficiency in reducing damage, which directly translates to avoided costs during and after emergencies. With validation in 3 major European cities and 23 consortium partners, the underlying models have been stress-tested against real-world conditions.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to deploy this resilience platform in our city?

The project data does not include specific licensing or deployment costs. However, the platform was designed to rank adaptation strategies by CAPEX and OPEX cost-efficiency, meaning it's built to help you evaluate return on investment. Contact the coordinator Aquatec (part of a multinational environmental services group) for commercial terms.

Can this scale beyond the three pilot cities?

The platform was validated in Barcelona, Lisboa, and Bristol — three cities with very different climates, infrastructure, and governance models. The project explicitly targeted large-scale deployment and designed the consortium to represent the complete value chain needed for market uptake. This suggests the tools are built to be adaptable to other urban contexts.

Who owns the intellectual property and how can we license it?

The project coordinator is Aquatec Soluciones Medioambientales, a large Spanish consultancy that is part of a multinational company focused on resource recovery. With 13 industry partners in the 23-member consortium, IP arrangements likely involve multiple parties. Based on available project data, commercial licensing terms should be negotiated directly with Aquatec.

Does this meet EU regulatory requirements for climate adaptation planning?

The project was funded as an Innovation Action under Horizon 2020's disaster resilience topic (DRS-09-2015) and directly addresses EU climate adaptation policy goals. The resilience plans developed for the pilot cities serve as reference implementations. The methodology aligns with the EU Adaptation Strategy requirements that cities increasingly face.

How long does implementation take for a typical city?

Based on available project data, the full development and validation cycle ran from 2016 to 2020 across 3 cities simultaneously. A deployment in a new city would likely be significantly faster since the tools and methodology are already built. Implementation timelines would depend on data availability and the number of urban systems you want to model.

Can this integrate with our existing city management or SCADA systems?

The project integrated multiple urban service models (water, energy, transport, telecom) into a comprehensive resilience platform using software tools. With 13 industry partners including urban system operators in the consortium, the platform was designed for practical integration with operational systems. Specific integration capabilities should be discussed with the coordinator.

Consortium

Who built it

The RESCCUE consortium of 23 partners across 5 countries is heavily tilted toward industry (13 partners, 57% ratio), which is a strong signal of commercial intent. It's coordinated by Aquatec, a large Spanish environmental consultancy that's part of a multinational group — meaning there's an established sales channel for the results. With only 2 universities but 4 research organizations and 4 other entities (likely city authorities and international networks), the consortium was clearly designed to move beyond research into deployment. The 3 SMEs add agility but the real market muscle comes from the large industry players and city operator partners who validated the tools with real infrastructure data.

AQUATEC SOLUCIONES MEDIOAMBIENTALES, S.A.Coordinator · ES
E-REDES - DISTRIBUICAO DE ELETRICIDADE SAparticipant · PT
EPAL-EMPRESA PORTUGUESA DAS ÁGUAS LIVRES, SAthirdparty · PT
THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETERparticipant · UK
UNITED NATIONS HUMAN SETTLEMENTS PROGRAMMEparticipant · KE
AGUAS DO TEJO ATLANTICO SAparticipant · PT
BARCELONA CICLE DE L'AIGUA SAthirdparty · ES
ECOLE DES INGENIEURS DE LA VILLE DEPARISparticipant · FR
EDISTRIBUCION REDES DIGITALES SLparticipant · ES
AJUNTAMENT DE BARCELONAparticipant · ES
FUNDACIO INSTITUT DE RECERCA EN ENERGIA DE CATALUNYAparticipant · ES
LABORATORIO NACIONAL DE ENGENHARIA CIVILparticipant · PT
URBAN DNA SOLUTIONS LLPparticipant · UK
CETAQUA, CENTRO TECNOLOGICO DEL AGUA, FUNDACION PRIVADAparticipant · ES
CAMARA MUNICIPAL DE LISBOAparticipant · PT
BRISTOL CITY COUNCILparticipant · UK

How to reach the team

Aquatec Soluciones Medioambientales (Spain) — large environmental consultancy, part of a multinational resource recovery group

Order a report on this consortium See AQUATEC SOLUCIONES MEDIOAMBIENTALES, S.A. profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore how RESCCUE's urban resilience platform could work for your city or infrastructure portfolio? SciTransfer can arrange an introduction to the project team and help evaluate fit for your specific needs.

Order a report on this topic More in Environment & Climate