Focus Group Workshops: Innovation Pathways at the Water-Climate-Heritage Nexus
The SD-WISHEES project hosted two Focus Group Workshops on Innovation Pathways at the Water-Climate-Heritage Nexus, bringing together 30 experts, practitioners, and stakeholders from 26 projects across Europe, the Balkans, and Africa to discuss how research and innovation results can be effectively applied, disseminated, and scaled to strengthen cultural heritage resilience under increasing hydroclimatic pressures.
Using a World Café approach, participants rotated across thematic tables to identify key enablers and barriers for the uptake and exploitation of research and innovation results, and co-develop targeted recommendations for Research Funding Organisations (RFOs) and Research Performing Organisations (RPOs).
🌱 Workshop 1 – Water and Agricultural Heritage Landscapes
Date & Location: 23 January 2026, National Water Conservation Awareness Centre, Għajn, Malta
🏛️ Workshop 2 – Urban Heritage Resilience
Date & Location: 30 January 2026, CMCC Headquarters, Lecce, Italy
Both workshops provided an opportunity for lively discussions and knowledge sharing. Participants explored challenges and opportunities for research uptake, reflected on enablers and barriers to effective dissemination and long-term impact, and co-developed recommendations for innovation pathways.
Exploring Innovation Pathways
Innovation Pathways in SD-WISHEES describe the processes that guide research and innovation from ideas to practical, scalable solutions protecting cultural heritage from floods, droughts, storms, and other hydroclimatic extremes. These pathways include tools, technologies, policy frameworks, and capacity-building approaches that ensure R&I results make a tangible impact in society and policy.
Key Takeaways from the Workshops
- Recognition and incentives strengthen partnerships: Prestigious prizes and professional certification labels can foster governance-level collaborations and support long-term exploitation of R&I results.
- Art as a tool for societal uptake: Creative approaches emerged as a powerful means to engage the general public and enhance the dissemination of research and innovation outcomes.
- Informal engagement fosters trust: Social activities and informal gatherings help sustain collaboration, mitigate stakeholder fatigue, and support partnerships beyond project completion.
- Funding and continuity are critical: Dedicated resources for communication and dissemination, as well as sustainable follow-up funding, are essential to move tools and methods from lower to higher TRLs and ensure market and societal uptake.
- Staff turnover and resource constraints: Changes in personnel or insufficient project resources can disrupt implementation and knowledge transfer, highlighting the importance of continuity for lasting impact.
Photos and Posters
Photos and posters from both workshops are available below, showcasing the diversity of perspectives and ongoing work across projects and disciplines.
Expected Outputs and Next Steps
The workshops in Malta and Lecce produced a wealth of insights, which will be consolidated into a draft set of recommendations for research-funding organisations, research-performing organisations, and policy makers. These recommendations will undergo a co-creative review process, incorporating feedback from participating projects and stakeholders to ensure they are actionable and relevant.
In parallel, the results and lessons learned will be showcased at conferences and other dissemination events, allowing further engagement, feedback, and exchange with the wider heritage resilience and research and innovation community.
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