Loughborough University Expert Highlights Growing Urban Water Risks Across Europe

Loughborough University Expert Highlights Growing Urban Water Risks Across Europe

(IN BRIEF) Loughborough University Professor Dilanthi Amaratunga has contributed to a new UNDRR Making Cities Resilient 2030 report examining how cities across Europe and Central Asia can prepare for increasingly interconnected flood, drought and water scarcity risks. The report highlights the scale of the challenge, including more than €18 billion in flood and storm damage in 2024 and water scarcity affecting around 32% of the EU population in 2023. It recommends stronger risk data, coordinated governance, early warning systems, nature-based solutions, water reuse, digital monitoring and long-term investment, while promoting “sponge city” approaches that manage the entire urban water cycle as a connected system.

(PRESS RELEASE) LOUGHBOROUGH, 3-Sep-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — Loughborough University Professor Dilanthi Amaratunga has contributed to a new United Nations report examining how cities across Europe and Central Asia are responding to growing risks from floods, drought and water scarcity.

The report, Waves of Change: Urban Resilience Pathways to Flood and Water Scarcity Risk, was developed by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) Regional Coordinating Committee for Europe and Central Asia.

Professor Amaratunga, Professor of Disaster Risks and Climate Resilience at Loughborough University and a member of the Regional Coordinating Committee, provided key contributions to the publication.

The report examines how climate change is altering the relationship between cities and water, with flooding and drought increasingly becoming interconnected risks rather than separate challenges.

Flood and drought risks intensify across the region

Cities across Europe and Central Asia are facing a growing combination of flash floods, river and coastal flooding, glacial lake outburst floods, prolonged droughts and water stress.

In 2024, floods and storms affected around 413,000 people, caused at least 335 deaths and resulted in more than €18 billion in damage.

In 2023, water scarcity affected approximately 32% of the European Union population for at least part of the year, while droughts are estimated to cost the EU as much as €9 billion annually.

The report warns that climate change is increasing both the frequency and severity of these events, requiring cities to plan simultaneously for excess water and shortages.

Data, governance and investment central to resilience

Drawing on case studies from the Making Cities Resilient 2030 network, the report identifies practical approaches cities are using to strengthen resilience.

It finds that the most resilient urban areas combine reliable risk data, coordinated governance, sustained investment and community engagement.

Recommended measures include early warning systems, nature-based solutions, water reuse, digital monitoring, integrated planning and risk-informed urban development.

The report also calls for stronger collaboration between authorities and stakeholders, alongside long-term financing to support adaptation.

Cities urged to manage water as one connected system

A central recommendation is that cities should manage the entire water cycle as an interconnected system rather than treating floods and droughts independently.

The report promotes the concept of “sponge cities”, where urban environments are designed to absorb, retain, reuse and naturally manage water.

Such approaches can help reduce flood impacts during periods of heavy rainfall while conserving water for periods of scarcity.

Professor Amaratunga, from Loughborough University’s School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, said apparently contradictory risks such as flooding and water shortages are closely connected.

She explained that both can result from wider disruption to natural hydrological processes caused by urbanisation, sealed land surfaces, river regulation and fragmented water-management practices.

Longstanding contribution to UN urban resilience programme

Professor Amaratunga has been involved in the UNDRR Making Cities Resilient initiative since its launch in 2010.

Since 2021, she has served on the MCR2030 Regional Coordination Committee for Europe and Central Asia, helping provide strategic guidance and support the programme’s implementation.

MCR2030 builds on more than a decade of urban resilience work that has reached over 6,000 cities worldwide through the Making Cities Resilient Campaign.

The programme brings together regional partners and city representatives to coordinate technical assistance and help cities progress along a resilience roadmap.

The new report is expected to be presented at several events in the coming months, including a pre-COP31 event in Ankara, Türkiye, co-organised with the Asian Development Bank and World Bank.

Media Contact:

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SOURCE: Loughborough University