Innovate4Water Impact Session: Measuring Impact, Driving Uptake

The Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), in partnership with the City of Windhoek and NamWater, recently hosted an Impact Session under the Innovate4Water project. Using Windhoek as a living laboratory, the session showcased how research, innovation, and collaboration are shaping water security in Africa’s most water-stressed cities.

At the heart of the discussion was a shared recognition that ensuring reliable and equitable water services in the face of climate variability, rapid urbanisation, and growing demand is one of the greatest development challenges of our time. The project is responding by introducing innovative impact indicators that link research outputs directly to practical solutions for communities, utilities, and policymakers.

As Dr Anna Matros-Goreses, Executive Director for Research, Innovation and Partnerships and research team member leading the impact indicator framework, emphasised, the project aims to build a path towards resilient, smart, and inclusive water-secure cities. Representatives from the City of Windhoek reinforced that innovation matters most when it reaches communities and transforms service delivery.

The Impact Session highlighted that resilience requires more than technology alone. It depends on participatory approaches, nature-based solutions, governance reforms, and digital innovation working together in a single integrated framework. By linking water, food, and energy systems, Windhoek’s model is evolving into a scalable and adaptive pathway for long-term sustainability, building on work such as the AUDA-NEPAD African Network of Centres of Excellence on Water Sciences and Technology, Phase III (ACEWATER III), under which the Smart WEFE Innovation Model (SWIM) is being implemented.

Looking ahead, project outputs will inform policy frameworks and investment strategies, positioning Namibia as a regional leader in turning scarcity into opportunity. The vision is clear: a future where stormwater reuse, AI-driven monitoring, and renewable energy integrate seamlessly to secure resilient urban water services, even under climate shocks.

This integrated model demonstrates how innovative impact indicators, when designed with people and context in mind, can drive practical and scalable solutions for the smart cities of tomorrow.

The Innovate4Water initiative is implemented by NUST and NamWater, funded by the African Centre for Technology Studies, facilitated by the National Commission on Research, Science and Technology, and supported through the Science Granting Councils Initiative.