Climate Change as a Catalyst for Innovation in the Water Sector

The growing demands on water management coincide with ever-greater challenges resulting from increasingly frequent extreme weather events. Smart water management is the foundation of a climate-resilient city. These challenges are exerting strong pressure for innovation in the sector, to which operators, public administration, the scientific community, and industry must respond collectively.
An overview of the latest research projects, their results, and key findings will demonstrate how technical solutions and the water sector as a whole can make a significant contribution to climate change adaptation efforts.

After studying Environmental Engineering, Thorsten Schmitz entered the water sector. Since 2013, he worked at the University of Applied Sciences Münster, conducting research in different areas such as drinking water supply or illicit connection detection, but always with a primary focus on stormwater management and stormwater treatment – especially technical stormwater filtration systems.
Since 2023, he has been working at NIVUS GmbH. Since 2025, as head of the department Research and Market Development, focusing, among other topics, on research projects in urban water resilience, real-time control in sewer networks, and the monitoring of stormwater treatment facilities.”