Ecologic Institute contributed to a practical guide for local-level evaluations of changes in ecosystem services. The approach helps to associate such changes to specific water management measures and enables both monetization and qualitative appraisal of impacts. Possible links between WFD State parameters and specific ESS classes are proposed. The article is available for download.

The overall goal of the DESSIN ESS software system is to support users implementing the DESSIN ESS evaluation framework and sustainability assessment. This document describes how the software should do this, from the end-user perspective. The document is organized into so-called "user stories". Each user story describes a task that a user would like the software to perform, and explains why performing the task provides value to the user. The users stories are organized into "epics", which are groups of similar stories. Most of the user stories are written from the perspective of an evaluation lead carrying out an ESS assessment, as this was thought to be the most likely user of the system. The software framework presented here was developed by DHI, ECOLOGIC, SINTEF, and IWW in collaboration with the DESSIN user group, which consists of the demo site representatives who will be the end users of the software.

Innovative ways to manage the urban water cycle are required to deal with an ageing drinking and waste water infrastructure and new societal imperatives. This paper examines the influence of water governance in enabling transformations and technological innovation uptake in urban water management. A governance assessment framework is developed and applied in three case-studies, examining different scales and types of innovations used to tackle challenges in European urban water management. The methodology combines documentary analysis and interviews to reconstruct historical storylines of the shift in the water governance of urban water management for each site. The research provides detailed empirical observations on the factors conducive to innovation uptake at the local level. Critical governance factors such as commitment to compromise, the necessity to build political support, and the role of "entrepreneurs" and coalitions are highlighted. The paper also explores the role of discursive strategies and partnership design, as well as that of regulative, economic and communicative instruments, in creating barriers and opportunities to initiate and secure change. A number of recommendations targeted at innovators and water managers are presented in the conclusion.

Within the European water research project "Demonstrate Ecosystem Services Enabling Innovation in the Water Sector (DESSIN)," a policy brief on governance factors conducive to innovation in the urban water sector was published. Josselin Rouillard and Rodrigo Vidaurre from Ecologic Institute, provide five key recommendations on policy frameworks, incentives and stakeholder management strategies that can be employed to encourage innovation uptake in urban water management. The policy brief is targeted to water managers and policy makers and is available for download.