Vision and Goal

Urban water management is undergoing major changes. The need to accommodate for climate change, growing cities and aging infrastructures is shifting the focus from a conveyance centric towards more holistic approaches.

An approach for dealing with challenges like this are urban living labs. The Blue Nexus Lab is such an urban living lab. It was initiated by the department of Urban Water Management (SWW) at Eawag. BlueX is operated in close collaboration with Limeco and its member municipalities in Limmattal.

The vision of the Blue Nexus Lab (BlueX) is to accelerate urban climate resilience through evidence-based innovations. Its goal is to create a real-life research environment, in which novel concepts can be implemented and their effects on the urban water balance quantified. Thus, BlueX aims at becoming a lighthouse for the region and beyond.

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BlueX offers a platform for transdisciplinary projects. (Photo from the Open House Day 2024 at Eawag, Max Maurer)

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Blue Nexus Lab (BlueX)

Blue

The colour Blue in the name of the urban living lab represents the element of water. The availability of water is going to change due to the changing climate. Therefore, water is a central element in climate adaption and consequently in BlueX projects.

Nexus

In general, the term Nexus expresses a connection or a linkage of multiple elements. In the case of BlueX, it means that experts from different sectors collaborate in projects. Furthermore, various topics are linked with each other in BlueX.

Lab

The term Lab expresses the fact that BlueX is an urban living lab.