The chemical dimension of water resilience, managed primarily by the Directorate-General for Environment, focuses on drastically reducing persistent pollutants that threaten the quality of Europe’s waters. PFAS pose the most significant and costly threat in this area.

Professor Francesco Dondero, Associate Professor of Ecology at the Department of Science and Technological Innovation, was be the keynote speaker at the European Commission’s PFAS and Waterless/Dry Cooling workshop. The event took place on November 21, 2025, and is organized by the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) and the Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV), the bodies responsible for the European Union’s research and innovation policy and the coordination of research and innovation activities, and for EU environmental policies, respectively. The aim of the event is to contribute to the definition of research and innovation priorities that will guide the next European Framework Programme (FP10).

The presentation by Professor Dondero, coordinator of SCENARIOS, the research project on PFAS funded by the European Union under HORIZON 2020 and involving 19 partners from 11 countries, is part of the Water Resilience Strategy (WRS) and the Water Resilience R&I Strategy, two central pillars of the future European agenda for sustainable water management and the reduction of emerging contaminants. The European Union has formally recognized that water security is no longer a purely environmental issue but is intrinsically linked to industrial competitiveness and technological innovation. The WRS establishes an integrated agenda for water resources management in the context of the triple global crisis. The joint DG RTD/DG ENV workshop serves as an essential tactical mechanism for harmonizing these mandates, ensuring that the push for industrial innovation is fully aligned with stringent environmental protection and public health objectives.