On World Water Day, the On Water PARCOURS invites to speak about hopes and dangers of smart water technologies and what it takes to move to resilient water futures. Water is ancient. Since Earth’s beginning, it has been the same circling water. On a walk along the Spree you can watch the flow of water. A river is part of the hydrosphere. Here, seasonal rainfall and cooling of ecosystems happen. When water goes into a factory, a data center, a corn field or in a greenhouse, it gets out of sight and cannot carry on with its ecological functions. Water pollution and leakages are toxic issues damaging ecosystems and economies.

Virtual Water: a conceptual model 

The invisible water needed to grow crops, to make products, to use the internet or to offer a service, is called virtual water. The virtual water concept helps to make the water footprint visible. The intention to make the footprint smaller drives research. Science looks into ways to improve water quality and to reduce the unsustainable amount of water used in industry, agriculture and other human infrastructures. Possible strategies to build safe and just water systems, include the building of a circular economy, smart water networks to manage water consumption based on artificial intelligence (AI), and sufficiency. 

Machine learning for water protection?

One paradox is that water, which is meant to be preserved through smart technologies, is an essential ingredient to make AI. AI is not purely technological, but embodied and material, made from natural resources, including water, fuel, human labor and infrastructures. A physical water network with pipes, pumps, valves, reservoirs, is the basis. Using machine learning and AI, an additional layer of data-driven components, the water network senses, collects, analyses, and acts smart. As a result, leakages should be better detected to avoid water spillage. Also, datawater or virtual water should be reduced by making energy use more efficient.

Getting a Sense of Virtual Water and Digital Water Systems

Imagine pipes that feel thanks to smart sensors. Can talking valves reduce water footprints?

Artistic research questions classifications – water is life, a right, a memory, a system of relations –, negotiates ecological awareness and hydric justice. Artists may invite us to smell or taste cooling water and to rehearse possible gestures to acknowledge datawater and its planetary relations.

Envisioning a resilient water future, the On Water PARCOURS expects around 80 participants, including attendees of the Grand Challenge Conference, researcher, artists and Berlin citizens. They come together to inquire about possible and desirable technical and social innovations in water systems. The Smart Water Knowledge Market offers different perspectives from scientific and artistic research, opening a space for knowledge exchange and sensory experiences, featuring:

• Deep science - participatory conversations with scientists immersed in hydro resilience from technical, ethical and ecological perspectives
• Practicing water imaginations - artist video installation,
• Embodying virtual water - an artistic walk,
• People, water and relations - drinks and snacks in an informal get-together 

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The required registration to the event will open in 2026.

Participation is free.

On Water PARCOURS takes place on Sunday, 22nd of March 2026 in Berlin.

The location and program will be announced soon.

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Initiated by the Berlin University Alliance (BUA), the Grand Challenges Conference is a new format designed to share research, spark fresh thinking, and build a vibrant international community committed to engaging with the urgent challenges of our time.

On Water PARCOURS is a series of events organised by the Knowledge Exchange Office of the BUA. Along Berlin's waterways and in cultural institutions, it combines art, science and urban society.

The Smart Water Knowledge Market concept is written by Sina Ribak.