Apr 27, 2025
Kick-off event for the CRossWATER project funded by EU-Interreg Poland-Saxony: Strengthening transboundary collaboration
Kick-off event for the EU CRossWATER project in the large conference room of Görlitz town hall
On March 21, the kick-off event of the EU project CRossWATER took place in the historic town hall of Görlitz. A total of 80 participants from Germany and Poland attended - including project partners, representatives of municipal administrations and water suppliers on both sides of the river Neiße as well as representatives of the environmental authorities at the state level.
The project was officially launched in January 2025 and aims to develop solutions for transboundary groundwater management for a climate-resilient water supply in the European City of Görlitz-Zgorzelec. The main focus is on the integration of existing and newly collected data and information to develop a digital water management model as a basis for risk assessment and the development of joint strategies for dealing with water emergencies. The project involves cooperation between the TU Dresden as lead partner, the University of Silesia in Katowice, the cities of Görlitz and Zgorzelec and the local water companies of Görlitz and Zgorzelec. The total project budget amounts to more than 1.7 million euros, of which 1.4 million euros come from EU funding.
The event was opened with greetings from the mayors of Görlitz and Zgorzelec, Mr. Ursu and Mr. Gronicz. Both emphasized the urgency of dealing intensively with the topic of groundwater in the context of climate change - especially concerning a safe and sustainable water supply in the German-Polish border region.
Other speakers included Prof. Ewa Łupikasza, Director of the Institute of Geosciences at the University of Silesia in Katowice, Prof. Andreas Hartmann, Head of the Institute of Groundwater Management at TU Dresden, Jörg Kolewa, Managing Director of Stadtwerke Görlitz Service GmbH and Zbigniew Zdanowicz, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the "Nysa" Zgorzelec waterworks and wastewater company. In their speeches, they particularly emphasized the importance of the project for the bilateral exchange of knowledge and the sustainable management of water resources. The project managers, Dr. Zhao Chen (project lead) from the Institute of Groundwater Management at TU Dresden and Dr. Sławomir Sitek from the Institute of Geosciences at the University of Silesia in Katowice, then gave a presentation in which they presented the planned project work packages. The challenges in transboundary water management were discussed and initial approaches to finding joint solutions were presented. A symbolic highlight was the signing of the project partnership agreement by the mayors of both cities - a strong signal for the start of a new era in cross-border cooperation.
Signing of the project partnership agreement by the mayors of Görlitz and Zgorzelec, Mr. Ursu and Mr. Gronicz
Following the official part of the event, guests were able to discuss current issues in hydro(geo)logy in greater depth at a poster session and a stand with modern monitoring and measurement equipment.
Presentation of project specific content and monitoring and measurement equipment with a focus on water resource management
The event concluded with a visit to the Görlitz waterworks' water extraction and treatment facilities, organized by Mr. Bauer and Mr. Franke from Stadtwerke Görlitz. During the visit, participants gained insight into the on-site technical infrastructure and observed the processes and measuring systems in use.
Excursion to the water extraction and treatment plants at the Görlitz waterworks
Further information on the CRossWATER project can be found here.
Contact person
Dr. rer. nat. Zhao Chen
Institute of Groundwater Management
Phone: +49 351 463-42556