In the face of the climate emergency, it is necessary to accelerate the shift to a circular model. In water resources, this means reusing water, giving it a new life.

Climate change has intensified drought episodes, temperatures are increasingly higher and when it rains it does so very irregularly. Only a paradigm shift can safeguard this irreplaceable natural resource. It is time to promote a new circular model, in which water will have infinite lives thanks to its constant reuse. A new era to take better and better care of nature.

World Water Day, celebrated on March 22, focuses this year on the need to accelerate changes for sustainable water resources management.

Ensuring that all the world's population has safe drinking water and access to sanitation by 2030, as set out in the sixth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), is a challenge that is as ambitious as it is a priority. The United Nations considers that, in order to achieve this goal, we need to move four times faster than we are currently doing.

Water is a scarce commodity, but essential for cities, agriculture and industry; and for the different species living on Earth. Moreover, the increase in population and food demand will cause the need for water resources to grow by between 20 % and 30 % between now and 2050. Spain is precisely one of the European Union countries most affected by climate change. What can we do? The solution lies in regeneration, a method that consists of applying an additional treatment to water from wastewater treatment plants that allows it to be reused with full sanitary guarantees and returned to nature or used for new purposes such as irrigation of green areas or agriculture.

It is time to accelerate the implementation of a circular model to give infinite lives to water. Reclaimed water opens a new, more sustainable era. All of us - governments, citizens, companies and organizations - can contribute, each in our own way, to guaranteeing the availability of water for future generations.

And to meet the challenge, the enabling technologies for this change are as necessary as having the qualified talent to be able to implement them in a relevant and effective manner. improve and develop the knowledge and skills of professionals on a continuous basis, offer quality employment to young people and strengthen the competitiveness of companies in the green economy, implementing projects to advance sustainable development and acting in the face of the climate emergency.

Acquiring the set of skills to cope with the green and digital transition requires a deep knowledge of the industry, as well as personalized learning tools such as the new Nerexa platform of higher education pathways such as the Online Master in Water Technology and ManagementThis program provides participants with a comprehensive vision of the urban water cycle and the managerial skills to make strategic decisions aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals in companies and water management organizations.

In the framework of World Water Day, we asked some of the students of this program a couple of questions: What is water for you? And they all agree on one thing: water is life!