Water BOOST Enabling Innovation for Future Ready Cities 2025

To guide practical application, a set of core concepts underpins the structure of this framework. These are summarized in Table 4. Stakeholders are divided into: –Enabling stakeholders, who are central to decision-making and implementation (e.g. utilities, regulators, innovators, investors) –Supporting stakeholders, who provide knowledge, advocacy or facilitation but are not directly responsible for implementation (e.g. academic institutions, NGOs, professional platforms)Enablers are categorized as: –Individual enablers (E1–E4), linking two specific stakeholder groups (such as partnerships between utilities and entrepreneurs, or regulators and investors) –Multistakeholder enablers (E5), connecting multiple stakeholder categories simultaneously, for example, through national innovation strategies or cross-sector consortia –Supporting enablers (SE1–SE3), acting as mechanisms provided that support enabling stakeholders, such as capacity-building programmes, data platforms or advocacy campaigns that enhance the broader ecosystem Core concepts underpinning the water innovation ecosystem framework TABLE 4 Term Definition Water sector ecosystem The broader socio-technical system encompassing all water-related institutions, technologies, infrastructure and governance structures in a given context Water innovation ecosystem The enabling environment within the water sector that promotes the development, adoption and scaling of innovative solutions Stakeholder groups Actors who influence or are affected by water-related challenges and innovations, including institutions from the public, private, academic and civil society sectors Enablers Mechanisms, policies, strategies or instruments that facilitate the creation, adoption and scaling of innovative water solutions Minimal viable system (MVS) The essential configuration of enabling stakeholders and enablers required for a functional water innovation ecosystem; it defines the foundational elements needed to activate and sustain innovation Source: World Economic Forum Building upon the conceptual structure of the water innovation ecosystem, the Water-BOOST framework is designed not only to analyse enabling environments but also to support their strategic improvement. As a diagnostic and planning tool, Water-BOOST helps reveal where systems are strong, where connections are missing and which mechanisms matter most for scaling innovation. Applied across diverse cities, it not only captures current conditions but also creates a common language for comparison, making it easier for stakeholders to learn from peers and adapt effective strategies to their own context. At the core of this approach there are three foundational principles. These guide how the toolkit interprets ecosystem configurations and define the minimum conditions needed to move from isolated initiatives to a functioning and scalable innovation system.2.2 Water-BOOST principles Water-BOOST: Enabling Innovation for Future-Ready Cities 17