Water BOOST Enabling Innovation for Future Ready Cities 2025

The framework is grounded in three core principles: 1. Innovation cannot scale without ecosystem structure. A functioning innovation ecosystem requires a minimal viable system (MVS): the essential configuration of stakeholders and enabling mechanisms. Most cities studied had at least one missing or underdeveloped element. 2. Innovation ecosystems depend not just on who is involved but on how they work together. Relationship enablers such as collaborative procurement, regulatory flexibility and shared testbeds are key to scaling innovation. 3. Cities can, and should, learn from one another. Enabling environments differ, but they are not incomparable. Cities can adapt successful mechanisms to fit their institutional context, using structured comparison as a tool for strategic adaptation. Water-BOOST’s ambition is not only to identify gaps but also to help decision-makers transition from fragmented efforts towards coherent, scalable innovation systems. Strategic recommendations emerging from this work include the need to: –Use structured ecosystem mapping to align stakeholders around common goals –Strengthen inter-institutional coordination and cross-sector collaboration –Improve procurement, financing and scaling pathways for early-stage innovation –Facilitate cross-city learning and adaptation through peer comparison With further development, Water-BOOST offers a practical contribution to the global water innovation agenda. By making complex systems more visible – and more tractable – it helps cities design enabling environments that are inclusive, adaptive and ready to meet future challenges. Its flexible, systems- oriented structure also makes it applicable beyond cities – including in peri-urban areas, industrial zones, rural communities and catchment-scale governance settings where innovation ecosystems must also be activated and aligned. Structural WaterBOOST map of the water innovation ecosystem across governance, aquapreneurship and supporting levelsPolicy-makers and regulators (G2)Gover nance enablers (E1)Supporting enablers (SE2) Aquapr eneurship enablers (E3)Cross-level enablers (E2)Public utilities and large private concessionair es (G1) Multistakeholder enablers (E5) Investors and accelerators (A2)Innovators and entrepreneurs (A1) Minimal viable system (MVS) Supporting enablers (SE1)Academia and resear ch institutions (S1) Civil society (NGOs, professional associations and community groups) (S2)Supporting enablers (SE3)Cross-level enablers (E4) Governance level Aquapreneurship level Supporting level Water-BOOST: Enabling Innovation for Future-Ready Cities 5