Division of Environment and Natural Resources
BIOWATER - Integrating land and water management for a sustainable Nordic bioeconomy
End: jan 2022
Start: jan 2017
BIOWATER is a Nordic Centre of Excellence, with a main goal to examine the impacts of the bioeconomy on land use and freshwater quality and quantity.


External project link | BIOWATER main website |
Start - end date | 01.01.2017 - 01.01.2022 |
Project manager | Eva Skarbøvik |
Division | Division of Environment and Natural Resources |
Department | Hydrology and Water Environment |
Partners | NIBIO – Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NO), Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NO), Norwegian Institute of Water Research (NO), Aarhus University (DK), Finnish Environment Institute (FI), Natural Resources Institute Finland (FI), University of Oulu (FI), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE) |
Funding source | NordForsk under the Nordic Programme of Bioeconomy |
Through co-operation between stakeholders, scientists and students, BIOWATER will explore how the green shift will influence land use, water quality and quantity. We aim to provide management solutions in the face of potentially competing demands for biomass, land and water resources.
Our main objective is to quantify the combined effects of land use change, climate change and industrial innovation due to the green shift, for catchment-scale carbon, nutrient and water cycles, as well as major ecosystem services (including good ecological status of fresh waters).
BIOWATER consists of eight Nordic partners in four countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden). In addition, three collaborating European research institutions act as advisors. BIOWATER also includes a large number of stakeholder representatives across countries and sectors.
A main focus of BIOWATER is our PhD-students, covering different topics of the Centre, in all four countries. BIOWATER is lead by the two Norwegian institutes NIBIO (Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research) and NMBU (Norwegian University of Life Sciences).