As cities face growing pressures from climate change, urbanization and increasing water insecurity, innovation is vital to ensure resilient and sustainable water systems. Yet many promising solutions remain fragmented, underfunded or unable to scale due to weak systemic conditions.

This report results from a collaboration between the World Economic Forum and Imperial College London, supported by the Hoffmann Fellowship, to explore what conditions enable water innovation to thrive. It presents the Water-BOOST (Bridging Opportunities and Optimising Support Toolkit) framework, a systems-based approach that helps governments, regulators, entrepreneurs and funders strengthen the enabling environments that allow innovation to scale and create lasting impact.

Drawing on field research in six global cities – San Francisco, Valencia, Barcelona, Singapore, Accra and Bengaluru – the report identifies key governance, finance and partnership enablers that unlock innovation. Water-BOOST: Enabling Innovation for Future-Ready Cities provides a practical blueprint to help decision-makers align policy, investment and collaboration to build more resilient, adaptive, innovation-ready societies.