Water Resilience Experiment
We used the European Media Monitor to collect relevant articles related to water and explored how media outlets in the most spoken six languages (German, Spanish, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch) covering 8 Member States in the EU are reporting on water. The objective was to understand how the media discusses water and what issues are capturing public attention, which can be critical for setting priorities. Another goal was to anticipate areas of public concern, controversy, and opportunities and identify cross-country homogeneities and heterogeneities in the media discourse. By highlighting the dominant narratives and gaps in coverage, media analysis can indicate where public discourse might be lacking or misaligned with policy needs. Our main findings are as follows: 1) In EU media, water is most associated with natural disasters like droughts (water scarcity) and floods (water excess) both viewed negatively. This highlights the public's focus on water conservation and disaster preparedness. 2) About a quarter of articles emphasize the positive role of water in sustainable development, particularly through technology and innovation in areas like energy, water management, and climate change. 3) Media coverage shows a contrast between German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria), which focus on renewable energy and technology, and Mediterranean countries (France, Italy, Spain), which emphasize water management due to regional challenges like water scarcity and pollution. This reflects diverse environmental challenges and policy needs. 4) Along with energy, agriculture and food production are also significant topics, especially in countries like Spain and the Netherlands. This highlights water's crucial role in food production and the need for targeted actions across sectors to raise awareness and address water issues effectively.
DUPOUX Marion;
ASHOUR Randa;
ARRIGONI Ottla;
HAMARAT Yaprak;
2025-03-17
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC140284
978-92-68-24668-9 (online),
OP KJ-01-25-095-EN-N (online),
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC140284,
10.2760/1175131 (online),
