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Themes and expected abstracts 

Stormwater management in urban planning is a major challenge that is increasingly being incorporated into public policy, with an urgent need to take action and adapt in light of climate change.

It remains difficult to implement due to the complexity of the phenomena involved, specific regional characteristics, and the need for cross-cutting approaches. Solutions are emerging and being developed around the world.

Objectives and challenges


We expect submissions that enable us to better respond to the challenges of our time:
  • taking climate change into account and adapting to it
  • developing multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral approaches, addressing stormwater management in conjunction with other disciplines and urban policies
  • mobilizing data and the new possibilities offered by digital technology and artificial intelligence
  • facilitating knowledge transfer and the evolution of professional cultures and practices

The 4 major themes of Novatech 2026

Structures and stormwater management system

  • Stormwater management solutions at the source
  • Solutions based on nature, w
    ater-soil-plant triptych,
    functioning, efficiency and specific features, diversity
  • Integration into the stormwater management system
  • Modeling
  • Technical innovations, metrology
  • Legacy management
  • Operation and optimization of centralized and decentralized systems, with regard to current and future water flows and pollution.

Development
and urban planning

  • Designing urban planning with water in mind, and designing water systems with urban planning in mind: sobriety, health, living spaces, etc.
  • Urban growth, fight against urban heat islands
  • Reconstruction and adaptation of public and private developments (industrial, commercial and residential)
  • New urban forms, permeable city, etc.

Watershed
& Resource

  • Pollution and water quality (stormwater monitoring, road runoff, urban discharges)
  • Impacts on rivers, resource conservation, groundwater infiltration and recharge
  • Monitoring and modeling
  • Turning stormwater into a resource, etc.

Society & Governance


  • Local, national and international strategies and regulations
  • Cross-sectoral public policies
  • Transitions management
  • Stormwater financing
  • Organizations adaptation, perceptions
  • Support and networking for stakeholders
  • Knowledge transfer and professionals training
  • Barriers and leverages, etc.

 A few questions that illustrate the themes of Novatech 2026

Structures and stormwater management system
  • Should we reconsider the design and size of structures in light of climate change and uncertainties: too much or too little water?
  • What is the place and role of soil and vegetation in developments with regard to stormwater management?
  • How can we characterize the effectiveness of structures at source in the face of pollution? What do we know? What risks do we take when infiltrating?
  • How can we prioritize disconnection actions with regard to reducing urban discharges during rainy weather?
  • Are de-impermeabilization, green roofs, and rain trees really the new tools of the sponge city?
  • How can designers be guided to adapt solutions to the local context? Should we move towards standardization of stormwater management solutions at source?
  • The use of green and blue infrastructure in question: new costs or a new way of approaching the management of public spaces?
  • How can we characterize the “co-benefits” of stormwater management solutions at source?
  • What are the risky discharges? What pollution control systems are available?
  • How can we develop the use of stormwater as non-conventional water?
  • How can we accelerate the change in practices and uses?
Development and urban planning
  • How can we prioritize de-impermeabilization, vegetation, and rainwater infiltration at the urban level?
  • How can we regulate rainwater management on private land at the regional level?
  • How can we establish zoning and strategic management plans with a cross-cutting vision?
  • What rules and controls should be put in place for construction and development? How can we support the review of applications?
  • Should water be placed at the heart of regional strategies, policies, and projects, and if so, how?
Watershed & Resource
  • How should we approach the continuum of runoff and urban stormwater?
  • How can we recharge aquifers and preserve their quality? How effective are our regional strategies?
  • What data and digital tools can help with decision-making? What kind of mutualization is possible at different levels (local, national, and international)?
  • How can we make rainwater a resource at the regional level?
Society & Governance
  • Transposing DERU2 (European Urban Wastewater Directive) into national law: what rules and what possible mutualization of data and tools?
  • How to regulate (or not) pollution (and micropollutants) in stormwater?
  • Anticipating to adapt: at what level should regulation be applied and to what? (local strategies, national policies, and European regulations)
  • What are the costs and economic models for stormwater management?
  • Re-examining stormwater financing: what financing, what implementation methods?
  • The place of stormwater in a one-health approach: what resources and what risks are associated with human and animal health?
  • How should services and skills be organized to better adapt to water management?
  • How can we strengthen the link between researchers and professionals to build the stormwater management of tomorrow together?
  • How can we support and accelerate the paradigm shift and mobilize all stakeholders in urban planning and development, including residents?
  • How can we take action, and on what scale? Who are our key drivers and allies?
  • What is the social perception of new urban water management methods?

Expected abstracts

Scientific and/or technical abstracts

  • Presentation of research methods or results linked to operational needs in the social sciences, natural sciences, and/or engineering sciences, using multidisciplinary approaches based on bibliographical analysis, laboratory tests, modeling, or in situ monitoring.
  • Innovative technical achievements, monitored and put into perspective.

Feedback 

  • Feedback on operations that have been running for several years, comparisons between different strategies, scales, or structures
  • Presentation of public policies, local planning and animation and mobilisation of inhabitants, strategies of waterwise territories (agglomeration or watershed).
  • Reflections on governance and keys for change towards integrated stormwater management. 

Special sessions

Answer the call for abstracts by checking the relevant box

Starting projects

A new project? Make it known now!

Stormwater management calls for multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral research and approaches. It is all the more relevant as it incorporates a diversity of perspectives and skills.

 

We invite project leaders to share their initiative in a poster format, even if they are in the early stages! Novatech conference is the perfect opportunity to discuss your project with experts and scientists from various disciplines, gather feedback and develop your ideas.

Knowledge transfer and training

Share your teaching approaches and materials!

Are you involved in creating this interaction between science and water management?  Are you developing educational and knowledge exchange materials and approaches? Come and share your experiences with us, let everyone know what you are doing!
  
Researchers, policy-makers and practitioners are all interested in how to best apply research to the development of public policy, regulation and practices in stormwater management.  Achieving this translation needs effective formal training and continuing education, building knowledge and skills in an interdisciplinary approach.
I submit my abstract!

Thierry Maytraud Awards

An opening to non-water specialists
Urban planners, architects, sociologists, landscape architects, developers, project owners, public policy managers, etc.: Novatech 2026 is waiting for your proposals for the Thierry Maytraud Awards!

The Thierry Maytraud Awards recognize outstanding or pioneering initiatives incorporating stormwater management into urban planning, urban policies, or cross-sector mobilization strategies.