The workshop, organized jointly by the University Hospital of Aachen, the German Robert-Koch Institute and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) with the support of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (HERA) will explore how used-water intelligence could support medical countermeasures and preparedness decisions in both civilian and military contexts, starting from the needs of practitioners rather than from the technical features of surveillance systems.

It will gather perspectives from hospital hygiene managers, ICUs, travel medicine experts, and military/CBRN/bio-security actors on what information would be useful, actionable, and credible in their operational settings. A key focus is emerging pathogens, for which current early detection and response systems often leave gaps before clinical signals are fully visible. The workshop will examine these gaps from the users’ viewpoint and identify where used-water intelligence could meaningfully complement existing surveillance, support earlier situational awareness, and inform response thresholds.

The workshop will also provide a basis for EU policy alignment, helping the European Commission, including JRC and HERA, define next steps for actionable tools, guidance, and pilot approaches. Its purpose is not to assess the technical capabilities of wastewater surveillance itself, but to generate a user-driven agenda for how EU-level action can turn used-water intelligence into practical support for preparedness and response.

The workshop is hybrid, but will require registration at the following link: https://web.jrc.ec.europa.eu/remjrc/screen/meeting/18151/registration-form