D6.11 Final Policy Brief to address diffuse pollution from runoff in urban areas

Urban runoff is an increasingly critical challenge for European cities, as climate change, urbanisation, and emerging pollutants intensify pressures on water systems, ecosystems, and public health. The D4RUNOFF project is a Horizon Europe initiative that aims to transform the way European regions monitor, model and manage diffuse pollution and hydrological risks. By integrating advanced sensing systems, high-resolution datasets, digital twins, and machine-learning–based decision-support tools, D4RUNOFF develops a new generation of data-driven solutions for runoff prediction, water-quality monitoring and nature-based mitigation strategies. These innovations were demonstrated across several pilot sites located in Spain, Denmark, Finland and Slovenia, covering agricultural, peri-urban and river-basin environments with diverse climate and land-use conditions. The main learnings of the testing in real conditions were put together in this deliverable in the form of recommendations for policy makers.