Post by Ina Vertommen

“𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.” — Antoine de Saint Exupéry This line from Thorsten Wagener’s lecture stayed with me.  With ~20,000 researchers, #EGU26 once again highlighted what this community does particularly well: 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿. A recurring theme stood out: 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 (as highlighted by Hans Korving). Models can work extremely well without necessarily helping us understand complex systems. Alden Keefe Sampson’s keynote captured this shift clearly: 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 from building models to exercising judgement — as 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 and 𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀, connecting science, context, and decision making.  This strongly resonates with our work at KWR Water Research Institute: from Hydroinformatics research on Data Science & AI and Integrated Infrastructure Modelling, to building a shared digital knowledge infrastructure together with drinking water utilities. I’ve written up some reflections from EGU26 in a new blog 👇 📖 https://lnkd.in/d5GzP7TB Curious to hear from others: 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗘𝗚𝗨𝟮𝟲? with Andrea Cominola, Sitzenfrei Robert, Stefano Alvisi, Riccardo Taormina, Joost van Summeren #EGU26 #AI #Hydroinformatics #DigitalWater #Modelling #Uncertainty #Collaboration #KWRHydroinformatics