Public awareness and social acceptance of dams and reservoirs are key aspects that deserve attention to promote their maintenance and sustainable development, and to foster their role in the energy transition process towards an economy with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in Europe (e.g., clean energy and flexible production, storage capacity). Moreover, maintaining the operational safety of these facilities allows the provision of climate services and social functions (e.g. safe supply of drinking water and irrigation, flood risk and water crises mitigation, firefighting, recreational and sporting activities, etc.).

At a European level, common challenges must be addressed to meet on the one hand the growing demand for clean energy and network balancing services and on the other to mitigate the impacts induced by ongoing climate change. To achieve all these objectives, it is more appropriate than ever to create awareness among citizens about the benefits that modern societies can derive from the safe functioning of dams while taking into account the unavoidable negative externalities induced by these infrastructural systems on the ecosystems.

Therefore, planning and developing actions to inform citizens and improve public awareness of the role of dams in the energy transition process and in supporting the local economies must be a primary objective for operators and also for the national committees that are part of the ICOLD world.

These considerations are the basis of the “Dams and territories” initiatives, promoted by ITCOLD (Italian National Committee for Large Dams), which since 2014 has organized annual workshops with the aim of promoting an open and constructive dialogue between dam owners and interested parties to identify a point of balance between various interests that are sometimes in conflict with each other. Referring to the contents of the Manifesto on Dams & Reservoirs, issued by EURCOLD in 2016, ITCOLD has recently recorded a dissemination video that deals with the main strengths and weaknesses of the hydropower sector with the aim to spread information during public events, on social networks and for educational purposes. All these initiatives will be shared within the new EURCOLD Task Force on “Public Awareness Strategies”.

The paper summarizes the results collected in the eight workshops held so far (plus one workshop organized as a webinar in 2021 due to Covid). The project has found a very positive reception in the ICOLD European Club context and could represent a possible point of reference for other countries wishing to undertake similar initiatives.