Webuild: “Building a future with water” exhibition space inaugurated at first Euro-Mediterranean Water Forum in Rome

Webuild brings its experience as a global leader in water infrastructure to the first Euro-Mediterranean Water Forum

On display some of Group’s most significant projects, those by subsidiary Fisia Italimpianti: from Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia to desalination plants serving millions of people worldwide 

ROME, September 29, 2026 – Water security is determined decades in advance, and addressing the water crisis requires infrastructure solutions. This is the focus of discussions among institutions, international organisations, businesses and the scientific community at the first Euro-Mediterranean Water Forum at La Nuvola in Rome, where Webuild today inaugurated its temporary exhibition space, “Building a Future with Water. Turning Scarcity into Opportunity.”

Ranked No. 1 in the water sector for more than a decade in the annual rankings of U.S. trade magazine Engineering News-Record (ENR), the Group has delivered 320 dams and hydropower plants worldwide. Through Fisia Italimpianti, its subsidiary specialising in desalination and water treatment, Webuild also provides water to approximately 20 million people.

The inauguration was attended by Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani and Minister of Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin. Representing Webuild was Michele Longo, Group Chief Bidding & Engineering.

"The world is not running out of water - it is running out of infrastructure," said Longo. "What is missing are the projects needed to store water, make it available when required, distribute it, treat it and, where necessary, produce it from the sea. This is a crucial distinction because it means this challenge has a solution: the technologies and expertise already exist." A challenge that is even more pressing in the Mediterranean region, home to 7 percent of the world’s population but only 3 percent of the planet’s freshwater resources.

"Infrastructure alone is not enough. Water requires a long-term strategy and cannot be managed solely as an emergency," Longo continued. "A major infrastructure project can take 10 years from design to completion and then remain in service for a century, supporting agriculture, energy, industry and, above all, people’s quality of life. Where to store water, which networks to upgrade, where to build desalination facilities, which rivers to restore: these are decisions that must be made today, not when the crisis has already arrived."

Inspired by EVOLUTIO MUSEUM, Webuild’s digital infrastructure museum, the exhibition space illustrates how water, when available, transforms people’s lives. Immersive images, multimedia installations and large-scale photographs guide visitors through the entire water cycle: from dams that store water to desalination plants that produce it from the sea, from distribution networks and treatment systems to hydropower facilities that generate clean energy.

Featured projects include the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Ethiopia, one of the world’s largest hydropower infrastructures; the hydraulic tunnel beneath Lake Mead in the United States, built to enhance water security for the Las Vegas area; and the Riachuelo System in Argentina, developed to support the environmental recovery of one of the country’s most polluted urban river basins.