The WaterWise Excellence Hub is a vibrant, action-oriented initiative that aspires to serve as a catalyst for R&I (creation and uptake), business development, and knowledge dissemination for water in the circular economy (CE). It leverages CE principles to rethink and transform water management in Romania, Greece and selected Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership countries (MD, SB, AL, NM and UA). WaterWise perceives the water sector not only as sustainable, but also regenerative, emphasizing closed-loop systems, optimal resource use, and reduced waste, in line with EU policies and RIS3 strategies. It is based on a quadruple helix model of innovation, and works at the nexus of technology acceleration, entrepreneurial support and R&I, boosting water innovation in the Region and beyond. To this effect the Hub’s partners co-create an R&I Strategy, an Action and Investment Plan, a FundFinder Portal, a Strategic & Tactical Decisions Toolbox as well as an Operational Decisions Toolbox, setup Water Tech Challenges, develop and launch an Innovation Accelerator, produce LLL Training Courses, create and share a Knowledge Hub and develop and deploy a Mentoring Scheme through a bottom up approach in collaboration with a wide range of key actors and stakeholders across the region. The Hub is empowered by its strong partnership that brings together actors from government, R&I-driven universities and research centres, funding bodies, business, water utilities, SME associations and civil society to create services tailored for post-project sustainability and real-world impact.