Water transport is one of the most efficient and sustainable forms of inland transit. The EU-funded CRISTAL project aims to increase the amount of freight transported via inland waterways by a minimum of 20 % over three years and to improve reliability by 80 %. The project will be conducted at three pilot sites in Italy, Poland and France. There, researchers will focus on creating cooperative solutions which include: technological innovation and digitalisation, advancement towards the physical internet, as well as governance and business models. The project will also seek to make transport corridors more resilient, ensuring that capacity can remain at 50 % even during extreme weather events.