Preparing for the Future 2020 and beyond: New YouTube Channel
Future Water Association has created an on-line knowledge library, a collection of informative videos from a wide variety of leading experts from the water sector, all conveniently located together on one dedicated YouTube channel.
The collection of some 27 videos, with many more in the pipeline, cover a wide range of topics including; “Non-household competition and the transformation of the water industry”, “Innovation in the water sector”, “Future Water Policy and Regulations”, “Customer Service”, “Resilience”, “Flooding”, “Urban Drainage” and many more. The subject matter is varied and all very relevant to the water market. Speakers include heads of business from the water utilities, academics and water industry experts from across the sector.
Paul Horton, CEO for Future Water Association, explains the thinking behind the video library “Feedback from our members has highlighted an interest in keeping up to date with industry developments and initiatives in a way that is quick and easy to access. Our YouTube channel will become an on-going place of reference for people to visit and re-visit. We aim to keep it current and will be regularly updating it with the latest thoughts and comments from industry influencers”.
To view the current selection of videos, visit the YouTube channel.
For more information, please visit the Future Water Association’s website.
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First AfriAlliance Conference organized in Ekurhuleni (South Africa)/ Call for Contributions Open
First AfriAlliance Conference organized in Ekurhuleni (South Africa)
Call for Contributions Open
The First AfriAlliance Conference will be organized in parallel with the Local Climate Solutions for Africa 2017 Congress (LoCS4Africa 2017), on 22-24 March 2017, at The Birchwood Hotel & OR Tambo Conference Centre, Viewpoint road, Bartlett, Boksburg, Ekurhuleni municipality, in the outskirts of Johannesburg.
The AfriAlliance Conference – that will serve as the inaugural meeting of the AfriAlliance Innovation Alliance on the African continent – takes two and a half days and runs in parallel with the LoCS4Africa Congress. It will present the AfriAlliance Action Groups and their areas of focus, showcase African research, innovation, policy and capacity development initiatives that are looking for European partners and vice versa, and provide the opportunity to obtain inputs and suggestions for further shaping AfriAlliance’s activities.
Become part of the action! AfriAlliance invites your proposals for contributions at the AfriAlliance Conference. In order to have rich discussions and to help attendees find solutions, AfriAlliance welcomes perspectives and ideas from a variety of individuals and organisations from the water & climate change communities. Concretely, we provide the following opportunities to get involved:
- Host a demand-driven workshop. The workshop should take 90 minutes for up to 60 participants. We are looking for interactive and dynamic workshops that provide the opportunity for in-depth exchange of experiences and ideas.
- Showcase African initiatives. Present your innovative African research, technology, capacity development, policy or governance initiative. The preferred duration of your showcase contribution is 20 minutes, including discussion time.
- Pitched poster session. Present highlights from your innovative African research, capacity development, policy or governance initiative during a dedicated plenary session (pitch duration 2 minutes) to attract the audience to your poster for detailed discussion.
Detailed requirements, instructions for submissions and the selection criteria for the conference contributions are available in the full ‘Call for Contributions‘. For personal guidance on your proposal, please do not hesitate to contact afrialliance@unesco-ihe.org.
Please click here for the early bird registration. For more information, please visit the AfriAlliance website.
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EU project WADI kicks-off in Milan: Airborne detection solutions to reduce losses in water transmission systems
WADI’s kick-off meeting took place on 18th-19th October 2016 in Milan. Twelve partners will be now working together on innovative solutions to reduce water losses and decrease energy consumption via optical remote sensing applied on aerial platforms.
In some places of Europe, 50% of water resources are being lost before they reach the tap, a situation which could easily worsen if reliable and innovative solutions are not deployed. Water has become an increasingly scarce natural resource: currently, 60% of European cities overexploit their groundwater resources while 50% of wetlands are endangered.
A multi-disciplinary team of twelve partners from six EU countries (Italy, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal and Poland) are working together to face this urgent challenge, bringing in their know-how, knowledge and long-term expertise.
WADI is an innovation action addressing the H2020 challenge of building water and energy efficient and climate change resilient society. The project aims at reducing losses in water transmission systems, decreasing the related energy consumption and integrating an efficient concept of ecosystem service in water management.
WADI will develop an airborne water leak detection surveillance service combined with optical remote sensing to provide water utilities with adequate information on losses in water infrastructures in rural areas. WADI’s innovative technologies will be applied in two pilot sites in France and Portugal, with the target of recovering up to the 50% of the current water losses, cutting by half the corresponding energy consumption required for water pumping.
WADI embarks on a three-year and a half period and aims to extend this approach also to other applications in the domain of water resources management, such as dikes surveillance, wetland restoration and emergency management in case of disaster.
Join the webinar on DESSIN ESS Evaluation Framework: An innovative methodology for investments in the water sector
The European research project DESSIN is hosting a webinar on ‘DESSIN ESS Evaluation Framework: an innovative methodology for investments in the water sector’ on Thursday 15th of September at 14h00pm CEST. DESSIN project has developed a structured approach to measure changes in ecosystems services (the benefits humans obtain from ecosystems). With it, the project is bringing the concept of ecosystem services from theory to practice and using it to boost innovation in the water sector. The recently created “DESSIN ESS Evaluation Framework” supports decision-making and promotes the uptake of innovative solutions to water quality and water scarcity challenges in urban areas. It will also facilitate the integration of the ecosystem services concept into EU Water Framework Directive implementation. The framework helps its users to evaluate the effects that innovative solutions (whether technical or management measures) have on freshwater ecosystems and their services. It is targeted at decision-makers and technology developers as a practical way to integrate the ecosystem services concept into their day-to-day decision-making process.
The framework and a practical example of its application will be presented by Gerardo Anzaldúa (Ecologic Institute), who led the working group developing the framework, and Nadine Gerner (Emschergenossenschaft), who led the application of the framework on three case study sites. The webinar will include an ample Q&A session with an extended group of members from the framework development team.
Deadline to register: Tuesday 13th September 2016
Read more about the framework
Download the framework documents
Read MoreApply for an EU Innovation deal NOW!
The call for Expressions of Interest focused on Innovation Deals for a Circular Economy will be open until 15 September 2016. Any innovator or group of innovators seeking to introduce a circular economy-related product or service to the market can apply to participate in an Innovation Deal by setting out the regulatory obstacles they are struggling to overcome.
The Commission will rank the proposals based on clearly defined criteria and will select up to five Expressions of Interest to become Innovation Deals. The implementation of the selected deals will start in January 2017. The Commission does not provide any funding for the implementation of these projects, which are based on a practical cooperation model.
For more information, please visit the EIP on Water website.
Read MoreWater Innovation Europe 2016: A resounding success!
Water Innovation Europe 2016: ‘Water-Smart! European Solutions for a smart water society’
Over three days, Water Innovation Europe 2016 attracted more than 200 participants from all around Europe. The 2016 edition of WssTP annual stakeholder conference ‘Water-Smart! European Solutions for a Smart Water Society’ was held with great success from the 21st to 23rd of June in Brussels at the Diamant Conference Centre in Brussels.
Thirty distinguished speakers from all the aspects of the European water sector contributed to the agenda of Water Innovation Europe 2016 conference that revolved around four key areas:
- Water on the interface between the physical and digital world
- Water-energy-food nexus in practice
- The value of Water
- Water for a sustainable society
Water Innovation Europe conference, once again, provided participants with a platform to have stimulating discussions, share data, generate ideas and initiate collaborations. We would like to warmly thank all our speakers and attendees, whose active participation and support made our conference a success! The biggest applause goes finally to them!
Download the conference’s presentations!
New WssTP Water Vision 2030
Carlos Moedas, EU commissioner for Research, Innovation, and Science was present at WIE2016 to deliver his keynote speech the first day of our conference. Tomas Michel, WssTP President seized this opportunity to hand over the first copy of WssTP Water Vision 2030 ‘The Value of Water: Towards a Future proof model for a European water-smart society’ to Commissioner Moedas. Moedas welcomed WssTP’s work, stating:
‘I am very happy to be here today and to have received your Water Vision. I’m in a room full of conscious people and that fills me with hope for our future.’
To read the whole speech of Commissioner Moedas, please click here. More information about the new WssTP Vision and SIRA(Strategic Innovation Research Agenda) will be circulated soon.
Download WssTP Water Vision 2030(Preprint version)!
WssTP Water Innovation SME Awards 2016
The third edition of WssTP Water Innovation SMEs Awards was held the first day of WIE 2016 and announced as winners the 4 following SMEs:
- Akvola Technologies from Germany
- Aqua-Q from Sweden
- Arvia from the UK
- WINGS ICT Solutions from Greece
The innovations of the 4 winners were identified, as the best practices in their field of application with high market potential. The winning SMEs have got 2 years free WssTP membership, advertisement through WssTP website and social media, as well as a trophy. Learn more!
Water Innovation Europe 2016: Pre-conference
On 21st of June, the pre-conference programme of WIE2016 opened with WssTP SIRA Workshop and WssTP Working Groups meetings. Fifteen Working Groups held their sessions from 12h30 to 16h30pm. In parallel, a poster session was featured at the main area of the event, in which participants could find detailed information about the themes of each Working Group, its consistency and its deliverables so far.
The pre-conference programme continued with a session dedicated to successful FP7/Horizon2020 projects, which demonstrated how their results will provide concrete solutions for solving societal challenges. The presenting projects of this year’s edition were: WatERP, ENERWAG, Low Carbon Business Action in Mexico, SafeWater, INAPRO, ZELDA, WIDEST and The 8th City.
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Join us at LIFE ZELDA Open Day on 21st of June!
The LIFE Zelda project is holding its first Open Day back to back to Water Innovation Europe 2016 conference and invites you to join us on 21st of June from 10am to 12h30pm at the Diamant Centre in Brussels.
After 3 years of intensive work, it’s time for ZELDA Project to open its gates and share updates about its activities and progress. This Open day will be an opportunity for stakeholders from all the aspects of the European water sector to get informed about the project’s outcomes and the beneficial impact of its innovative technology on the society and the environment. Participants are welcome to give their input and share their views on the project’s next steps. ZELDA Open Day will be hosted in the context of WssTP annual stakeholder conference, happening from the 21st to 23rd of June in Brussels.
Learn, engage and join us! Look forward to welcoming you there!
To register, please click here. To learn more about ZELDA project, please visit the project’s website.
For more information about the Open Day, please contact Maria Mirachtsi.
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Towards the first call for proposals: CBCMed launches partner search and project ideas tool
With its first call for proposals expected to be launched by the end of the year, the Cross Border Cooperation programme in the Mediterranean Basin (CBCMed) has launched an online tool to help share project ideas and find partners.
The aim of this tool is to build a Mediterranean community in order to facilitate setting up Euro-Mediterranean partnerships and developing quality projects.
The first call for proposals of the ENI CBC Med Programme will address standard projects and be open to the 4 thematic objectives and 11 priorities of the Programme. Allocated budget is €84.6 million.
The ENI CBC Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme 2014-2020 is a multilateral cross-border cooperation programme funded by the European Union under the European Neighbourhood Instrument. It aims at reinforcing cooperation between the EU and partner countries’ regions located along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. (EU Neighbourhood Info).
For more information, please visit CBC MED’s website
Read MorePPI Public Procurer Survey
The European Commission is collecting data from key public procurers with potential interest in procuring new innovative solutions in the coming years. The results will help the EC to prioritise these needs in the upcoming years, in view of allocating funding for calls under the next Horizon 2020 Work Programme (2018 – 2020).
A total budget of circa €130 million is available under different 2016-17 Horizon 2020 Work Programmes (see the calls overview) to support groups of procurers that join forces to implement joint cross-border Pre-Commercial Procurements (PCP) or Public Procurements for Innovative Solutions (PPI).
It takes 5 minutes to fill in this survey to provide EAFIP some general information about your potential interest in innovation procurement in the following years. The information collected in this survey will only be used for the purpose of this initiative. Start the survey.
Read MoreSANSOX Ltd was selected to EU gateway
WssTP member and double-winner of the WssTP Water Innovation SMEs Awards, SansOx Ltd has been selected to participate in the EU Gateway | Business Avenues Environment and Water Technologies Business Mission, scheduled to take place in Singapore and Vietnam from 11-15 July 2016.
SansOx Ltd will be one of 38 companies from across the EU, which have the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of dynamic markets and establish business contacts with local companies via the Exhibition Days and business meetings in Singapore and Vietnam.
Moreover, in this program selected European companies have the opportunity to participate in up to three Business Missions to Korea, South East Asia and China for a combined total of five business missions. Each mission accommodates up to 50 European companies. SansOx will be one of those.
This was most welcome news for us, since it grants us a great chance of getting potential contacts and expanded visibility in this area, which will probably become important for SansOx. We have already gained useful contacts in the area, so we hope this will open more doors for business success there, says Mikael Seppälä, the Managing Director of SansOx Ltd.
For more information about SansOx, please visit its website.
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