Tomas Michel, President’s Editorial
Dear Water Europe Family!
The Water Europe Board met this month for the first time since the General Meeting in June 2020. We are getting as much used to, and efficient with, these digital meetings, as the desire to be able to be together soon grows!
On this occasion, the Board reflected on the strategy and priorities for the next year and elected a Water Europe Executive Committee (WE ExCom), in its new form and composition. This new WE ExCom consists of the Water Europe President, the Executive Director and five Vice-Presidents who are in charge of different portfolios according to the main priorities of Water Europe. The ExCom is a new WE governance tool and is to become an important and central driver to ensure we are getting the job done.
Re-elected WE president by the Board for another (and last) two-year term, it will be a pleasure and privilege to work closely with this new ExCom, and specially with Hans Goossens, new Vice-president elect of Water Europe. A full article on the new ExCom is featured below in the newsletter.
This month, Water Europe launched its new position paper on the revision of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) “For a Green, Circular & Smart Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive”. In this paper, Water Europe welcomes the conclusion of the European Commission to update the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) in line with the Green Deal and the digitalization of Europe. Water Europe makes available a list of recommendations that hopefully will pave the way and contribute to achieving a Water-Smart Society.
Next important event coming up is the 2nd edition of our Water Knowledge Europe. The agenda of this digital event has taken now full shape. This main WE collaboration event will focus on the new Horizon Europe 2021 program. As we are already getting used to, this highly valued event nobody doing Water related research in Europe should miss, will again host interesting speakers from the European Commission who will share their insights on the Horizon Europe water-related Clusters and destinations.
In this edition, we will also host the second workshop of the Water Projects Europe new event series under the title ‘Digital Water for a “Europe fit for the digital age”. The workshop will revolve around the Digital Water challenges and perspectives towards a green and digital transition, featuring speakers from selected projects and organizations who will offer tangible examples on how R&I contributes to building a resilient, green and digital Europe.
Everything we do at Water Europe, would be meaningless if there wasn´t a gateway and clear projection towards the future. We might lead now, but we will need the input and decided action of new generations of water enthusiast who will soon follow up, and shape in praxis, many of the models and ideas now proposed. It is thus a pleasure to feature and interview with Hasmik Barseghyan, President of the European Youth Parliament for Water who talks about the highlights of her presidency and her plans for the next months.
Stay healthy, stay safe.
Tomás Michel
