Water Innovation Europe 2020 kicked off today with 450 registered participants. This is the first time the event has gone fully digital to become an innovative water week from today until the 26th of June.
Find below the key messages of today:
In the Post-COVID-19 era, we need to replace the 3Rs Reduce, Reuse, Recycle with these Rs: Resist, Recover, Reinvent.
Across Europe, we need 20% more investment in the water sector to meet the water supply and sanitation demands in Europe. It is critical to make the best use possible of available water resources. It is critical to put water on the radar of other sectors like the energy sector and to bring water and citizens together.
Technical innovation is not enough without social innovation. We need to open the door to the future generations and to new professional profiles to enter in the water sector. As characteristically, Alexandra Serra said ‘ We are engineers (who think we can do everything) but we need new talent and new abilities. The water sector needs marketeers”
Water utilities are severely impacted by the COVID19 crisis with their revenues being affected, too. There is an urgency for utilities to better understand its customers and to engage in a more active role into their day to day lives.
New sources of funding and investments are needed.
Digitalization is a top priority and linking water to digital solutions is the way forward.
We are all responsible for avoiding any future crises and for this we need to experiment, think out of the box, learn and embrace a forward-looking mindset.
Tomorrow is the second day of our innovative water week. Get ready by watching a video we prepared for Session 2: A Water-Smart Industry for a Green Deal.
