European Commission invests €8.7 million in 189 innovative businesses
The European Commission has today selected 189 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from 26 countries for a total of €8.7 million of funding under the latest round of the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument. The funding – €50,000 per recipient – will finance feasibility studies for new products.
The SMEs can also ask for up to three days of free business coaching. Among the projects receiving funding are a technology to turn residue from the wheat milling process into biodegradable packaging, a robotic inspection and cleaning system for solar panels, a low energy technology to capture CO2 from gasses, and a cost-reducing train maintenance system for early detection of wheel defects.
Since the launch of the programme on 1 January 2014, 1473 SMEs have been selected under Phase 1 of the SME Instrument. The SME instrument is implemented through one continuously open call with cut-offs four times a year. The funding is €50,000 under Phase 1 and up to €2,5 million under Phase 2. The next cut-off for Phase 1 is 3 May 2016.
For more information, please visit the EC’s webpage.
Read MoreWssTP SME AWARDS 2016
WssTP invites all European SMEs to submit their innovative breakthrough solutions or technologies for the 3rd edition of WssTP Water Innovation SME Awards. WssTP Water Innovation SME Awards will take place during WssTP annual stakeholder conference, Water Innovation Europe 2016, happening from 21 to 23 June 2016 in Brussels.
In the context of WIE2016, the top ten applicants will have the chance to present their innovations during the ‘Innovation and Technology Pitches’ session, just before the keynote speech of EU Commissioner for Research and Innovation Carlos Moedas on the first day of the conference. A speed dating session will follow, in which all applicants will have a table to discuss their innovations with other participants.
The four winning applications will be the ones characterized as best practices with high market potential in their field of application.
[message_box title=”” color=”blue”] WssTP Water Innovation SME Awards are helping companies to sell and promote their innovation. Handed out by a respected and widely appreciated association gives more value to the innovation. These awards are proof to all stakeholders on the market that the innovation is a game changer that should be respected and taken seriously.
SansOx Oy, Finland
Winner of WssTP Water Innovation SME Awards 2014 & 2015
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Find out more details about the Awards
APPLY NOW! Entries will stay open until 1st of May 2016!
Read MoreDeloitte Water Tight 2.0: The top trends in the global water sector
The second edition of Water Tight is now available. The central theme of this edition is innovation. It is about how utilities and industries explore new ways to tackle supply-side, demand-side, regulatory or business-related challenges. The report focuses on the water sector from a global perspective, with country specific examples that provide a view of how some trends could work in a local setting.
Water scarcity, changing demographics and operational efficiency are top issues for the global water sector, which are amplified by the unpredictable impact of climate change. Demand for water continues to rise, declining water quality has grown to be a global concern, water loss through leakage continues to prove a major issue both in the developed and developing world, and the long-term impact of climate change is unpredictable which makes planning difficult.
Ultimately, the world needs flexible and resilient water systems that anticipate and monitor changes in circumstances. Sustainable management techniques need to be implemented to protect water cycles and reduce the impact of human activity on them. These need to go hand-in-hand with optimizing water and wastewater provision and consumption, and will require closer collaboration between utilities, users and regulators to incentivize water conservation, reuse and recycling.
Trends this year include:
- The value of water
- The value of data
- The power of the customer
- The need for operational efficiency
- The potential of technology
- The future of regulation
- New financing methods
You can find more information here.
To download the full report, click here.
Read MoreWater Innovation Europe 2016. Registrations are now open!
- How can the value of water boost sustainable and economic growth?
- How can the water sector benefit from digital opportunies?
- How can we make the water-energy-food nexus work in practice?
- Can water be the enabler of tackling the global social and environmental challenges?
This and much more will be addressed during the 2016 edition of Water Innovation Europe dedicated to the hot topic ‘Water Smart: European Solutions for a smart water society’.
Water Innovation Europe 2016 aims to bring to light clever solutions on how to face the water-related global challenges and lay the foundations for ‘Water-Smart Societies’. The third edition of the prestigious WssTP SME Innovation Awards will also take place during the first day of WIE2016, on 22 June 2016.
Our 3-day conference will offer an open platform for information gathering and networking among the most influential stakeholders from within and beyond the water sector.
Are you ready to leave your mark on our conference’s discussions?
Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us.
Read MoreMEP Water Group Public session on ‘Water in the Urban Agenda’
On Wednesday 6th of April, the MEP Water Group, in cooperation with the Dutch EU Presidency held a public session dedicated to the theme ‘Water in the Urban Agenda’, with a link to ‘Τhe Leeuwarden Declaration’ at the European Parliament in Brussels.
The session was chaired by Esther de Lange, in her capacity as the President of the MEP Water Group and featured Aziza Akhmouch, Head of the OECD Water Governance Programme, Mario Cerutti, Senior Water Expert, Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure & Environment, Richard Elelman, Coordinator of the BlueSCities Project and Pavel Misiga, Head of the Water Unit, European Commission as speakers of the session.
Esther de Lange introduced the topic, pointing out that although 70 % of the Europeans live in urban areas, the visibility of water has been massively declined in cities and thus water-related challenges are growing.
Among other considerations put forward by the speakers were that water is key to sustainable cities and that there should be simultaneous action that links infrastructures, institutions, and information together.
One of the tasks included in the urban agenda is to influence the EU research agenda by linking urban cities and water. The DG Environment of the European Commission has expressed its commitment to support this initiative and connect water directors and regional levels of implementation. In addition to that, it was highlighted that action needs to be taken so that the urban water-related issues are included in the upcoming Horizon 2020 Work Programme.
Speakers identified as an important challenge the difficulty in linking the EU and local level implementation of policies as well as integrated water management in urban areas. Several interlinked components are quite often disconnected from each other, such as water management, landscape planning, energy, waste, etc.
Read MoreEsther de Lange stated that ‘Although there are a lot of actions launched, it is difficult to link the EU level with the local level and this is a challenge we need to address together!’
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SAVING-E Project launches its official website!
SAVING –E project welcomes you on its brand new website, which got officially launched on the 1st of April 2016.
The website is designed to give a clear overview of the project objectives and disseminate all the project’s outputs and activities during the project. It is developed to provide an open platform for communication between SAVING-E project, the scientific community, water professionals and the general public.
The website contains all the essential information about the project itself and will be updated with the project’s progress, news and relevant events. Twitter and LinkedIn have been integrated into the project’s website, allowing users to share information across all major social networking sites. In particular, the website is composed of 7 sections:
- Home: a general overview of the project
- Project: detailed information about the project (environmental problem targeted, goals, workplan, activities & results)
- Partners: composition of the project’s consortium
- Media Corner: the latest news, photo gallery and useful links
- Events Calendar: all the relevant upcoming events
- About LIFE: information about LIFE programme
- Contact: a contact form for all those interested in the project
Funded under the LIFE Programme, SAVING-E is a three and a half-year pilot project dealing with the transformation of the current wastewater treatment plants from being energy-consumers to be energy-sufficient or even energy-producer facilities. The consortium of the project is formed by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Depuración de Aguas del Mediterráneo (DAM), Agència Catalana de l’Aigua (ACA) and The European Technology for Water (WssTP).
The website is available in English and a Spanish and Catalan version will be soon online.
Visit the SAVING-E website at www.saving-e.eu
For further information, please contact Julian Carrera.
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