OF THE 30 PROJECTS APPROVED BY THE EU, FIVE ARE FROM THE CATALAN WATER PARTNERSHIP

• The Catalan Water Cluster has managed to raise 715,000 euros of European funds for 5 innovation and internationalization projects
• Some of the projects used are to promote the circular economy in desalination plants, to make the ports more sustainable and intelligent, to save water for the tourism sector and to internationalise the water sector's SMEs.

The Catalan Water Partnership (CWP), has obtained European funding of 715,000 euros for five projects with a total budget of 12.95 million euros. These are 2019 calls that have been resolved during this 2020, and that positions the CWP as the most successful Catalan cluster in obtaining European funding, with projects approved in calls such as Horizon 2020, LIFE + and COSME GO International. In fact, of the thirty proposals approved to the Catalan clusters, five are projects of the Catalan Water Cluster and represent more than 30% of the total European aid approved to the clusters.

Of these five projects, the SEA4VALUE, coordinated by Eurecat, stands out. Its objective is to recover valuable metals and minerals such as boron, magnesium or lithium from brines resulting from seawater desalination plants. Samples of this waste will be collected from more than 100 seawater desalination plants around the world to analyse and study their composition and recover the metals and minerals that may be useful in sectors such as construction, chemistry, automotive, aeronautics or machinery. The goal is to implement a policy of circular economy and reduce dependence on imports of these metals from other parts of the world.

Another of the approved projects is Galatea, which seeks to implement more sustainable and intelligent systems in ports, shipyards, boats and maritime surveillance. The European aid obtained will be used to finance projects of Catalan SMEs oriented towards this challenge in the form of coupons managed by the Catalan Water Partnership itself.

The third of the projects that have received European funds aims to promote water saving and reuse measures in the tourism sector, is led by the Euroregion and has the support of the Catalan Water Agency, Eurecat and the water clusters of France and the Balearic Islands, in addition to the Catalan one.

Finally, the CWP Cluster has also obtained funding for two internationalization projects about fifty SMEs; one of them the Green Small Smart City for medium-sized cities that bet for sustainability and the ''smart city'' model, and the other the Welliance project, which wants to accompany companies from five European clusters that can sell solutions, products and technologies oriented to the tourism market in missions to Mexico, USA and South Africa.

The Catalan Water Partnership

Founded in 2008, the Catalan Water Cluster is made up of more than 100 companies and research centres related to the sustainable use of water, representing more than 2% of the Catalan GDP. The objectives of the cluster are to promote the competitive improvement of the sector, innovation and internationalization, and in recent years have prioritized the promotion of the circular economy and digitalization. Annually manages about twenty cooperative projects among its partners.

The CWP is one of the 29 clusters accredited by the Catalonia Clusters program promoted by the Generalitat through ACCIÓ, an initiative that promotes the grouping of companies and entities from the same sector to share resources, innovate, generate synergies and project themselves internationally. The CWP is also a cluster recognized by the Ministry of Industry in its program of Innovative Business Partnerships, and also the European platform ECCP that brings together more than 1,000 clusters.