On Tuesday, the 31rst of May 2022 from 2 to 6 pm took place the Innovation Forum, the first international event of euWater4i-SD, eight months after the start of the project. The event was organised in Munich as part of the IFAT, the International Trade Fair for Environmental Technologies. More than 60 participants from all over the world gathered to meet innovative European companies offering water-smart solutions and to learn more about the opportunities of the Latin American and Eastern African water markets.

After a short presentation of the project euWater4i-SD by Clémence Pierre, Prof. Michael Braungart welcomed the participants with a keynote speech on "Becoming native to our planet – new challenges and strategies for water management". Prof. Braungart is professor at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg and also founder of EPEA International Environmental Research in Hamburg. He has pioneered the Cradle to Cradle design concept and worked with many organisations and companies to develop tools for designing eco-effective products and business models. During his speech at the Innovation Forum, he advocated for the replacement of "Reduce, Reuse & Recycle" by "Rethink, Reinvent, Redesign", arguing that we must above all make products that are safe for both people and the environment rather than creating more waste from toxic resources. It thus highlighted euWater4i-SD's alignment with the principles of the circular economy and sustainable development.

The main part of the event was dedicated to the innovative solutions of European companies in water-related fields. 14 companies from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain presented themselves, their products and services as well as their international activities in 5-minute pitches:

- ASIO NEW, spol. s r.o., Czech engineering & contracting company for wastewater and air treatment processes, associated equipment, water management systems, and supporting technologies

- BIO-UV Group, French company designing, manufacturing and marketing ultraviolet (UV-C), Ozone, AOP and Salt electrolysis water treatment systems

- Colubris Cleantech bv, Dutch contracting company active in the fields of wastewater treatment, bio-resources, waste treatment and membrane filtration installations

- GEOtest, a.s., Czech company offering a wide range of services – from consulting to supplier services – in environmental fields, engineering geology, geotechnics, geophysics and hydrogeology

- Hauraton GmbH & Co. KG, German company offering drainage solutions (collecting, treating and infiltration) to keep surface water from buildings and make it re-usable as resource

- INSTALL ENGINEERING SV LTD, Bulgarian company specialized in the production of pre-insulated pipe systems for conveyance of hot mineral water, potable water, steam and other fluids, heating and cooling systems

- Microbia Environnement, French company designing highly-sensitive genetic biosensors for the detection of active microorganisms in aquatic ecosystems

- PYREG GmbH, German NetZero Tech company and pioneer in the field of CO2 removal (CDR) through sustainable solutions in waste disposal management

- QUILTON S.A., Spanish company with more than 35 year experience in designing and manufacturing water treatment equipment

- TERGYS, French company developing and selling autonomous water treatment system using renewable energy for drinking water, desalination and waste water recycling

- WaterShed Monitoring Europe, company offering a combination of scientific consulting and innovative technological solutions for improved water management

- WATURA, French company providing high quality training for the water and sanitation sectors using online tools

- WeCo Toilet, French start-up designing innovative and ecological flushtoilets without any connection to the sewer

- Zahnen Technik GmbH, German company offering optimisation, modernisation and new construction of water and wastewater plants as well as solutions for advanced wastewater treatment and water purification

Several networking sessions were planned, so that the companies could exchange business cards and identify synergies internationally. Finally, the floor was given to Mr. Philip Storch, Vice President Sales Management Water at KSB SE & Co. KGaA, to present KSB‘s activities in Sub-Sahara Africa, as well as to Mr. Lucas Martins from Companhia Aguas de Joinville (CAJ) to present the opportunities of the Brazilian water market.

The event was a great opportunity for companies to discover the innovative solutions of other European companies, to develop partnerships and to learn about the opportunities of Latin American and Eastern African markets. The initiated exchange between euWater4i-SD and the companies will serve as basis for the definition of the Joint International Strategy and future actions of the project. euWater4i-SD will indeed develop several measures to support European SMEs in their internationalisation in Latin America and Eastern Africa, such as market intelligence, trainings, trade missions and financial opportunities. So stay tuned by subscribing to the newsletter and following the project on LinkedIn and Twitter!

Thank you to all the speakers and participants for making this event a success!