From the 31/05/2022 and the 02/06/2022, the BLUES consortia organized a Blues Xchange in the framework of the international IFAT TradeFair.  

BNPT cluster was the host of the exchange for 18 visiting organizations: 15 SMEs, 2 clusters and 1 scaling-up organization. 5 countries were represented: Germany, France, Netherland, Finland and Spain. 

The main objectives of this exchange were: 

• To create relationships and opportunities for networking, knowledge-sharing and business improvement between the participants 

• To expand networks to Germany for the visitors and to French, Finnish, Dutch, and Spanish actors for the host 

• To investigate potential opportunities for joint cross-border activities 

• To do matchmaking with other participants 

As the exchange was going on for 3 days (Tuesday 31.05.2022 until Thursday 02.06.2022), the visiting organisations had the possibility to visit the fair on Monday (30.05.2022) and Friday (03.06.2022). 

The agenda for the exchange was the following one: 

Day 1, 31.05.2022  

• 9:00 - 10:00: Kick-off meeting of the exchange to discuss possible cooperation opportunities and learn more about the German water market 

• 10:00-11:30: Guided tour through the German pavilion (talk about possible cooperation and learn more about the water market in Germany, talking about innovations in Germany, and possible cooperation)   

• 11:30-13:00: Guided tour through the French pavilion (talk about possible cooperation and learn more about the water market in France, talking about innovations in France, and possible cooperation)  

• 13:00-14:00: Networking lunch with Katherina Ulrich from BalticNet-PlasmaTec and exhibitors from France and German pavilion  

• 14:00-18:00: Innovation Forum euWater4i-SD (develop partnerships, find synergies, and better promote their solutions in different countries, pitching session on water-smart solutions, presentation of German actors from universities and research institutes and well as from the business sector) 

Day 2, 01.06.2022  

• 9:00 - 11:30: Matchmaking session with all visiting organizations and the host but also with exhibitors from the Dutch, Finnish, French, German, and Spanish/Catalan pavilion  

• 11:30-13:00: Guided tour through the Finnish pavilion (talk about possible cooperation and learn more about the water market in Finland, talking about innovations in Finland, and about possible cooperation)  

• 13:00-14:00: Networking lunch with Katherina Ulrich from BalticNet-PlasmaTec and exhibitors from the Dutch and Spanish pavilion 

• 14:00-16:00: Guided tour through the Dutch pavilion (talk about possible cooperation and learn more about the water market in the Netherlands, talking about innovations in the Netherlands and about possible cooperation)  

• 16:00 - 18:00: Matchmaking session with all visiting organizations and the host but also with exhibitors from the Dutch, Finnish, French, German, and Spanish/Catalan pavilion 

Day 3, 02.06.2022  

• 9:00 - 10:30: Guided tour through the Spanish/Catalan pavilion (talk about possible cooperation and learn more about the water market in Spain/Catalonia, talking about innovations in Spain/Catalonia and about possible cooperation)  

• 10:30-13:00: Matchmaking session with all visiting organizations and the host but also with exhibitors from the Dutch, Finnish, French, German, and Spanish/Catalan pavilion 

• 13:00-14:00: Networking lunch with Katherina Ulrich from BalticNet-PlasmaTec and exhibitors from all the other pavilions  

• 14:00-17:00: Workshop on internationalisation opportunities (EUTechBridge, euWater4i-SD, AEWEN) (talk about possible cooperation, develop partnerships, find synergies, and better promote their solutions in different countries)  

• 17:00 - 18:00: Farewell meeting (talk about concrete joint projects and to talk about possible research and development cooperation and about follow up activities, getting a feedback from the VO about the organization and the exchange in general)