SusChem presents at ERRIN and WssTP Brokerage Event

WssTP, The European Water Platform, together with ERRIN, the European Regional Research and Innovation Network, organised the annual brokerage event on water-related topics last 26-27 November in Brussels. The main aim was to present the Horizon 2020 calls on water-related topics for 2015 and, of course, SusChem was there.

The event brought together different speakers from National Contact Points, the Enterprise Network and the European Commission, who shared their experiences with regards to the project calls in 2014, either as participants or as evaluators, respectively.  A special emphasis was given to the cooperation among the different European Technology Platforms as a better way to address the challenges in the water sector. No single sector can solve the problem alone. SusChem, the European Technology Platform of Sustainable Chemistry, was invited to present its views in the event, explaining the chemical sector perspective as a water using sector as well as a solutions provider.

At the event, Antonia Morales, Head of SusChem National Technology Platforms (NTPs) and Innovation Manager at Cefic, presented the barriers and bottlenecks to innovation in water in Europe and addressed the role of European Technology Platforms and the chemical sector in mitigating non-technological barriers and bottlenecks to innovation. Morales stressed the importance of industrial symbiosis and the need to push for the integration of industrial-urban and rural water management in order to achieve a more efficient use of water.

Water priority
Water is a priority area for SusChem and as part of the event, SusChem offered insights into new technologies, presented chemical sector solutions to tackle water quality and water quantity issues, and provided examples of innovations that are leading to the development of less energy demanding technologies.

The collaboration between WssTP and SusChem has been long-standing. Back in May 2012, during the closing session of the Water Innovation EU conference, the two organisations renewed their formal agreement, which set the support of the European Innovation Partnership on Water amongst its priorities.