THE CWP CELEBRATES THE VII STRATEGIC IMMERSION IN A CONTEXT OF WATER EMERGENCY

• The VII Strategic Immersion of the CWP took place last 1st of December at the Hotel Gallery in Barcelona and was attended by around a hundred people.
• The main speakers at the event were Professor Anton Costas, President of the Economic and Social Council of Spain, and Dr. Jaime Gómez-Hernández, Professor of the UPV.

The 7th CWP Strategic Immersion took place at the Hotel Gallery in Barcelona on 1 December. The event was mainly marked by the context of the water emergency that Catalonia is experiencing and was one of the main themes throughout the session.

The event was opened by the president of CWP, Jordi Cros, who highlighted the growth in members, reaching 120 members, 30 projects and equipment, as well as the consolidation as a cluster of international reference. Afterwards, Oriol Alcoba, General Director of Industry of the Government of Catalonia, also gave a speech in which he emphasised the opportunities for action in the sector in the current situation of water scarcity and how the CWP is one of the clusters that are leading innovation and internationalisation in Catalonia.

Xavier Amores, the entity’s director, then gave a brief presentation of the achievements of the Catalan Water Partnership in 2022, explaining the importance of measuring the impact of the clusters and how the CWP has helped the water sector to be more competitive in 2022: 18 projects underway, 3.5M in subsidised expenditure, 2.4M in aid and 54 members who have participated. There has been cooperation with 36 European clusters in R&D and internationalisation to connect water-intensive sectors and 25 members have participated as speakers at various conferences aimed at water-intensive industrial sectors. In addition, cascade funding from the EU has enabled 11 SMEs to participate in European projects with €211,520 in lost funds and to undertake internationalisation in various countries this year.

After a brief overview of the water cluster, it was time for the speaker Anton Costas. He is the president of the Economic and Social Council of Spain and has been professor of economic policy at the University of Barcelona. In this case, he spoke about: “A new era: approaching the governance of economic regulation in a scenario of radical uncertainty”.

Before and after the lecture, a space was set aside for coffee and networking, one of the most eagerly awaited moments of the event. In this way, the associates were able to exchange ideas about Dr. Anton Costas’ lecture and current affairs or even to build new synergies.

Once the break was over, the round table on “Water and climate change in the context of the water emergency” began. It was moderated by Sònia Guri, R&D manager of Carburos Metálicos and was attended by Carles Ibañez (Eurecat), Jordi Bruno (Amphos 21), Marta Lacruz (Anthesis Lavola), Montserrat Termes (UB) and Xavier Bernat (Aigües de Barcelona). The conclusion reached was that we are facing a challenge that, depending on how it is tackled, will mark a turning point in the economic, social and, above all, environmental context.

Before the end of the event, the closing speech was given under the title “Groundwater and its role in water security”. This was given by Jaime Gómez-Hernández, professor of Hydraulic Engineering at the School of Civil Engineering of the Polytechnic University of Valencia. In addition, he is head of the Hydrogeology Group at the Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering. Through the interesting presentation, it was possible to understand the importance of groundwater and, as the same speaker concluded: “it is the water that allows rivers to flow when it doesn’t rain in the summer”.

Jordi Aguilera, vice-president of CWP, was in charge of closing the VII CWP Strategic Immersion, highlighting that in 2023 we will be 15 years old, an important milestone for the cluster and all the companies and entities that participate in it.