Global vision, local impact
Aquatech’s New Strategic Board
Aquatech Global Events is an unrivalled convening force with a footprint across three continents. To help the group continue to evolve and serve the market in a rapidly changing world, we united a new Strategic Board.
The aim? Global leadership with a unified vision.
Strengthening Aquatech’s global vision
A powerhouse of thought leaders in the international water market with decades of experience, the new board brings together a wealth of knowledge. It was built to include a mix of stakeholders across Aquatech’s core focus markets and audience, including drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, industrial and digitalisation. The purpose of the board includes:
- To advise on Aquatech’s global strategic direction that also connects to regional event boards (Europe, Mexico, China, SE Asia)
- Ensure the latest industry trends, challenges and opportunities are covered across the event portfolio
- To challenge and hold Aquatech leaders to account on new developments
- Provide strategic support on new event location developments.
Alexis de Kerchove
Senior Director of Client Sustainability, Xylem
Alexis is a leader in sustainable water management with over 20 years of experience. As Senior Director of Client Sustainability at Xylem and a board member of Water Europe and Stockholm Water Foundation, he champions innovative strategies, advancing circular water systems and climate resilience to address global environmental challenges.
In addition to his role at Xylem, Alexis serves as a board member for both Water Europe and the Stockholm Water Foundation (SWF), where he has been instrumental in advocating for progressive water policies. His leadership has propelled the adoption of cutting-edge technologies and sustainable practices within the water sector, contributing to the transformation of utilities and the advancement of climate-neutral solutions.
Dragan Savić
Global Advisor on Digital Sciences, KWR
Professor Savic (FREng, FICE, FCIWEM, FIWA, MASCE, CEng) is a founder and former director of the Centre for Water Systems. He is the UK’s first Professor of Hydroinformatics having held this post at the University of Exeter since 2001. He is a former CEO of KWR Water Research Institute, the Dutch drinking water companies’ collective research organisation. Currently, he serves as the Global Advisor on Digital Sciences at KWR.
Geoff Gage
Senior Partner, Roland Berger
Geoff Gage is a Senior Partner at Roland Berger, leading Roland Berger’s global Water topic team. He has 20+ years of strategic consulting expertise in the water sector, helping OEMs, utilities, investors and governments on strategy and operational transformation.
Karyn Georges
UK Managing Director, Isle Utilities
Karyn Georges is the UK Managing Director for Isle and is an environmental specialist with 25 years’ experience of working in utilities and consultancies in the water sector. She leads a team of 30 scientists, engineers and innovation specialists within Isle to deliver services to accelerate the uptake of innovative solutions within the water sector and beyond. Karyn’s technical expertise lies principally in wastewater treatment and sludge management, but her experience across the water sector means she is adept in seeing the linkages across regulatory drivers, treatment strategies and emerging needs.
Throughout her career she has worked on a range of projects around wastewater treatment and water quality for the regulated and the regulators, giving her particular expertise in the regulation, management and treatment of priority substances, emerging chemicals and phosphorus in the water sector. She also has expertise in resource recovery and biosolids management. Karyn is a Fellow and a vice chair on the Board of Trustees of CIWEM.
Lourens Meijer
Global Water Stewardship Manager, Unilever
Dutch Civil Engineer, water enthusiast, from surfing tropical and cold water waves to ice skating. Experience as consulting engineer, seven years, saw too much plastic flowing into the ocean through rivers. Joined The Ocean Cleanup for fours years. Moved on from cleaning up downstream (plastic) to attempting changing business models upstream as Sustainability Director at Royal Philips. Now combining Water and Sustainability as Water Stewardship Lead at Unilever.
Margot d'Ancona-Roesink
Head of Rabo Water, Rabobank
Margot d'Ancona-Roesink is Head of Rabo Water at Rabobank, where she leads initiatives focused on financing solutions for water-related challenges. With over 14 years of experience at Rabobank and a background in water technology and sustainable finance, she brings a unique blend of financial expertise and a focus on water. Her career
began with a research internship at Wetsus, a water technology institute, where she explored investment opportunities in the sector.
Margot is known for her collaborative and innovation-driven approach, aiming to build resilient communities through strategic partnerships. In 2025, she joined the board of Coöperatie De WaterBank, furthering her commitment to advancing sustainable water solutions in the Netherlands.
Martien Beek
Strategic Policy Coordinator Knowledge, Innovation & Export, Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management
Menno M. Holterman
President, Saur Industrial Water Solutions
Menno M. Holterman is President of Saur Industrial Water Solutions & CEO of Nijhuis Saur Industries providing solid and adaptive solutions for sustainable and resilient water use, energy, and resource recovery for Light and Heavy Industries, Utilities, and Commercial Buildings. NSI today is delivering innovative technologies, engineering and consulting
services, in-house manufacturing and R&D and turnkey project execution (including DBFOM), O&M site servies and mobile water solutions. Supported by our #MissionWater and unique Customer for Life approach, industries, utilities, and cities in over 140 countries are supported to secure them water on demand, comply with 'reduce, remove, reuse and recover, reduce their environmental footprint, lower the life-cycle cost, contribute to the circular economy and a more resilient future by closing the waterloop.
Nerea Uri Carreño
Founder, N118 Consulting
Nerea Uri Carreño is the founder of N118 Consulting, partnering with companies and institutions in the water sector to advance innovation and sustainability. With more than a decade of experience bridging research and practice, including work with one of the world’s most progressive utilities, VCS Denmark, she brings deep technical expertise and a global perspective to every project.
Nerea is an active contributor to the international water community, serving on Specialist Groups and Conference Management Committees. She has spoken at over twenty international events and has chaired two major global conferences.
Dr. Ralf Bufler
CEO, CDM Smith Europe
Dr. Ralf Bufler hold the post of CEO of CDM Smith SE – a part of the global CDM Smith Group. Dr. Bufler has comprehensive experience with the technical and commercial management of consulting and construction companies. He is responsible for strategic and financial planning, human resources development, public relations management, business development, contract management and key account/customer relationship management and knowledge management systems. In addition, Dr. Bufler has long-term project experience with environmental evaluations and integrated water management on national and multinational levels in over 40 countries. He is also an expert for international research projects on urban water management and water reuse.
Wim Drossaert
CEO, Dunea Water
Wim Drossaert is currently CEO of Dunea Water utility in The Netherlands. Dunea NV supplies drinking water to 1.4 million people and every year welcomes over a million visitors to the National Park Hollandse Duinen. Previous he served as President of the Europe-Africa region of the engineering and consultancy company Montgomery Watson Harza (MWH) headquartered in Colorado, United States. He is passioned about the current and future demands of water, waste, infrastructure and energy dealing with the climate change and sustainability needs and engaging both clients, customers and staff for mutual success.
Daan Burghouts
Director of Aquatech Global Events
Daan Burghouts is a seasoned professional in water sector events and strategic stakeholder engagement. After serving five years at Schiphol—where he oversaw commercial terms, mobility contracts, and long-term sustainability frameworks—he returned to RAI Amsterdam in early 2024 as Director of Aquatech Global to lead its premier water‑tech events in Europe, China, and Mexico. With a deep passion for global connectivity, he aims to drive collaboration and innovation within the water industry.
Burghouts views Aquatech as a critical platform for addressing pressing challenges such as climate change, water accessibility, and sustainable water development.
Annelie Koomen
Senior Marketing Manager of Aquatech Global Events
Gerben Hardeman
Exhibition Manager of Aquatech Amsterdam at Aquatech Global Events
Gerben Hardeman is Exhibition Director of Aquatech Amsterdam and Aquatech Mexico. With extensive experience in international event management , he oversees the total exhibition including the development of the concept, exhibition, programming, partnerships, InnovationHUB & various subevents etc.
Gerben is dedicated to connecting industry leaders, innovators, and policy makers to accelerate solutions for the world’s water challenges.
Tom Freyberg
Director Content & Strategic partnerships at Aquatech Global Events
Tom Freyberg believes that everyone has a story to tell. An award-winning environmental journalist, he has had articles and comments published in The Times, The Guardian, CNN, Forbes, the Grocer magazine and a Swedish institute publication, WaterFront.
Spending nearly a decade travelling the globe and reporting on projects from Latin America to the Middle East and Southeast Asia, this opened his eyes to the water challenges and solutions available around the world.
A graduate of the University of Exeter, Tom founded Atlantean Media in 2018 to help connect people to water and climate through creative content. He currently leads strategic partnerships and content development for Aquatech Global Events, including the Innovation Forum, Aquatech News channel and other new developments.