Connecting France, Germany and The Netherlands
Three major European water utilities collectively serving over 14 million people across Europe have united to help drive innovation in the urban water cycle.
Utilities from the Netherlands, Germany and France have signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to accelerate cooperation on research, development and innovation.
“We face the same challenges and think from our different perspectives will find inspiration and new possibilities.”
The three participating utilities include:
- Waternet, the public water organisation of Amsterdam and surroundings and the only water utility in the Netherlands that covers the entire water cycle
- Berliner Wasserbetriebe, the largest water supply and wastewater transport and treatment company in Germany
- SIAAP, the greater Paris Sanitation Authority, serving nine million people, along with stormwater and industrial water management, contributing to a thriving natural environment in the Seine and Marne rivers.
Finding inspiration in partnerships
As part of the cooperation, the utilities will collaborate on:
- Resource recovery from the urban water cycle: energy, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus are among the main resources for a circular economy and an energetic transition toward carbon neutral cities
- Stormwater management in all its components, from stormwater pollution control to green infrastructures as well as the involvement of different actors in the city for an urban development consistent with sustainable urban water management
- Recreational use of urban waters as well as water awareness raising
- Future of urban water management, facing challenges related to climate change adaptation and ecological transition
- Collaboration in research programmes such as Horizon 2020, Interreg, Life and the EU Green Deal
“We face the same challenges and search for solutions, and we think that from our different perspectives, goals and situation, we will find inspiration and new possibilities,” said Waternet.
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