The Baltic Sea region as a forerunner in innovative water solutions
The long-term regional cooperation of the Baltic Sea countries is one of the best examples of coordinated environmental work in the world. As we all share this very delicate brackish inland sea, actions to prevent and remediate negative impacts are on the forefront of our cooperation. HELCOM – a treaty and a governing organisation dedicated to this cause – has now been working for almost 50 years!
All of this has enabled our region to also become a forefront of scientific innovation, especially in the water and wastewater sector. While often new and interesting ideas get stuck in the laboratory phase without finding possibilities for real-life implementation, close cooperation with different industries and municipal businesses has led to many interesting pilot and full-scale technological implementations in the region. With the EUs new emphasis of circular economy and material recovery from waste streams, new technologies are already being worked on as we speak. New and interesting technologies can also come from new chemical and biological applications, remediation efforts or as ways to reduce the concentrations of hazardous substances.
This research is often facilitated with good funding instruments, where innovative ideas get acknowledged and highlighted, enabling them to get more attention and funding in the long run. BONUS RETURN project, funded by BONUS Programme, is an excellent example of this, as economically and environmentally efficient pilots for better nutrient and carbon management were identified and supported financially. These pilots also gained a wider platform and are now widely used as the examples of technological innovation in the water sector.
With all of this emphasis on new and upcoming technologies, we are glad to announce a new part of the Smart Water Hub – the Innovation section! As the idea of the platform itself is to highlight great practices, solutions and tools, giving more attention to new and upcoming technologies helps both us and the providers – in reaching our goals and new audiences.
The case submission for the Innovation section is now open as well. This type of content is for new technologies with high implementability in the Baltic Sea region, which do not yet have full-scale final results or complete financial analysis. We hope you can let us know about any new potential cases deserving to be highlighted on our platform!
The start the new section up right, we have reached out and added new Innovation cases for the three finalists of the BONUS RETURN project: RAVITA, BioPhree and TerraNova Ultra. We hope you find them inspiring!