TWIST- Transnational Water Innovation Strategy project had the first Meeting in Spain

TWIST- Transnational Water Innovation Strategy is a new project, co-financed by Interreg Sudoe and coordinated by Fundación Centro de las Nuevas Tecnologías del Agua (CENTA), that aims to create an open model of innovation in the water sector promoting the circular economy and compliance with the Water Framework Directive.

In the first meeting, each activity leader presented a review of the work plan for that activity, the organization of the tasks and the next steps. CENTA summarized the main decisions and the following tasks. The meeting also included the first workshop for the Water Living-Labs that comprised a presentation of each of the three Living Labs that will be developed in the project, one in each country: Spain, Portugal and France, and an approach to the methodology for the creation of these water Living-labs.

TWIST project is co-financed by the Interreg V-B Europe-South-West Cooperation Program (Interreg Sudoe) through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

More about the TWIST Project

The TWIST Project was approved in 7 February 2018, in the second call of Interreg Sudoe Program, and the concession agreement was signed the 9 of April 2018, in Santander, Spain, under the Grant Agreement n. º SOE2/P1/E0506. With a total budget of one million and five hundreds and ninety eight thousand Euros is co-financed at 75% by Interreg Sudoe through the European Regional Development Fund. TWIST project started in the 1st of April 2018 and will have a duration of 36 months.

The TWIST project’s main objective is to develop a Transnational Innovation Strategy in the Water sector. To achieve this, TWIST will create an open innovation model through new transnational and transregional partnerships among the agents of the sector capable of mobilizing and creating R & D & I processes for compliance with the Water Framework Directive through a model of circular economy.

TWIST responds to the lack of a collaborative innovation ecosystem that encourages private investment in R & D & i in the water sector, to attract and retain qualified human capital, promote knowledge-based development and the efficient use and recovery of the resources.

TWIST Main Outputs

TWIST will generate physical and virtual spaces for the co-creation, experimentation and evaluation of innovative products in the wastewater treatment and management. These spaces of innovation, called Living Laboratories or Living Labs, will cover various topics of the water sector, complementary to each other, in such a way that the participating regions benefit mutually from the knowledge generated in each one of them. There will be developed three Living Labs, one in each of the participating countries: Spain, France and Portugal, and in which innovation activities will be promoted in relation to wastewater treatment, its subsequent reuse and the recovery of valuable resources (for example: nutrients).

TWIST will also promote other innovative tools focused on the water sector such as Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions, the creation of a Transnational Business School for the training of SMEs and entrepreneurs and the TWIST Market Place, a virtual catalogue of all innovative products developed in the Living Labs. All tools and products of the TWIST project will promote mutual learning and capitalization of the Research and Innovation for Smart Specialization strategies (RIS3) in the participating regions: Andalusia and Murcia, in Spain, Lisbon and Alentejo, in Portugal, and Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie, in France.

TWIST Partners

The TWIST consortium consists of a total of 11 beneficiary partners distributed geographically in the six regions mentioned above: Andalusia and Murcia, in Spain, Lisbon and Alentejo, in Portugal, and Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie, in France. Also has the support of other 7 institutions and regional agencies.

The partners from Spain are :

• Fundación Centro de las Nuevas Tecnologías del Agua, CENTA (Project Coordinator)
• Fundación Universidad Empresa de la Región de Murcia, FUERM
• Agencia Andaluza del Conocimiento, AAC

The partners from Portugal are :

• Instituto Superior de Agronomia, ISA
• Instituto Superior Técnico, IST
• Agência de Desenvolvimento Regional do Alentejo, ADRAL
• Águas do Tejo Atlântico, AdTA
• Associação Parceria Portuguesa para a Água, PPA

The partners from France are :

• Office International de l’Eau, OIEAU
• Institut de la Filtration et des Techniques Séparatives, IFTS
• Université de Limoges, GRESE-UNILIM

About The Interreg Sudoe Cooperation Program

The Interreg VB Europe-South-West Cooperation Program (Interreg Sudoe), that co-finances TWIST, supports regional development in Southwestern Europe, financing transnational projects through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The Programme promotes transnational cooperation to solve common problems in the covered territory, such as low investment in research and development, weak competitiveness of the small and medium-sized enterprises and exposure to climate change and environmental risks.

The European Commission approved the Interreg Sudoe Programme on the 18th of June 2015, with a total budget of 141 million euros.
For more information about Interreg Sudoe please consult: www.interreg-sudoe.eu.

Note: The information reflects only the author’s point of view and the Commission is not responsible for the use that is made of the information contained.

Contacts for press

CENTA
Dr. Carlos Aragón
Investigador Doctor, PhD Researcher at Centro de las Nuevas Tecnologías del Agua (CENTA)
E-mail: caragon@centa.es | Phone: (+34) 954 759 020