The first project review of WATERUN took place two months ago, on the 20th and 21st of February 2024, leaving an inedible mark on the progress of the project coordinated by AIMEN technology centre. All the consortium partners met in the historical city of Santiago the Compostela to present the significant advancements achieved during the project’s initial eighteen months to the representatives of the European Commission.
VIAQUA & CETAQUA hosted all the participants for this pivotal milestone at their facilities in Santiago de Compostela. Each work package and task leader showcased their contributions to the development of the tools that will enable the WATERUN project to establish a comprehensive methodology for urban runoff water management, a topic of paramount interest given its prominence in the new Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning urban wastewater treatment, in the final stages of approval.
Moreover, over the course of the two-day meeting, stimulating technical discussions among researchers parked ideas for upcoming activities that will take place within the framework of the project, highlighting the great teamwork underway among all the project organisations. The overarching objective remains maximizing synergies between diverse developments and the three project case studies, Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Amman in Jordan and Aarhus in Denmark.
Within the framework of the review, the second edition of the local stakeholder board of Santiago de Compostela was also convened at the same venue. Researchers from the Università Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM) presented the beta version of their decision support system based on health and environmental risks to the established in 2023 group, comprising the municipality and the Water Authority of Santiago de Compostela, the state government, the Health Authority of the region and also engineering firms. Facilitated by SEECON, the event included brainstorming sessions with the attendees and a test of the preliminary version of the tool, among other activities. The aim was to gather feedback from the target users to actively tailor the tool’s design to their preferences and needs.
The next gripping in-person meeting of the WATERUN project will take place in June in Aarhus (Denmark), stay tuned for exciting updates!
Authors: Raquel Pérez, AIMEN Technology Centre, pm.waterun@aimen.es - (19/04/2024)