The 2016 Conference of the European Innovation Partnership on Water (EIP Water) will be held on 10 February 2016 in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, announced the EIP Water, a European Initiative led by the Directorate General for the Environment of the European Commission, today.
This third EIP Water Conference builds up on the success of its first two Conferences in 2013 and 2014 in Brussels and Barcelona respectively. In early March this year the EIP Water had launched a competition for host cities and Conference partners of its 2016 Conference: the city of Leeuwarden was selected out of five very competitive proposals received from Madrid (Spain), Lund (Sweden), Berlin (Germany), Valetta (Malta) and the finally winning proposal from the province of Fryslân in the Netherlands.
Leeuwarden scored highest in almost all criteria for selecting the host city and Conference Partner such as strong institutional and private sector involvement, political buy-in as well as synergies with ongoing EU research and innovation projects in the water sector. In December 2014, Leeuwarden had already been officially recognized as ‘innovative city’ in the UN Global Compact Cities Programme; the unique structure of Leeuwarden’s WaterCampus with its close cooperation between water technology companies, knowledge centres and governments, are at the hearth of Leeuwarden’s participation in this UN programme.
Participants of the one-day EIP Water Conference on 10 February 2016 will be able to find out about these unique features of Leeuwarden as well as a series of side events and site visits preceding and following the Conference. As the host city of the 2016 EIP Water Conference, Leeuwarden and its conference partners will benefit from the great visibility of the event within the European water sector and be able to showcase its water and innovation experience.
The EIP Water has taken a central role on the European water innovation landscape, providing a platform for collaboration of all actors in the field of water and innovation. After a successful first EIP Water conference in November 2013 in Brussels, the second EIP Water Conference took place in November 2014 in Barcelona, Europe’s Innovation Capital 2014. Over 400 attendees participated in enlightening discussions on connecting water innovation demand and supply, learned about the activities of 25 EIP Water Action Groups, identified opportunities for collaboration and helped shape European water innovation policy. The EIP Water Conference has proven itself as a brilliant opportunity for strengthening pan-European and global networking for boosting innovation in the water sector, and we are confident that the 2016 Conference in Leeuwarden will once again be an outstanding event for the European water sector and contribute to removing innovation barriers and creating opportunities for more water innovation in Europe and globally. Welcome to Leeuwarden in February 2016!
