Malta Water Week will focus on sharing best practices on addressing water challenges via public-private partnerships, as well as on the latters’ capacity to generate business, collaboration and synergies. The leading Mediterranean water event will unfold around a conference focusing on 3 key themes: Smart Water Infrastructures & Innovative Water Technologies, Water Reuse & Water Education, as well as Innovative Financial Solutions. With a panel of speakers made up of local and European experts in the respective fields, the conference will attract a distinguished audience comprising policy makers, NGOs, public and private stakeholders, local authorities, researchers, PhD students, educators, and engineers, leading to an interesting exchange of perspectives on current and future water challenges and cutting edge solutions.
Ms. Konstantina Toli, GWP-Med Programme Officer and Coordinator of the Alter Aqua Programme (Non Conventional Water Resources Programme in Malta), will deliver one of the keynote speeches at the opening session of the conference, along with Mr. Manuel Sapiano, Chief Technical Officer on Water at the Sustainable Energy and Water Conservation Unit of the Maltese Ministry for Energy and Health, and Mr. Jose Luiz Munos, from the Climate – KIC initiative (Knowledge & Innovation Community). Ms. Mariela Antonakopoulou, Assistant Programme Officer at GWP-Med, will present in detail the challenges, achievements and lessons learned from the Alter Aqua’s experience in Malta, in the “Water Reuse and Water Education” session.
Alter Aqua aims to mobilize the NCWR utilization and leverage their enormous potential, as a sustainable, cost-effective solution for local water security in water stressed countries. It was initiated in Malta by the GWP-Med, in partnership with the Ministry for Gozo, the Eco-Gozo Project and the Coca-Cola System in Malta (The Coca-Cola Company and General Soft Drinks Co. Ltd). Alter Aqua commenced its activities in November 2011 in Gozo, primarily funded by The Coca-Cola Foundation and co-funded by the Ministry for Gozo, and expanded to the Island of Malta in January 2014, in partnership with the Ministry for Energy and Health and renewed funding by The Coca-Cola Foundation.
A number of other activities will unfold in parallel to the conference: investors will be assessing local and international water management business proposals, as well as coaching business proposers in delivering effective business pitches, while companies, universities and researchers from Europe will be fostering the creation of B2B and B2C relationships. Participants will have the opportunity to showcase their innovative ideas and technologies, meet prospective partners and build new business relationships. Moreover, EU funding opportunities will be addressed, trainings will be delivered by leading water clusters from Europe and beyond on “Cluster creation & management“ and “Exchange of best practices on water management” in the framework of the WE@EU Project, while an international showcase of water sector best practices will bring together participants from the UK, Spain, Israel, France, Germany, Malta, Italy, Belgium, Hungary, Portugal, Netherlands, Greece, North Africa and Jordan, amongst others.
For the final agenda of the Malta Water Week and for registrations, please visit www.maltawaterweek.eu. Participation in all activities is free of charge and early registration highly recommended.