As a prelude to the workshop on innovation in water quality monitoring and assessment to be held from June 14 to 16, 2023 in Italy, several organizations are launching a call for innovations for companies, organizations, researchers specializing in sustainable water management in the world, especially in Africa. The proposals are expected before March 31, 2023.
Water specialists are called to highlight their projects. This is part of a call for innovations launched jointly by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Water Quality Alliance (WWQA). The project, which focuses on water quality monitoring and assessment, is also supported by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), in partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The focus on water quality monitoring and assessment is aimed at preserving this resource, which is currently under a lot of pressure. According to the United Nations (UN), pollutants are the main cause of water quality degradation in the world. These pollutants are found in particular in waste. According to the UN, 2 million tons of wastewater and other effluents are discharged into the world’s waterways every day, a significant portion of which is in Africa.
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As such, projects should emphasize integrated space, geophysical, and terrestrial measurements to monitor and assess water quality and methods for data mining and visualization. Initiatives should also demonstrate how to integrate water quality data from non-traditional data sources, e.g., citizen science, remote sensing, modeling, etc.
Companies, organizations, researchers specializing in sustainable water management and interested in participating in this initiative have until March 31, 2023 to submit their proposals. The selected projects from the call for expressions of interest will be unveiled at the Workshop on Innovation in Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment, which is being held from 14 to 16 June 2023 in a hybrid format at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, Italy.
In addition to promoting innovative approaches and technologies for the collection, management and use of water quality data, the June workshop aims to support the private sector (solution providers) to adapt their solutions to operational realities, to help academia focus research on the most relevant topics for pragmatic solutions, to identify and promote innovative approaches and tools that increase data adoption and use.
For more information on the call for innovations, click here.
Inès Magoum
