WInEco: Water Innovation Ecosystem

Introduction

The WInEco project aims to boost the growth and competitiveness of SMEs active in the water sector and critical infrastructures. The project seeks the most efficient operation model, including regional, national, and international partners, to strengthen the Savilahti Ecosystem’s capacity to support the growth of SMEs.

In the WInEco project, the goal is to form a concept for operating the Smart Water Innovation Centre (SWIC), which consists of joint water innovation labs and demonstration platforms that capitalise on the Savilahti innovation ecosystem. The SWIC concept is based on the Water Safety focus area and its two main domains, Smart Water and Zero Emission Industry. It reflects the regional Smart Specialisation strategy (S3P Smart Water Territories) and ecosystem agreement with the City of Kuopio (AKKE). The process began with creating the Kuopio Water Cluster within the Savilahti Ecosystem. The formation of the Smart Water Innovation Centre will provide a necessary step towards concentrating knowledge, securing an effective model, and building a roadmap for long-term operations to enhance support for SMEs.

The Savonia University of Applied Sciences, the Geological Survey of Finland, the University of Easter Finland and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare implement the project. The project is co-financed by the implementers and the EU regional development fund EAKR (the regional council of Pohjois-Savo).

Project manager: Małgorzata Szlachta

 

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