The General Manager of the Economic Model of the Valencian Government, Dolores Furió, and the representative of the International Water Association (IWA), Ed Smeets, will inaugurate the event together with the director of the GVA-UV Chair for the Transformation of the Economic Model, Francesc Hernández.
The Botanical Garden of the Universitat de València will host next Friday, 29th April, the International Workshop ‘Challenges of the Circular Economy in the Water Sector’, an event aimed at professionals, researchers and the general public interested in the circular economy of water, which is co-organised by the Chair for the Transformation of the Economic Model of the Valencian Government and the Universitat de València (GVA-UV) and the Water Economics Group of the Universitat de València (GEA-UV).
A group of national and international experts specialised in the management of water resources will meet from 9:30 a.m. in an informative conference in which those interested can register for free on the website www.economiadelagua.com and which will discuss the challenges of the implementation of the circular economy in the water sector by all the agents involved: water management companies, public regulatory bodies and potential users of reclaimed water.
Among the specialists who will attend the symposium will be the coordinator of the International Water Association (IWA) Water Economics Specialist Group, Ed Smeets, who will open the event together with the General Manager of the Economic Model, Regional Financing and Financial Policy of the Valencian Government (GVA), Dolores Furió, and the director of the GVA-UV Chair for the Transformation of the Economic Model and coordinator of GEA-UV, Francesc Hernández, organiser of the conference.
For Hernández, this international conference “is a meeting point for the different agents responsible for water management to propose practical and effective solutions capable of transforming the current linear water economy model into a new circular model more environmentally friendly”. “In a context of water scarcity that, according to the United Nations, affects all continents, it is essential to address the reuse of treated water as a safe and viable alternative to increase supply”, he added.
The first round table of the symposium will deal with the implementation of the circular economy by water management companies and will be formed by Jaime Castillo of Global Omnium, Philippe Rougé of the AGBAR Group, Jan Hammenecker of De Watergroep (Belgium) and Stanislas Pouradier of Veolia Eau (France).
For their part, Francisco Martínez from the Public Entity for Water Sanitation of the Valencian Community (EPSAR), Pedro Simón from Murcia's Regional Entity for Sanitation and Wastewater Treatment (ESAMUR) and Joaquim Barreiros from Portugal's Water and Waste Services Regulation Authority (ERSAR) will take part in the second round table on the role of regulation in promoting the circular economy in water management.
To discuss the uses of reclaimed water in the industrial fabric, the conference will feature a specific session by Carlos Agustí from the Technological Institute for Children's Products and Leisure (AIJU) and Irina Celades from the Institute of Ceramic Technology (ITC-AICE). The event will be closed by Elisa Valía, councillor responsible for the Water Cycle of the València City Council.
- Registration
- More information on the website of the Chair for the Transformation of the Economic Model of the Valencian Governmen
