Energy in Water (EnW) is a European Strategic Cluster Partnership – Going international (ESCPs-4i) which aims to support and harness the growth and innovation potential of European SMEs operating across the water-energy ‘Nexus’. EnW will develop a common strategy to drive the international competitiveness of SMEs, developing solutions to global challenges and emerging market opportunities.
This project will enable the participating clusters and regions to bring together knowledge and innovation potential by collaborating across sectors and trans-nationally. EnW comprises seven research-driven clusters across the EU specialising in water and energy technology and innovation:
| THE WATER CLUSTER (coordinator) | UK |
| AVAESEN | Spain |
| CD2E | France |
| CLEAN | Denmark |
| EA Ecoentreprises | France |
| WATER ALLIANCE | Netherlands |
| ZINNAE | Spain |
The Nexus
Water is required in the energy sector for developing, refining and using oil, gas and others resources, while energy is needed in the water sector for capturing, conveying, treating and using water which supports the functioning of our society. The strong interrelationship between these two vital resources is often referred to as the water-energy Nexus. Challenges and opportunities at the water-energy Nexus are cross-cutting, involving and impacting multiple sectors and stakeholders.
The water-energy Nexus goes far beyond the supply and demand of one resource for the other, it encompasses a range of shared opportunities and challenges. Energy and Water sectors are complementary and intrinsically linked since failures or innovation arising in one sector can induce a cascade of failures and/or efficiency gains in the other, this is the focus of EnW.
The Objectives
- To foster partnership building and high-level trans-national cooperation and coordination between cross-sectoral research-driven clusters and member SMEs as well as mutual learning between regional actors;
- To identify common trans-national thematic priorities at the water-energy Nexus and conduct a complementarity, compatibility and readiness check of participating entities to produce an integrated view of the Nexus and a Europe-wide hub for innovation;
- To identify market trends, competing clusters and relative positioning of partnership clusters and regions and elements that could improve the coordination and cooperation of the partnership regions and SMEs;
- To develop and implement a solutions-need analysis and common strategies and solutions at the European level to increase visibility of SMEs in the international market and to boost economic competitiveness;
- To launch initiatives to support the creation of international networks with the objective of improving coordination and cooperation in the project domain, identifying new opportunities for RD&I projects and partnerships, as well as services that could support the delivery of these new innovation initiatives;
- To disseminate knowledge and information about the ESCP and the project, promoting its own brand in water-energy Nexus products and services.
The Work Packages
The project is coordinated by Anglia Ruskin University on behalf of The Water Cluster. The project includes the following five work packages:
- WP1 – Project management. WP Leader: Anglia Ruskin University
- WP2 – State of the “Nexus” in Europe. WP Leader: Anglia Ruskin University
- WP3 – SWOT analysis and Market Screening. WP Leader: Water Alliance
- WP4 – Internationalisation strategy, co-creation and dialogue events. WP Leader: CLEAN
- WP5 – Dissemination. WP Leader: ZINNAE
Contact details:
Find out more and get involved at www.energyinwater.eu and add e-mail address of the person in charge on behalf of your cluster.
The ESCP-4i
The European Strategic Cluster Partnerships – Going International (ESCPs-4i) are transnational cluster partnerships that develop and implement a joint internationalisation strategy and support SME internationalisation towards third countries beyond Europe. They aim to develop common actions and an implementation roadmap as part of a long-term cooperation agenda. The ESCP-4i were labelled by the European Commission, DG Growth and the Executive Agency for SMEs of the European Commission following the COSME call COS-CLUSTER-2014-3-03 – Cluster Go International and their activities started as ESCP4i labelled partnerships at the beginning of 2016.
