New EU water innovation network to be based in Denmark

The contract for European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Water, an EU ‘Knowledge and Innovation Community’ (KIC) that has the potential to impact positively upon water issues worldwide, has been awarded to a consortium coordinated by Aarhus University, Denmark.

The contract includes substantial funding for new innovations and solutions.

The Allwaters consortium was selected on 11 November following an expert evaluation and a hearing before the EIT Board, which cited the consortium’s broad representation across Europe as a key reason for its decision.

EIT achieves its goals through collaboration between research, education and innovation with strong involvement from European industry.

The EIT KIC projects are among those EU Commission research and higher education projects with the greatest potential impact upon innovation in the European Union.

Søren Kvorning, CEO of Kamstrup, a leading Danish technology company focused on water and energy utilities worldwide and consortium partner, said: “For the Danish water sector, this is a decisive step towards strengthening our global leadership in water technology.

“It opens the door to more innovation, increased exports and the green transition – and helps turn research into solutions that make a real difference for the climate and water resources worldwide.

“As an industry, we should be proud that together we are creating results that reach far beyond our borders.”

Allwaters is aligned with Water Valley Denmark, an alliance encompassing Danish and international players, stretching from sciences and research institutes to startups and global supply companies, and supported by the Grundfos Foundation and more than 50 institutions in Denmark and beyond.

EIT Water, the headquarters of which will be in Denmark, will focus on all challenges related to water: drinking water, wastewater, lakes, rivers and the surrounding seas.

For the launch of EIT Water in 2026, €5 million (US$5.8 million) has been made available, and the project is expected to be fully operational in 2027. After that, an annual subsidy of between €20 million and €35 million can be expected.

Over its 15-year funding period, EIT Water is expected to raise several hundred million euros in EIT funds and attract companies, investors, stakeholders and international talent within the water sector.

The Danish Parliament has granted DKK21 million (US$3.3 million) as co-financing for the Danish headquarters and the Nordic Co-location Centre. In addition, the Grundfos Foundation has pledged further support for innovation activities, as have a wide range of companies in Denmark.

Eight local offices

EIT Water will establish eight local offices, known as Co-Location Centres – one of which will be based in Aarhus – providing access to its services and the EIT’s Europe-wide network for innovators, students, and entrepreneurs. The other centres will be located in Leeds (UK), Berlin (Germany), Antwerp (Belgium), Vienna (Austria), Sibenik (Croatia), Malaga (Spain) and Varna (Bulgaria).

In addition to Aarhus University, VIA University College, which covers the entire Central Denmark region of Jutland with eight campuses, is also part of the Allwater consortium. In a post on LinkedIn, the college said it was ready to play its part in “unlocking the full potential of all our waters” and "positioning Europe as a global leader in the water and blue economy”.

The Water KIC will focus on three core challenges: scarcity, drought and floods; marine and freshwater ecosystem degradation; and developing a circular and sustainable blue economy.

In response to the announcement of the winning consortium, Michelle Williams, vice-dean at Aarhus University and head of the Allwaters project office, said: “This amazing achievement shows what is possible when vision meets collaboration. We are thrilled with the outcome and proud of how Allwaters partners and stakeholders have united behind a powerful mission for Europe.

“From the Aarhus University Project Office, we deeply value the engagement, expertise and trust that define the Allwaters consortium. Now, we look forward to turning ambition into action together with EIT, working together to create lasting impact on the water, marine and maritime sectors across Europe.”

Global leadership

According to Eskild Holm Nielsen, dean of the Faculty of Technical Sciences at Aarhus University, the development marked the first time Denmark had secured such a central position in European research and innovation and he described it as a “major recognition” of the country’s strong water sector.

“We have a proud tradition of collaboration between universities, public organisations and industry, and now we can help extend that tradition across Europe. For us at Aarhus University, it has been exciting to bring together so many partners, and we hope to involve even more in the new community in the future for the benefit of tomorrow’s water,” Holm Nielsen said.

The Danish water sector and related industries have backed Allwaters from the beginning.

Kim Nøhr Skibsted, executive director of Grundfos, told University World News the outcome was the “culmination of a huge team effort from all the talented and dedicated partners in the Allwaters consortium”.

He said EIT Water will be a “tremendous boost in bringing existing knowledge into play and securing new insights in areas where we are lagging behind. That’s crucial if we as a society want to achieve our ambitions”.

Nøhr Skibsted said Denmark had historically been a world leader in innovation, industry and utilities through close collaboration between universities, private companies and the public sector. “The strong commitment to creating mutual and sustainable solutions is vital while facing the water and climate challenges as the world is doing right now.

“Furthermore, the maritime sector in Denmark is also well organised and can provide useful knowledge and action that will raise the bar in so many ways. The Grundfos Foundation is proud and honoured to have supported this initiative from the start.”

Jesper Langergaard, director of Universities Denmark, congratulated Aarhus University on being selected for what he called a “very important undertaking”.

“Water is a vital resource, and it is an area where we in Denmark have both world-class research and industrial leadership. When we bring our competencies together, we can make significant contributions to solving global societal challenges concerning drinking water, wastewater, lakes, rivers, and the sea etcetera.

“It shows an innovative mindset and ambition and it shows the vital role universities play in bringing the relevant actors together with the aim of solving societal challenges,” Langergaard said.

Frede Blaabjerg, distinguished professor of energy technology at Aalborg University and chair of the Danish Council for Research and Innovation Policy, congratulated both Denmark and “especially” Aarhus University.

“Water is strategically very important for the human being – as a life-needed source and also as a challenge, for example, waste and climate risks. The KIC is really a coordinated action where much of the outcome can be transformed to applications in the society,” he said.

Impact of KIC projects

EIT Water will join the nine existing KICs addressing themes such as digitalisation, energy, food, and health.

The first EIT-KIC project, the EIT Climate KIC, founded in 2009, was Europe’s foremost climate innovation initiative.

Headquartered in Amsterdam, Climate-KIC orchestrates innovation with a community of more than 400 organisations made up of research institutes and universities, SMEs and start-ups, municipal, regional and national governments, corporates, nongovernmental organisations and civil society organisations. It conducts activities in 39 countries, including in sub-Saharan Africa, South America, Southeast Asia.

Analysing the experiences of the first Climate KIC established in the Netherlands in 2009, a Deloitte review said the project had helped 4,500 climate-positive start-ups accelerate their growth, trained over 50,000 leaders on climate innovation and entrepreneurship and leveraged €4.5bn for climate innovation.

Innovation projects, it said, had resulted in an estimated 13MT CO2eq of avoided emissions annually over 10 years. The EIT Water was added as a KIC because innovation growth in the blue economy was lagging.

EIT director Martin Kern said the new KIC would “help scale up technological innovations”. In the call for proposals, he said it was important that consortium bidders “align well with the mission of EIT Water, that they are willing to invest themselves, and that there is regional collaboration”.

European competitiveness

Pietro Francesco de Lotto, chair of the Advisory Committee on Industrial Change and coordinator of the EU Blue Deal initiative at the European Economic and Social Committee, drew a link between water efficiency and European competitiveness during an information session concerning the call earlier this year in Brussels.

“Europe can play a leading role in clean technologies ... EIT Water must strengthen the blue economy and Europe’s competitiveness,” he said.

Rashid Ussif Sumaila, professor of ocean and fisheries economics at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and the director of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit at the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, told University World News he was happy to see, in EIT Water, such a large investment in the science and innovation of an important sector such as water by both public and private actors and investors.

He said a key strength of the project included the powerful academic-industry base provided by Aarhus University, Water Valley Denmark, and the Grundfos Foundation.

He said it also supported the EU’s Green Deal, EU Missions, climate adaptation, circular economy and water resilience objectives. He added that the multi-decade financial support given to the project “enables high-risk innovation and the potential for high rewards”.

Among possible weaknesses, he identified the fact that a Nordic-centric leadership may “limit representation from Southern, Eastern and Mediterranean regions” and expressed some potential concern around “heavy administrative burdens and slow decision-making”, which, he said, could negatively impact the potential of the project to deliver “huge outcomes in a timely fashion”.

However, he said EIT Water was “well positioned to become Europe’s leading platform for water innovation, driving technological breakthroughs, system transformation, and entrepreneurial capacity across the EU.

“Its success will hinge on inclusive governance, strong early performance, and an ability to coordinate diverse actors across Europe’s fragmented water landscape.”

Sumaila added that the project would have to “work hard to avoid overlap with existing EU water initiatives such as Mission Oceans & Waters, LIFE, Horizon Europe, and national programmes. The project would need to avoid duplication of efforts by ensuring that roles are clearly defined right from the word go”.