Innovation and Knowledge

ERINN Joins European Association of Innovation Consultants (EAIC)

ERINN is pleased to announce our new membership of EAIC: the leading network for research and innovation consultants across Europe. The EAIC aims to facilitate the exchange of experience and good practices among its members, as well as to promote professional skills and expertise in European R&I Projects. Since our founding in 2017, ERINN has grown rapidly from just one person to a team of almost 30 staff. In those five years, we have already partnered in 18 European projects and supported more than 50 project proposals. Navigating the EU funding landscape, building multidisciplinary partnerships, delivering complex projects and, crucially, ensuring that results have tangible, lasting impact are difficult challenges. We support our partners with each of these stages yet, we know from experience, that often research teams are not aware of the help available or how it can be accessed. By joining the EAIC community, we hope to add our voice and expertise to this growing network that champions the added value provided by companies like us who specialise in research and innovation support. We look forward to new operations to collaborate and exchange best practice with our peers. For the latest updates from EAIC, follow the network on LinkedIn and Twitter @eu_innovconsult.

Water JPI Knowledge Hub on CEC outputs released

The protection of our environment and natural resources is very important in today’s society. A major focus is on climate change, mitigation and adaptation – a core issue of which is the availability, quantity and quality of our water resources. However, millions of people who receive high quality safe drinking water every day are at risk from, amongst other factors, animal and human wastes, pesticides, emerging contaminants, risks from “established” contaminants, aged water supply infrastructures, and sub-optimal water management. Ever more chemical constituents are used in modern society – population growth has fuelled the use of sanitary, household and personal care products, advanced medicines and therapies, and intensified food production. Over 4000 new substances are being added daily to the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) alone. In particular, contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), contaminants which are not commonly monitored but are suspected to have adverse ecological and human health effects, can end up in wastewater by application and use. Existing water treatment plants do not remove all CECs from wastewater, and can change the chemical structures of others, which are then released into the environment. A substantial step forward is required to revise current legislation, which should introduce proactive measures to account for these escalating contaminants and ensure a sustainable water cycle with water suitable for reuse, for the benefit of the environment and for water users. Leading national experts have been brought together by the Water Joint Programming Initiative (Water JPI) to collaborate in a Knowledge Hub focused on Contaminants of Emerging Concern (KHCEC). The KHCEC seeks to “address knowledge gaps as well as to consolidate knowledge regarding the behaviour of emerging contaminants in the environment…..and their long-term impact on the health and lives of ecosystems and citizens”. To that end, the hub has just published a “Stakeholder Brief” providing an overview of current knowledge of CECs, detection methods and treatment options, with key messages to address these issues going forward. It is hoped that the brief will stimulate debate among water stakeholders and encourage multi-stakeholder collaboration to bring about change. In addition to the brief, the hub will release infographics via social media channels in the coming weeks to invite conversations with citizens on the issue. “It is crucial to act as a knowledge broker in order to tackle this challenge, informing policymakers and other stakeholders of the latest science-based findings, including new knowledge and innovations” said Dominique Darmendrail, Water JPI Coordinator from the French Research Funding Agency, ANR. As the KHCEC work progresses into its next phase, this newly developed resource and the latest updates from the group are available on the Water JPI website (www.waterjpi.eu/implementation/thematic-activities/water-jpi-knowledge-hub-1/water-jpi-knowledge-hub-on-contaminants-of-emerging-concern). For more information, please visit the Water JPI website (www.waterjpi.eu), the Water JPI twitter page (@WaterJPI). ERINN Innovation was involved in the work of the KHCEC as facilitator to support the Seed Group and the Scientific Coordinator, and ensure the KHCEC’s objectives were reached.