Water for Africa session at EBC-VII & ISEB-2018 conference: finding new ways of cooperation

19 July 2018

AfriAlliance was one of the seven Horizon 2020 projects presented in the ‘Water for Africa’ session at the joint conference of the 7th European Bioremediation Conference (EBC-VII) and the 11th International Society for Environmental Biotechnology conference (ISEB 2018), that took place from 25 to 28 June. All seven projects are working to better prepare Africa for water and climate-change related challenges. Apart from AfriAlliance, the other projects are DAFNE, FLOWERED, MADFORWATER, SafeWaterAfrica, VicInAqua and WATERSPOUTT. 

The conferences brought together scientists, engineers and other environmental professionals to present their findings and discuss future trends, directions and new challenges for the restoration of contaminated sites and marine environments as well as resource preservation through recycling and bio-based reclamation. The projects presented their results and achievements so far in the dedicated Water for Africa session on 27 June. The European Commission project officer of all seven projects was present and gave an introductory presentation. Apart from the session, the seven projects also had a joint stall during the whole conference where information and outputs of the projects were distributed.

The conference and the joint session were a great opportunity for the seven projects to meet up and exchange experiences. Ways forward for increased cooperation were defined, and the decision was made to create a ‘Water for Africa Cluster’ that will have regular meetings during events that are attended by the project coordinators. All in all, it was a fruitful event for all projects, and they will certainly continue to work together in the years to come.