The 23rd of October, sunny Almería (Spain) received the REWAISE members, who hadn’t met in person since our last General Assembly in October 2023 in Coventry (UK), and (for some of us) since the latest Review Meeting with the European Commission, which took place in November in Denia (Spain). The consortium gathered in the south of Spain to keep reviewing the project progress altogether.
Our 8th General Assembly started with a very insightful 2nd stakeholder engagement meeting with Almería’s Competency Group. REWAISE members and relevant decision maker actors discussed some topics about problems and potential solutions in the area, especially regarding the European Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, with representatives from academia, government bodies, business environment and final users. Universidad de Almería, Diputación de Almería, Ayuntamiento de Almería, Plataforma Solar de Almería and Comunidad de Regantes Cuatro Vegas were present to contribute with valuable questions and discuss with WE&B and Universidad de Valencia, who moderated the meeting.
After this meeting, it was time to start the consortium General Assembly and to talk about results, deviations and milestones of the project with presentations from work packages 1 to 5. Our coordinator, Frank Rogalla from Aqualia, led the hybrid meeting with present and online attendees. The different work packages explained the work performed throughout the last months and the plan for the months ahead. Of course, the consortium had the time to do some networking and discussing future joint actions for the next period of the REWAISE project.
After the first day, work package leaders from 6 to 9 explained, as well, all the results achieved since our last General Assembly and the present attendees enjoyed a very illuminating workshop. Jana Fried and Adrian Evans, from Coventry University, together with Beatriz Medina and Sara de Llobet, from WE&B, facilitated the workshop, where the different project Living Lab areas joined for a discussion and shared the conclusions with the work afterwards.
On Friday, part of the team had the opportunity to visit the El Bobar WWTP (Wastewater Treatment Plant), Mar de Alborán desalination plant, and El Toyo WWTP in Almería to see the REWAISE pilots and technologies displayed there. The best part of this kind of visits is being able to actually see how these technologies work in the WWTPs daily life and how the project is contributing to a water-smart society and ecosystem.
A big thank you to Aqualia’s Almería team for warmly welcoming the consortium, and to all of the present and online attendees for their disposition and contributions to make the best out of the meeting. See you all soon!
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