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Joint Research Programme of drinking water companies celebrates 40th anniversary

Celebration of forty years of collective research in the drinking water sector

In 2023, the drinking water companies and KWR will celebrate forty years of collaboration on the Joint Research Programme (BTO). During that time, a sound knowledge base has been developed jointly that helps the drinking water companies to fulfil their important task: producing adequate supplies of clean, safe, drinking water. In addition to the development of that knowledge base, the aim of the BTO is to innovate so that the drinking water companies can respond to challenges in society that are affecting the sector to an increasing extent to ensure that adequate supplies of clean drinking water can be maintained in the future.

In 2023, as part of forty years of the Joint Research Programme, we will be organising two knowledge events with the common theme of collective research, and its significance for practice. We will also be handing out the BTO Implementation Award.

GRROW Symposium on 15 March

We will start the anniversary year on 15 March with the GRROW Symposium (Generational and Radical Rethinking of the Water Sector). This symposium will highlight the outcomes of the GRROW project, both for the project participants and for interested water professionals. GRROW developed a method to use dialogue between generations in the water sector – start-ups and experienced water professionals – to map out future scenarios for a sustainable drinking water sector.

BTO Festival Day on 8 June

On 8 June, all the BTO partners are welcome to attend the BTO Festival Day, the anniversary edition of the biannual programme day. On this festive day, we will reflect on the rich knowledge base that forty years of research for and by the drinking water industry have produced. We will highlight the developments over four decades of practical research and their significance for the current challenges facing the drinking water industry. We will consider, for example, how working with clients has evolved, from ‘connection’ to a range of client perspectives. Or our thinking about saving water, then and now. During the day, speakers from drinking water companies and KWR will address substantive BTO themes and current developments such as the focus on circularity and water, and getting young water professionals involved.

Nominations for the BTO Implementation Award

During the BTO Festival Day, we will also hand out the BTO Implementation Award. The Award rewards successful collaboration between employees of drinking water companies or Vewin and KWR researchers in which knowledge transfer has led to application in practice. Projects should be submitted to KWR by Monday, 3 April 2023 at the latest.

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