“The concentration of knowledge, talent, and companies in the water sector in Catalonia is exceptional and stands out for its R&D intensity”

Why is the existence of a cluster such as the Catalan Water Partnership so important?

From my point of view, it is important from two complementary perspectives. First of all, to promote competitive improvement for all actors related to sustainable water use and, therefore, to promote R&D, innovation, internationalization, and the digital transformation of the sector as key factors – among others – to develop the sector and boost technological and economic progress for this strategic field in Catalonia. Second, naturally, most of the activities we carry out have a positive social, environmental, and economic impact, both on multiple water users (industry, tourism, or agriculture) and on society itself. The CWP works to connect all the knowledge in the water sector with very real needs across Catalonia. A good example of this has been the issues during periods of drought, and, therefore, helping to apply related solutions for our cities, economic activities, and natural environment.

“The CWP works to connect all the knowledge in the water sector with very real needs across Catalonia”     

What has the cluster’s path been like since its establishment?

The CWP was founded in 2008 as an entity focused on promoting R&D in the water treatment sector, with eight companies that viewed the cluster as a space for cooperation. More than 160 companies, governmental entities, and research centres now form part of the CWP, and it is one of the ten largest clusters in Spain, in any sector, and one of the ten largest in the world. Therefore, over the past 16 years we have significantly expanded our focus in the field of sustainable water use. The concentration of knowledge, talent, and companies in the water sector in Catalonia is exceptional and stands out for its R&D intensity, which positions us as a global hub. Moreover, the challenges we face within the context of such great water stress have boosted a leading sector in the world.

“The challenges we face within the context of such great water stress have boosted a leading sector in the world”

What are your primary activities? And what impact do they have, both in the industrial and social sectors?

Basically, we work in three areas. The first is R&D, with a special focus on its applications and, therefore, closer to innovation, where the circular economy and digitalization play an important role. We have participated in more than 120 projects, around twenty of them with European funding and many of them under our leadership, involving companies and universities with a global impact of more than €50 million and involving 350 entities.

The second area is business development and internationalization, an area in which we have accompanied countless SMEs in more than 30 countries. Finally, we organize activities as a meeting point for the entire sector, but also for other sectors in which water is a key resource. For example, during the two years of the most intense drought, 2023 and 2024, we participated in more than 140 sessions with more than 7,500 attendees. We are proud to say that we have conducted projects with all the most relevant industrial sectors in the country, including the tourism and agriculture sectors.

Who forms part of the cluster? And what has the outcome been like in terms of partnerships and projects over the past year?

As we already mentioned, the cluster includes companies, universities, research centres, and governmental entities. The profile of the different companies is diverse, with businesses in the water cycle, engineering, construction, consulting, laboratories, solutions, and products for the water and chemical sectors, including the interesting aspect of also having water users or companies related to swimming pools, where water treatment is essential. The drought period inevitably generated more activity. And in the past year, we have participated in 28 cooperative R&D and innovation projects, ten of them with European funding, and we have multiplied cooperation with many sectors concerned about the impact of water restrictions.

From the higher education perspective, how important is their participation in the cluster and in partnering with companies?

I believe that the role of universities is very important in two major areas: as a producer of talent, which is an area for working together with the sector to attract new talent, educate them, and make them prepared for business needs, along with updating knowledge for professionals who are already in the workforce.

“The role of universities is key as a producer of talent and in transferring results to the market”

Secondly, it is important for cooperation in R&D projects and for being able to transfer research results to the market, with high value-added services or contracts with companies.

And we cannot forget about the dissemination of research, such as Water Talks, a format in which we participated with you at IQS this year. These gatherings are a great example of collaboration since they make it possible, in just one morning, to update and share vast knowledge on a topic, in which schools such as IQS are experts, and help us bring R&D to the business sector.

“In the university-business relationship, IQS has always been an example”

It is worth noting that in the university-business relationship, IQS has always been an example. The university’s vision, in the medium and long term, is fundamental. On water issues, we have seen that, when facing a serious challenge such as drought, solutions require time and investment. Higher education can establish the horizon for today’s problems, but also for issues in coming years, helping us advance with future challenges. In addition, due to the fact that research is global, it enables us to connect with many other universities and regions that share common challenges.

Is water a right or a resource? How can we plan properly in terms of water resources?

Water is essential for any activity, we need it to live, for cities, for the countryside, and even for leisure. Although it may seem obvious, water is also essential for any economic activity, not to mention its environmental role. Therefore, water consumption cannot be distinguished from the way we live. Often, citizen awareness in our daily lives should be accompanied by better information and greater demands that water be a priority on the political agenda.

We need large, long-term agreements across regions and sectors to guarantee investments so we do not repeat extreme situations, such as those experienced this 2024 with limitations on water use, and we came really close to an unprecedented crisis in Catalonia due to the drought.

We need new infrastructure and a long-term vision to accompany businesses and economic activities towards an environment where water resilience will be key along with governance that allows the water transition to be a focus at all levels of government. We are heading towards an environment in which we are adapting to climate change, where there will be less rainfall more often. Therefore, in the face of structural change, we also need structural measures so that we are not affected as citizens, neither in the competitiveness of our economy nor as part of a natural ecosystem that must also be preserved.

“In the face of structural change such as climate change, we need measures so we are not affected as citizens, nor is the competitiveness of our economy or the preservation of our ecosystem”

Finally, what initiatives are being undertaken by the Cluster during the period of drought in which we are living?

We have worked on three fronts, first of all raising awareness. We have held more than 140 conferences over the past two years, explaining solutions to save, optimize, and reuse water in all sectors and made a catalogue of solutions and services from CWP partners concerning drought available to companies and governmental entities.

Second, we must prioritize R&D projects related to drought. We have carried out many projects where this was the main focus, from various dimensions: digitization is an obvious one, in which we have conducted a project that makes it easier for workers to detect leaks, while another example entails promoting water reuse. Finally, we have worked with both governmental entities and the private sector: we have recently published a study with twenty-four success stories in industrial water management, we have assisted in designing aid to save water in the tourism sector, and we have carried out other projects to help sectors as diverse as wineries, cosmetics, and tourism.