Spoke 2 at Ecomondo 2024: innovation, research and sustainability

Spoke 2 attendance at the UniTO stand at Ecomondo 2024, from Tuesday 5th November to Friday 8th November, highlighted the strategic role of the Spoke in the green and digital transition.

In the beautiful Rimini setting, the Spoke had the opportunity to present innovative projects, organise a highly relevant conference on Water Reuse in cooperation with UniTO and Butterfly Area, and create new #synergies.

Water Reuse conference: a focus on water reuse

The conference ‘The reuse of treated wastewater: a tool to mitigate water scarcity and climate change’ explored concrete solutions to address one of the most critical global challenges. After the greetings of Full Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Turin Cristina Prandi, Prof. Alessandra Bianco Prevot illustrated UniTO's Water Reuse Platform, highlighting the importance of collaborative strategies to create virtuous supply chains.

Among the topics discussed:

• European policies and opportunities: Roberta Maffettone (European Commission) presented a regulatory framework to incentivise sustainable practices.
• Solutions for sustainability: Errico Stravato (Sogesid SpA) and Daniel Novarino (SMAT) explored the potential of water reuse as a concrete response to climate change.
• Applied research: Innovative projects such as IRRISAFE, which optimises risk management in urban wastewater use, and WalNUT, which supports water recovery in agriculture, showed how research can turn problems into opportunities.
• Focus on industry and agriculture: SMARTWATER demonstrated how to integrate wastewater reuse in the textile industry, while talks such as that of Elena Anselmetti (Regione Piemonte) explored the reuse of wastewater in agriculture for innovative applications.

The conference emphasised water reuse as a pillar of a circular economy, demonstrating that innovation and collaboration between universities, institutions and businesses are the key to tackling water scarcity and ensuring long-term sustainability.

The future

Ecomondo was a unique opportunity to strengthen the link between Spoke and universities, businesses and other institutions, highlighting that only through collaboration can global challenges be addressed and a more sustainable future promoted.

See you at Ecomondo 2025!