Water2Return consortium is glad to announce that on August 23, 2021, at Gornja Radgona (SI), in the frame of the 59th International fair of agriculture and food - AGRA it will hold two capacity building workshops. We are highly looking forward to the participation of two main categories of attendees: slaughterhouses industry representatives, and farmers or final consumers representatives.

The objectives of the two formats are to:

• Generate support for operational applications of W2R technologies at new slaughterhouses’ premises.
• Raise awareness on the quality of W2R agronomic products.
• Raise awareness on how the project is contributing to the sustainability and circularity of the sector.

The event will be delivered in a hybrid formula to allow maximum flexibility in participation. The two workshops will be delivered one following the other (from 10:00 to 12:00 addressed to Farmers and Consumers and from 12:30 to 14:30 addressed to Slaughtering Industry ) to give the chance to the two audiences to network, within the scope of the safety guidelines against the spread of COVID-19. Furthermore, outside, next to Water2Return stand, an algae pool will be available for a demonstration of nutrients recovery.

The Advisory Board and several guest speakers will animate the discussion with tailored speeches of a sectorial approach. Scheduled on the agenda there are the following topics:

• “Policy regulation and environmental benefits of using wastewater treatments units”;
• “Business aspects: the importance of defining CAPEX and OPEX and economic benefits of using wastewater treatments units”
• “The importance of nutrient’s recycling and fertiliser’s quality”
• “Organic fertilisers and biostimulants: market potential & regulatory aspects”

We will have the chance to broadcast the video created by partner ELO that will provide an audio-visual added contribution to raise awareness about the activities of the project. Participants will also receive the layman’s report, developed by 2B, as soon as it will be ready.

This event is an opportunity for us to engage stakeholders and collect their feedbacks, crucial to the market uptake of W2R technologies. To this purpose we developed surveys customised according to the different categories involved. Attendees will be kindly asked to fill them in with inputs, suggestions and perceptions. Thanks to this precious piece of information, we will be better equipped to strategically locate W2R solutions on the market.

This day, overall, is meant to be an opening event to a series of regionally focused similar initiatives, where also other target groups (i.e. wastewater treatment industry, fertiliser industry) relevant to the context of W2R will be invited to join the discussion.

The agenda and registration coming soon. Stay tuned!