Water and Sustainable Environmental Planning
First Results
Providers of Water Technologies in International Comparison:
Germany is good to excellent for all fields of technology ...
more
Project Website:
Project
Water 2050 - Sustainable Innovations
Contact Person:
Dr. Thomas Kluge
Dr. Engelbert Schramm
Project team:
Dr. Thomas Kluge
Dr. Stefan Liehr
Dr. Alexandra Lux
Dr. Engelbert Schramm
Cooperation:
- UmweltResearchszentrum Leipzig-Halle (UfZ) in der Helmholtz-Gesellschaft
-
Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und InnovationsResearch (ISI)
Duration:
09/2006 - 08/2009
Water 2050 - Sustainable Innovations
A good part of the world population is faced with the problems of obtaining water in sufficient quantity and of good quality or of sufficient sanitation facilities. Around the globe, and especially in threshold and developing countries water is a burning issue for the future. German utility companies, sanitary equipment manufacturers, technology producers and consulting companies – despite their reputation for high quality work – have not tapped into this new market potential.
Sustainable System Solutions
The joint research project, "Water 2050", aims to identify lines of innovation which will permit a clearly improved level of sustainability for water supply and sanitary systems by the year 2050. There will be a concentration on long-term technical and social-technical innovations in order to promote a sustainable water management worldwide. Instead of sector orientated and thus isolated optimizations of drinking water supply, of waste and waste water management and of energy supply the development of intelligent system solutions is focussed on. The system solutions are integrated and incorporate users' requirements, social situations and economic and environmental long-term conditions. The strengthening of the position of companies from the German water industry within the international market is a further project goal. Therefore the political and institutional conditions for innovations and exports have to be improved.
From the Vision Back to the Present
In addition to a technology foresight, recent export and demand potentials will be analyzed as well as the experiences with the networks hitherto established for promoting exports in the water sector. For reaching the aspired sustainable state in the year 2050, it will be necessary to identify suitable system solutions. In cooperation with specialists, business people and other important stakeholders, existing scenarios will be extrapolated up to the year 2050. Then, in a form of "backcasting", one will look back at the present from the future. With the help of interested practise partners the potentials of adequate innovations will be analysed. Recommendations for a stronger orientation towards the future will be derived and submitted to key actors in government, business and research.
For results please visit http://www.water2050.de/forschung/ergebnisse.htm