On Wednesday, May 15, 2024 from 10 am to 5 pm, the second international event of euWater4i-SD took place, four months before the end of the project. The event took place two years after the success of euWater4i-SD’s first international event, which was also organized in Munich as part of IFAT, the International Environmental Technology Fair. Around 40 participants from all over Europe and Kenya came together to meet innovative European companies offering smart water solutions and to learn more about the opportunities in the East African water market.
The event began with a keynote speech by Dr. Jenny Atmanagara, Manager for Clusters & Start-ups at Baden-Württemberg International GmbH, on the topic of “Building Resilient Economic Ecosystems – Experiences and Lessons Learned from Baden-Württemberg THE LÄND”. The aim was to offer a new perspective on internationalization strategies that can be applied at regional level. Dr. Atmanagara presented best practices from Baden-Württemberg and hoped to inspire participants to adopt these strategies and pass them on to their own policy makers.
Following her presentation, Louise Gubanski, International Project Manager at Ecoliance RLP e.V., warmly welcomed the two Kenyan representatives who had traveled directly from Kenya to attend the event: Gathuru Mburu from Kipya Africa and Virginia Nchoko Nanetia from the Kenya Water Institute. Both representatives had a few minutes to introduce themselves and give the participants an insight into the opportunities in Kenya.
Louise Gubanski then presented the successes and results of the euWater4i-SD project since its launch in 2021. The five project partners(ACLIMA, CREA Hydro&Energy, Ecoliance, France Water Team, Green Synergy Cluster) have developed and implemented a joint internationalization strategy for their SMEs, focusing on the East African and Latin American water markets. Many different instruments and measures were taken, including two exploratory missions to Kenya and Peru, two delegation trips to Bolivia and Mexico, two matchmaking events in Spain and France, three online training sessions (“How to build an internationalization strategy”,“How to go international in Eastern Africa”,“How to go international in Latin America”), four factsheets on international markets, vouchers for coaching & mentoring, 20 Market Intelligence Bulletins, a Guide on EU funding and an eMarket Place. Louise Gubanski emphasized that this second international event not only served to conclude euWater4i-SD by taking stock of what has been achieved, but also to look ahead to what can still be achieved and improved.
Similar to the event two years ago, four European SMEs were then given the floor to introduce themselves, present their solutions and discuss their approaches to internationalization:
– Isabel Loder, Fonto De Vivo
– Radka Bumbová, AQUAPROCON s.r.o.
– Anna Shepelenko, Boreal Light GmbH
– Slavi Terziev, PV Power
Afterwards, participants were invited to stay for a networking lunch in the conference room, which provided an opportunity to talk to potential new business partners.
The afternoon session focused on the topics of funding and matchmaking. Aleksandra Vladimirova, Network Coordinator at the Green Synergy Cluster, presented the Guide on EU Funding, which was produced by B. Link on behalf of euWater4i-SD. This comprehensive document is aimed at companies and serves as a practical, manageable tool to facilitate the search, application and management of European funds and projects.
Finally, the last part of the event was dedicated to two hours of matchmaking. Participants had the opportunity to book meetings with other participants before the event via the b2match platform. In total, more than 35 meetings of 15 minutes each took place at the 10 tables distributed around the room. Participants praised the format as it allowed them to meet several interesting potential partners in person.
euWater4i-SD is delighted with the renewed success of this event and would like to thank all participants for their active involvement! In the coming months, the euWater4i-SD team will focus on developing a long-term strategy for the project and intends to keep in touch with all the valuable contacts made during the event.