Support for the UK’s large and growing environmental industry has been a key activity for UK CEED since its foundation. The industry encompasses diverse activities ranging from the provision of end of pipe pollution control and monitoring equipment to the development of cleaner technologies, materials and processes. UK CEED’s programme focuses on:
- market analysis and business support
- developing and promoting sector skills
- supporting supply chain development
- encouraging inward investment and trade
- catalysing innovation and the development of new technologies.
Water Innovation Network
The aim of the Water Innovation Network is to drive innovation within the water industry supply chain and to encourage industrial end-users of water to adopt innovative solutions that reduce water demand. The six key objectives of the Water Innovation Network are to:
• Develop the water industry supply chain
• Stimulate innovation in the supply chain to meet industry demand
• Increase deal flow within the water sector
• Leverage additional national or European collaborative R&D funding
• Develop new overseas markets for the water industry supply chain
• Increase Government support of innovation in the sector and investment in R&D
EnviroCluster
EnviroCluster is a membership network of environmental businesses, organisations and individuals based in Peterborough and the East of England.
The initiative, which was established in 2002, aims to support eco-innovation and growth in the environment sector; stimulate the creation of new businesses supplying environmental products and services, internationalise regional environmental technology businesses; promote skills development, knowledge sharing and networking in the sector and to develop R&D and commercial projects amongst our members.
We support businesses developing solutions in the areas of water supply and wastewater treatment, waste management and resource recovery, pollution control, energy generation and management, building technologies and cleantech.
Peterborough EnviroCluster Retrofit Project
The Peterborough EnviroCluster Retrofit Project is one of eighty seven social housing projects across the UK which are benefiting from a share of £17 million of government funding to test low carbon building technology.
The programme, entitled ‘Retrofit for the Future’, is the first of its kind in the UK, and will see social housing units across the country retrofitted with new, innovative technologies. Understanding and implementing best practice retrofitting is key to meeting the government’s CO2 reduction target of 80% by 2050. The results of the projects will be shared to help show how the UK’s current housing stock could be made more energy efficient. Click here for more information.
Eco Innovation Centre
The Eco Innovation Centre (EIC) is a business incubation, meeting and networking centre located in the centre of Peterborough for businesses and organisations operating in the environment sector.
The EIC aims to stimulate business growth and environmental enterprise and is one of the latest in a network of innovation centres in the East of England. The EIC is a specialist centre to support the fast-growing Environmental Industries sector. This includes organisations working in cleantech, renewable energy and energy management, pollution control, water and waste management, sustainable construction and materials, sustainable transport and logistics, environmental consultancy and other environmental services.
The Eco Innovation Centre offers:
- Flexible, low-cost office space
- Virtual offices, mail room services and hot desks
- Conference and meeting rooms to rent
- Networking hub
- Information services
Eco-Innovative Cluster Partnership (EcoCluP)
EcoCluP is the first pan-European partnership of cluster organisations focusing on eco-innovative industries encompassing waste, water, remediation, pollution control, environmental services, energy, sustainable transport and construction. The partnership represents most of Europe’s key clusters with a strong environmental portfolio with cluster organisations participating from Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
EcoCluP is aiming to adapt, test and implement sector-specific cluster support tools and services for fast-growing businesses thus creating better opportunities for the cluster companies to grow and internationalise. In addition, the partnership will create the Eco-Cluster Manager Campus providing a platform for eco-innovation cluster managers to exchange experiences with their peers and to further develop the profession of cluster managers as innovation professionals. The overall objective will be realised through the implementation of five work packages: a toolbox for internationalisation, a service kit supporting innovative SME’s, the Eco-Cluster Manager Campus, the Eco-Company Club for eco-innovative businesses and a practical approach for joint research cooperation.
The Peterborough EnviroCluster in the United Kingdom, which is run by the UK Centre for Economic and Environmental Development (UK CEED), is the coordinating manager of the ‘Eco-Innovation Cluster Partnership for Internationalisation and Growth, (EcoCluP)’.
INNOWATER
The global water crisis is one of the most fundamental challenges the world will face in the 21st Century. Currently, over 1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water and over 2.5 billion people lack access to safe sanitation. Whilst large parts of Europe still have an abundant water supply throughout most of the year, water scarcity, droughts, floods, ageing infrastructure, increasing energy demand and pollution are growing concerns in countries all over the continent. At the same time, the industrial use of water increases with industries water costs reaching up to 25% of the total production costs and Europe still fails to treat around 50% of its wastewater.
The INNOWATER partnership aspires to address these challenges and to use the growth potential for sustainable water and wastewater innovators and industry users. INNOWATER is a public private innovation partnership of public innovation agencies, water associations and technology specialists, innovation experts and eco-innovative cluster organisations from Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.
The overall objective of INNOWATER is to establish and implement a water innovation partnership that develops and tests new and better innovation support tools and delivery mechanism for innovative SMEs and first user industries. This will be accomplished through: the development and testing of the most promising methods and tools to facilitate technology and knowledge transfer; the promotion of innovative water technologies with first-user SME’s; the development and testing of first-user tools in industry sectors facing water issues; the pro-active involvement of key clusters and industry associations; the development of user-friendly innovation support delivery schemes in form of vouchers and business support programmes. In addition, the public agencies will prepare an exit strategy ensuring that the INNOWATER tools and delivery mechanisms will continue to be scaled up, replicated and used widely.
