Water and energy competence network presents successful projects
The Kompetenznetzwerk Wasser und Energie e.V. looks back on a successful 2023 and presents numerous projects at its latest general meeting in Hof that will further strengthen the region as a competence location for water and energy. The board was also newly elected. The Chairwoman of the network, Lord Mayor Eva Döhla, chaired the meeting and reported on the network's multifaceted work.
The Rewamem research project (recycling laundry wastewater for reuse by means of ceramic nanofiltration) continued in 2023 with initial trials at a large laundry.
A new addition was the ITTQ Water project together with Hof University of Applied Sciences as an engineering and technical transfer qualification for the Bavarian water industry, preparation for lateral entry into the water industry. The starting point here was the blatant shortage of skilled workers in the Bavarian water industry at authorities, utilities, companies and planning offices.
The ITTQ-Wasser project aims to provide technical qualifications and social preparation for people with a refugee or migrant background to enter the water industry. In addition to their previous technical and scientific qualifications, the participants receive sound further training for lateral entry into water management and thus the necessary basic knowledge to understand the essential content and processes of water management, to apply them in practice and to be able to transfer them to new tasks. In addition, they gain an insight into the formal and informal processes of Bavarian water organizations and learn the most important building blocks of German technical language.
The Kompetenznetzwerk Wasser und Energie e.V. created contacts with companies in the area of internship searches.
The SPORE project played a major role in 2023. SPORE stands for "Smart SPOnge REgion" - intelligent sponge region in the Hochfranken/Upper Franconia region, funded by the Wilo Foundation and Hof University of Applied Sciences with its cooperation partners Hof University of Applied Sciences (INWA) and Kompetenznetzwerk Wasser und Energie e.V.
The overall aim of the project is to develop the concept of the sponge region and apply it to the Hof/Hochfranken/Upper Franconia region. The aim is to contribute to the adaptation of the water balance to climate change.
The Spore project was the lead project in the sponge region area. This was followed by a number of demonstration projects by INWA in the overall project, e.g. Geroldsgrün, Nordhalben, Wallenfels, Schwarzenbach a. Wald and Bad Steben (inter-municipal needs assessment using complexity analysis), Schauenstein (sponge (ground) school with green roof), Wirsberg, Marktleugast, Marktschorgast and Stammbach (support for traditional flood protection by identifying decentralized sponge measures) and Selbitz (investigation of interfaces between the drainage of agricultural land and flood protection).
The competence network determined the need for adaptation to climate change with regard to groundwater and surface water management in the region from the perspective of affected groups in the areas of urban water management, agriculture, forestry and municipalities as an acceptance analysis with regard to fields of action and subsequent measures.
An online survey was conducted in winter 2022/2023 among municipalities, farmers, water suppliers and foresters in the Hof, Wunsiedel, Kulmbach, Kronach and Hof districts. This was followed by Workshop I in spring 2023 to consolidate the results with stakeholders and questionnaire participants and Workshop II in summer 2023 to further consolidate specific fields of action.
The results show clear and valuable trends and assessments. The questions covered topics such as how affected people have been by drought and heavy rainfall in the past and in the future, the specific effects of being affected, the need for adaptation measures, the evaluation of proposed measures, the importance of digitalization, the assessment of digitalization measures, responsibilities for adaptation measures and obstacles to implementation.
In the third part, the measures in the FöRLa II project were presented. The objectives of project 1 are to further develop regional innovative strength in the area of water - energy - environment, project 2 is to secure industry-specific young talent in the area of water - energy - environment and project 3 is to market the regional expertise of water - energy - environment to specific target groups.
Measures included network meetings at companies, a major excursion to the Wunsiedel Energy Park, the initiation of research projects such as SPORE, school excursions on the topics of aquatic ecosystems, sewage treatment plants and drinking water treatment.
The competence network was also intensively involved in marketing the Hochfranken region as a competence location for water and energy. In addition to trade fair appearances such as the DVGW-Wasserstreff, the Hof Water Symposium and other events, digital campaigns were also launched.
Election of the new board
Another item on the agenda was the election of the new Executive Board. The existing board was unanimously confirmed for the next three years:
Eva Döhla, Mayor of the City of Hof, Prof. Dr. Manuela Wimmer, INWA Institute at Hof University of Applied Sciences, Thomas Lang, Wilo SE, Christian Männl, ZWT Wasser- und Abwassertechnik GmbH, Prof. Dr. Gerhard Fischerauer, University of Bayreuth, Dr. Christian Sörgel, Mercer Rosenthal GmbH, Prof. Dr. Bernd Märtner, M&S Umweltprojekt GmbH