Circular Water - Theme launch meeting

We are excited to invite you to our first meeting for our new theme, "Circular Water: Optimising water resource efficiency and treatment"!

In this theme we bring together the concepts of the circular economy, the interconnected natural and human water cycles, and low-carbon/green technologies. Using a wide set of approaches and working with non-academic partners, we are developing a suite of novel intervention strategies to address water and wastewater contaminants and efficiency issues.

Contaminants of concern to our researchers and partners include nutrients and agricultural run-off, pharmaceuticals and antibiotics, metals, and microplastics. Efficiency issues include domestic and industrial water consumption behaviours, and opportunities for resource recovery from wastewater.

We need your help to define what this research theme should concentrate on, and what activities would be of most use/ interest to you (stakeholder/ funding-call workshops, seminars, agenda-setting position papers etc.).

If you would like to participate in this theme but can't make the meeting, please contact Chris Hubbard (hubbardcg@cardiff.ac.uk / x74667).

Meeting details

12:30 – 13:00: Optional networking lunch (let us know of any dietary requirements)

13:00 – 13:20: Introductions from Tim Easun, Devin Sapsford and Max Munday, outlining their visions for the theme and giving background information

13:20 – 14:00: Attendees invited to speak for 2 presentations from attendees, answering: i) “what do you bring to this theme?” ii) “what do you hope to get out of this theme?”

14:00 – 14:45: Breakout session to discuss the question “If you had a funded post doc to work on an interdisciplinary project with colleagues at the table, what would the project be?”

14:45 – 15:00: Wrap up: Summary of ideas, group feedback, identification of areas of interest and next steps.

15:00 – 16:00: Flexible time for further discussion

Background to new themes

As the Water Research Institute continues to mature, we are revisiting the themes of the Institute. The aim here is to come up with interdisciplinary themes relevant to all three Colleges that you can all identify with, and together move forward active programs of joint research. As a first step towards this, your representatives on the Management Board came up with five proposed themes and we sent a consultation questionnaire to you in summer 2019.

To find out more about this theme or the other 4 themes being developed, please contact Chris Hubbard (hubbardcg@cardiff.ac.uk / x74667) or your Management Board representative. We encourage you all to participate in whichever themes excite you!

New theme working titles:

• Catchment and ecosystem resilience

• Water in a changing world

• Water for health, wellbeing and livelihoods

• Circular water: Optimising water resource efficiency and treatment

• Digital solutions for water risk management