{"id":14291,"date":"2020-10-19T14:47:45","date_gmt":"2020-10-19T11:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/?p=14291"},"modified":"2022-12-05T18:35:37","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T16:35:37","slug":"cocreation-process-provided-information-for-circular-economic-cooperation-in-the-water-sector-with-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/insight\/news\/cocreation-process-provided-information-for-circular-economic-cooperation-in-the-water-sector-with-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Cocreation process provided information for circular economic cooperation in the water sector with China"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Green<\/h2>\n

Cocreation process provided information for circular economic cooperation in the water sector with China<\/h1>\n

The European Union has been developing cooperation with China in the water sector for a long time, and the circular economy of wastewater is one of the newest themes of the cooperation. Sweco\u2019s international experts created a white paper on the matter, proposing a multidisciplinary holistic approach to addressing matters concerning circular economy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The China Europe Water Platform (<\/span>CEWP<\/span>) is a cooperation program that covers a wide range of sectors, such as water policy, research and business cooperation. In 2018, the Forum launched a four-year EU project in which European countries promote the objectives of the program with Chinese partners.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>In the business program of the project we export\u00a0<\/span>European water sector know-how to China and support the access of companies to the Chinese market<\/span>,\u201d says, Senior Officer of the Water Unit at the ELY Centre for Southwest Finland<\/span>\u00a0Johanna\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Lantto<\/span><\/strong>. During the spring, the ELY Centre for Southwest Finland was given the task of producing background information as a basis for future cooperation. \u201cWe ordered a<\/span>\u00a0white paper<\/span>\u00a0from Sweco on how the municipal wastewater circular economy has developed in Europe and what its opportunities will be in the future.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

International expert view on the circular economy<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The perspective of the background paper was intended to be international,\u00a0<\/span>and the time allotted for its implementation was<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>two\u00a0<\/span>months, up to the\u00a0<\/span>Aquatech<\/span>\u00a0China Shanghai trade fair in June<\/span>. \u201cWe didn’t just want the perspective of Finland; it was important to take the whole of Europe into account,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Lantto<\/span>\u00a0emphasizes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The agile international implementation was facilitated by the ability to easily gather a diverse team of experts for the task. \u201cOur industrial and environmental experts from Finland, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands were brought together through a participatory\u00a0<\/span>cocreation<\/span>\u00a0process,\u201d says Water\u00a0<\/span>management expert<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Tia Haavisto<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0from Sweco.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sweco’s<\/span>\u00a0circular economy expert<\/span>, senior advisor<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Mika Kierikka<\/span><\/strong>,<\/span>\u00a0emphasises that the internal and external networks of the circular economy,\u00a0<\/span>built as a result of long-term work, were essential for the success. \u201cThe summary report required interviews with<\/span>\u00a0the CEOs of, among other places, pioneering wastewater treatment plants.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Future scenarios were discussed together with the customer at a\u00a0<\/span>cocreation<\/span>\u00a0event. \u201cDistance working was greatly facilitated, and we were able to gather cost-effective experience and ideas from several experts,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Lantto<\/span>\u00a0says. \u201cCollaborative development is a good and rewarding way for participants to create an overall overview on a difficult topic.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Resolving circular economy issues requires a holistic perspective\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The main inference of the<\/span>\u00a0white paper<\/span>\u00a0is a holistic perspective and the use of data in decision-making.\u00a0 There is a clear export potential in circular economy know-how, but regional and local solutions must be sought together.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIssues such as circular economy cannot be solved by one single actor or sector. Sector integration is needed, where wastewater infrastructure is taken into account, for example, in regional energy network and stormwater management solutions\u201d, says Kierikka.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lantto<\/span>\u00a0also believes that a holistic view will be the future direction of urban water management. \u201cA holistic view takes into account, for example, how wastewater can also be a source of heat, energy and raw materials for cities.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A holistic perspective is believed to fit well with the needs of Chinese cities. \u201cThere are already examples from China of the design of regional entities fro<\/span>m a clean slate,\u201d says\u00a0<\/span>Lantto<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>For example,<\/span>\u00a0urban water<\/span>\u00a0is treated in entire model cities with the Sponge City concept. \u201cChina is also interested in optimising processes digitally and with artificial intelligence.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Due to COVID-19, international events have been cancelled this year, but the<\/span>\u00a0white paper<\/span>\u00a0will be presented at webinars and other events with Chinese partners.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe assembly serves as a basis for discussion at events where we will meet with European and Chinese companies, as well as other actors,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Lantto<\/span>\u00a0says. “It’s a long-term job, the subject of which will not become obsolete any time in the near future.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more about\u00a0the China Europe Water Platform<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The European Union has been developing cooperation with China in the water sector for a long time, and the circular economy of wastewater is one of the newest themes of the cooperation. Sweco\u2019s international experts created a white paper on the matter, proposing a multidisciplinary holistic approach to addressing matters concerning circular economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":14777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Cocreation: circular economic cooperation, water sector, Sweco","_seopress_titles_desc":"The European Union has been developing cooperation with China in the water sector for a long time. The circular economy of wastewater is now on the table. Read more","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14291"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38546,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14291\/revisions\/38546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}