"What an exciting time to be part of such an innovative research community!"

Last week, we welcomed the funded projects from our two Crucibles to the University of Stirling to present their progress to date – and it was great to see how much has already been achieved. All teams were represented and gave an overview of their work – making it accessible to the varied audience in attendance.

Award winners from left to right: David Millar, University of Stirling; Richard Baker, University of St. Andrews, Andrew Tyler, Scotland Hydro Nation Chair; George Ponton, Head of R & I at Scottish Water; Alexis Walter, James Hutton Institute and Diana Valero, James Hutton Institute.

It was also really welcomed to see that the ethos of the Hydro Nation Chair programme has been taken to heart by these collaborative units – not only do we see diverse teams uniting to address common challenges, there is a real sense of thinking laterally about the problems being addressed, and a definite move to whole systems thinking.

Diana Valero, PI for Wastewater project presenting at the Mid Project review meeting.

From the fantastic co-creation framework in the Wastewatership project, to the adaptive technology being developed by the Living Lids team, there is a real sense of bringing the community together and developing strategies that, not only address the issue at hand, but that there is minimal to no negative impact by doing so.

It was also valuable to have so many Scottish Water colleagues in attendance and a wide range of questions from all attendees – this really helped in understanding the work being undertaken, and also to acknowledge the additional challenges to come – new waste streams, utilisation of resources and contributions to pollution. Running this as a hybrid event did have its challenges but none that were insurmountable, and the flexibility this community shows in working together, and across different platforms and backgrounds, makes me very hopeful that we will meet our mission targets.

If you want to come and join the conversation or get involved in any other way – just let us know!