Collaboration
Sharing ideas that refresh and challenge current thinking.
UKWIR believes collaboration is critical to respond to the challenges that the UK and Irish water sectors face. The provision of water services and wastewater treatment are complex and rely on the collaboration of a wide spectrum of stakeholders both within and outside the sector. Including water companies, the supply chain, customers, NGOs, regulators and government. It is now widely accepted that collaborating together to solve similar challenges is a much more effective solution, pooling funding and sharing risk and reward. UKWIR are committed to catalysing the collaborative energy that is currently flowing through the water sector, looking for new voices and fresh ideas that refresh and challenge current thinking.
Sharing our knowledge
UKWIR have adopted a philosophy of openly sharing the majority of our research reports, so that knowledge and data is disseminated as quickly and widely as possible. We have already produced and published over 1000 reports that are freely available to view. Open access has resulted in a much more diverse group of people accessing the reports, both here in the UK and internationally. This is opening up more potential opportunities to build bridges to new organisations, instigating new partnerships and sparking new ideas.
Collaborating with other research organisations and innovation finders
Over the last 30 years, UKWIR has built an extensive network of research organisations and innovation funders to collaborate with. Such as UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) via the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) around future collaborative partnerships. We are always looking for more partnerships and funding opportunities, please contact us if you would like more information.
Working in close partnership with academia
UKWIR is continuing to build our core research programmes and securing new academic collaborations. To date we have worked with over 20 universities who are aligned with our themes and have helped co-fund and deliver many projects. Over the years, we have supported PhDs covering a diverse range of research areas from optical fibre sensing for acoustic leak detections to biofilter reactor process conditions on the treatment of microplastics, pharmaceutical and personal care products. We are always interested in new research opportunities, please contact us if you would like more information.