UKWIR's Second Annual Conference

Published On 30/09/2021

After a challenging 18 months, we’re really excited to bring the sector together for our second annual conference, taking place virtually on 28 October.

Since our last conference, we have seen Ofwat’s Innovation in Water Challenge and Water Breakthrough Challenge launch – injecting much needed funding into innovation and enabling our centre of excellence, Spring, to take shape.

Our Big Questions continue delivering new research in the areas that matter most to the industry – securing precious water resources, protecting the health of our rivers and seas and meeting operational net zero carbon emissions. All of which requires the entire sector to work together.

Regulators, companies, innovators and the supply chain all have crucial roles to play in setting the sector up for future success. Which is why collaboration is the theme of our second annual conference.

We have a fantastic line-up of speakers including:

• Harry Armstrong – Director of Regulatory Policy, Ofwat
• Dan Green – Head of Innovation and Sustainability, Wessex Water
• Tony Harrington – Environment Director, Welsh Water
• Carly Perry – Consultant Executive Lead, Spring
• Shaunna Berendsen – Client Programme Director, Spring
• Denise Massey – Managing Director, Energy Innovation Centre

Our conference will be chaired again this year by Niki Roach – President of CIWEM and Director / Co-founder of AxiaOrigin.

We’re delighted to confirm that our keynote speaker this year is Kara Cartright from Innovate UK who will be speaking about the key challenges driving the research and innovation agenda.

Steve Kaye, UKWIR CEO, said “I’m really excited for our second annual conference. We’ve secured secure a fantastic line-up of speakers and will hopefully be joined by colleagues from across Europe.

We chose collaboration as this year’s theme as it really epitomises what the industry needs the most at the moment. Without us working together, we won’t be able to deliver the game-changing innovation we need, answer our Big Questions or meet the growing expectations of customers, stakeholders and regulators”.

Niki Roach, CIWEM President and Conference Chair, said “I’m delighted to be chairing this year’s conference – and even more excited to hear from all our fantastic speakers. UKWIR has brought experts together from different sectors, bringing invaluable fresh perspectives to the sector when it needs them the most.

The coming few years will be foundational for the future of the sector, so it’s vital we call on all available expertise to make sure we’re ready to meet the biggest challenges.” 
For the full agenda and to sign up for our conference, click here – and make sure to follow us on LinkedIn for the latest updates.

To give you an idea of what to expect, some of the highlights from last year can be seen here.