Under the international project SuWaNu Europe, a Thematic Network funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 programme, several work meetings were organized in the first half of 2021.

On February 3, a Workshop (“From theory to practice”) was held with over 50 participants, which included the presentation of the Alentejo regional action plan and also allowed to collect contributions from participants through the group dynamics “From theory to practice”. The participants identified the advantages and barriers associated with the use of water for reuse in agriculture in Portugal. The adaptation to climate change and the circular economy were highlighted as the main benefits and, on the other hand, the costs, the necessary investment and the public acceptance as evident difficulties.

The event is available on: https://youtu.be/faxD5ygG4Xw

Also, on the same day, the third Regional Working Group (RWG) of the project, “End-users’ view”, was held, also in online format, due to the limitations imposed by the COVID19 pandemic. During the session, two new research initiatives in Portugal were presented, both on the use of urban water for reuse in citrus irrigation and rice cultivation, with the participation of researchers from the University of Algarve and the School of Agriculture of Coimbra, respectively. With the group of participants, an interactive dynamic was also carried out to identify facilitation strategies from the point of view of the different groups identified: Farmers, Consumers and Political Agents.

The last RWGs, 4th (“Facilitation initiatives for the use of Water for Reuse – ApR)” and 5th (“The potential of reuse of treated water in agriculture”) took place on 06 May 2021, in online format. The 4th RWG was attended by 20 participants, including certification bodies and large national retailers, which addressed the importance of consumer perception and identified some initiatives to combat and/or overcome the factors that influence this perception. On the other hand, the 5th RWG was attended by 30 participants, including farmers, consultants and farmers’ associations. In the latter, the focus was mainly on the potential of reusing treated water in agriculture, with the presentation of some current data and facts on this topic.

Learn more about the results, training materials and activities on social media and on the project website at: https://suwanu-europe.eu/