- Reseach project
- – Western Pacific
Please click on the following links to see the outputs of the Forum
For more information go to https://www.innovate4water.net/brisbane-2020
“Innovate 4 Water” is a marketplace for sustainable development, accelerating innovation and investments at the water nexus in Australia and the Asia Pacific. The event is delivered by International WaterCentre in partnership with Waterpreneurs, Switzerland. The first event in Brisbane will open “Innovate 4 Water” in the Asia Pacific region, following the success of the initiative in Europe and Africa.
The “Innovate 4 Water” marketplace fosters interactions between global and local players from the private sector, the public sector and the civil society to shift financing towards innovative impactful local solutions.
“Innovate 4 Water” are three days of matchmaking, bringing together solutions and needs, curated into investment focused themes to showcase solutions, contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Private companies, investors, investees, government, NGOs, UN agencies, aid agencies and donor institutions come together to close the visibility gap between water-dependent sectors and social, technological and financial innovations.
The design and delivery of “Innovate 4 Water” is unique and effective because the event:
The expected outcome of “Innovate 4 Water” is a strong reinforcement of the local ecosystems around water resource management, including water, sanitation and water-dependent sectors. The marketplace accelerates commercially sustainable change by:
“Innovate 4 Water” is particularly relevant for:
The marketplace was fast paced, delivered in two days with 120 participants. The marketplace design was fundamentally different from typical conferences. The “Innovate 4 Water” effective design and the detail in their execution always aimed to facilitate connections and collaborations to bring maximum value to each participant. Its key characteristics were:
COVID-19 restrictions require logistical adjustment to the delivery mode of the “Innovate 4 Water” Forum. For the Brisbane event in August 2020, International WaterCentre and Waterpreneurs are embedding the following changes:
You can engage as a solution provider: an entrepreneur, an investor, a government representative, or a sponsor. “Innovate 4 Water” is a curated event and participation in the event is by invitation only. To engage, you need to follow three steps.
If you would like to participate as an entrepreneur, investor, government representative or sponsor and would like to present a pitch of a solution or need please click here and follow the instructions of the registration form.
If you have indicated your interest to present your pitch, follow the links on the registration form to complete your pitch. If you have questions about how to complete the pitch, please contact us at [email protected]
After your pitch is finalised and submitted, we will contact you to complete the screening process.
Once you have been accepted into the event, you will be given instructions for purchasing participant tickets
Contact [email protected] for more information or questions.
Originally programmed around water resource management, innovation, entrepreneurship and finance, every “Innovate 4 Water” theme will now have embedded COVID-19 related discussions.
Additionally, a new hybrid delivery format will transform “Innovate 4 Water” into a new and exciting experience with improved relevancy of the following themes:
As innovation is booming worldwide, there have been multiple attempts at decentralised solutions to water issues by private enterprises and by governments at the state and federal levels. However, too many solutions are fragmented. This highlights the need for a collaborative approach that can truly demonstrate impact at scale, enabling all stakeholders in the water nexus to come together to share knowledge and leverage networks and resources to solve water scarcity and accessibility issues.
While the world has committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which call for universal access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, Australia plays a leadership role in the implementation of Goal 6. Australia has recognised expertise on water data, water use efficiency and innovation, which provides an opportunity to expand and export its knowledge for development and commercial outcomes.
The global water crisis presents Australia with an urgent and timely opportunity to share its experience in sustainable water management to improve water security. Brisbane is uniquely positioned in close proximity to the Pacific and South East Asia with a strategic potential to become an Asia Pacific City for water innovations and knowledge exchange for best practices in integrated water resources management.
In order to contribute to overcome water industry systemic gaps and to build bridges between the sector stakeholders, the International WaterCentre and Waterpreneurs are launching “Innovate 4 Water” Brisbane, following the successful development by Waterpreneurs of “Innovate 4 Water” since 2017, in Europe and Africa.
Information about past forums can be accessed on the “Innovate 4 Water” website:
All knowledge acquired through delivery of the past forums has been summarised in an integrated collection of facts, reflections, forum know-how and impacts, outlined in Waterpreneurs’ groundwork document (available on request). Some of the document content includes, but is not limited to, the forum theory of change, program structure, forum toolbox and know-how, participants’ testimonials and examples of past impacts and thematic agendas, such as:
Based in Switzerland, Waterpreneurs is a global for-impact organisation, supporting the scaling-up of impact investments financing the growth of “water nexus” businesses, operating in developing countries.
Waterpreneurs brings extensive knowledge of the sector, impact investing and facilitation of marketplaces. In June 2017, in Geneva, Switzerland, Waterpreneurs initiated the “Innovate 4 Water” series of marketplace forums, with a global plan to expand to other regions (over the next ten years) with a focus on cities leading in the fields of water and sanitation, entrepreneurship and innovation, and impact finance.
In 2018 and 2019, 6 other “Innovate 4 Water” forums have been organised in Africa (Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia) and in Europe (Switzerland). Ongoing discussions are taking place to accelerate the expansion of the program globally.
For more details about the event please follow the link:
