concentrates the research, development and innovation in water-sector in Pohjois-Savo region and Finland. The Cluster offers a one-stop solution for rapid product development, testing and commercialisation services for companies operating in the water technology sector.

• Municipal water and wastewater treatment
• Mining industry
• Pulp & paper
• Agriculture

Kuopio Water Cluster provides access to specialised laboratories, experts, and assisting personnel from all partnering organisations. Laboratory scale tests are combined with custom-made, containerised pilot-scale test-rigs allowing for rapid on-site demonstrations. KWC is ongoing during 2019 – 2021. https://kuopiowatercluster.com/

The KOKOEKO seminars are organised annually with an aim to bring together experts in the waste man-agement and environment sectors and help them reach a sustainable future together. The aim is to pro-vide information, visions and solutions in view of the challenges in the waste management and recycling sectors. The target groups are e.g. municipalities, authorities, business life, education and research insti-tutes. The seminars also enable increased interaction between businesses and municipalities by providing them with networking possibilities.

Water-Pro (1.4.2016 – 31.3.2019) aims to develop and transfer eco-efficient tools and models for runoff management in the field of agriculture and mineral extraction in Northern and Arctic areas. Runoffs from both of these sectors have large volumes, but low concentrations of nutrients and other compounds – therefore some similar measures and practices could be utilised. Moreover, the climate change will bring further challenges in controlling runoffs and water safety in the near future. Lead partner Savonia University of Applied Sciences, other partners: Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Northern Ireland, Agricultural University of Iceland, Geological Survey of Finland, Lough Neagh Partnership Ltd, Northern Ireland, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden. The project is financed by The Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme 2014-2020. Read more on the project’s website.

The VIRVE project (1.1.2016 – 31.12.2017) aims to develop the commercialisation options of the water sector knowhow as well as the possibilities to promote business start-ups. The development work is supported by the expertise in Kuopio Science Park and RDI laboratories. The aim is to cre-ate the most attractive and versatile water business and product development ecosystem Kuopio Science Park to help develop and commercialise new innovations and applications and generate new business activities. Savonia UAS is in charge of the project implementation and it is financed by the Regional Council of Pohjois-Savo.

The WATER-M (1.8.2014 – 31.10.2016) project aims at developing water supply networks’ real-time operational control and optimisation as well as safety implemented by an international con-sortium. The leader of the consortium is France and research organisations and businesses in the water sectors in Romania, Turkey and Finland are engaged in the project. The project aims to de-velop e.g. smart calculation methods to simulate the hydraulic status of the water distribution networks (WDNs), changes in the pipeline water quality as well as water consumption. The project results enable the creation of real-time situational awareness of the WDNs based on both network models and smart calculation methods. Savonia UAS is responsible for the implementation of the pilot testing to verify the functionality of the monitoring system in practice. In Finland the project is financed by Tekes and it is part of the EU ITEA2 programme.

The METVI project (1.7.2015 – 31.12.2017) aims at increasing the efficiency of the treatment pro-cess of paper and pulp mill wastewaters resulting in more cost-efficient organic load reduction and highly improved energy efficiency. The wastewater treatment process will be made more ef-ficient by developing the pretreatment of the inflowing water. This is done by applying the anaer-obic wastewater treatment process. At the same time biogas can be produced as the organic mat-ter in the wastewater degrades microbiologically under anaerobic conditions. The organic matter content reduction by using this technology decreases the amount of emerging sludge thus also decreasing the need for the tertiary treatment of sludge. In addition, the pretreatment significant-ly reduces the consumption of chemicals and energy of the actual sewage treatment plant pro-cesses. These factors contribute to significant cost savings as regards wastewater and sludge treatment and improve the energy efficiency of the processes. The METVI project is financed by the Regional Council of Pohjois-Savo, EAKR Flat Rate 2014-2020. Read more >>

The KAIVOS VV project (1.11.2014 – 31.12.2017) brings together the Finnish mine water research organisations, service providers, mines, other operators and authorities to improve the impact of mine waters on the economic efficiency of the mines, process functions, environmental load and social acceptability. Mine waters form a complex whole and it is very difficult, if not quite impos-sible, for one organisation or small consortium to manage it fully. The implementing consortium of the project contains only a few members of the network. The Eastern Finland Office of the Geo-logical Survey of Finland is the leader of the project. The other partners are the National Institute for Health and Welfare, University of Easter Finland and Savonia University of Applied Sciences. The project is financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

The FunktioMat project (1.1.2016 – 31.12.2017) aims at developing the RDI environments at UEF and Savonia UAS and combining them into a functional entity to enable pilot-scale production and testing of functional materials for water purification as well as the testing of new technologies. Savonia UAS and partner companies are responsible for the material testing. The resulting mate-rial production and testing environment enables the implementation of large-scale national and international research projects. It also makes the business service provision to companies possible. The project promotes material efficiency and low carbon production by developing the use of in-dustrial shunt currents to produce functional materials. The project leader is UEF and Savonia UAS is a co-operator. The project is financed by the Regional Council of Pohjois-Savo.

The iFORMINE project (1.8.2016 – 31.7.2018) aims at developing new solutions to manage mine waters and to increase eco-efficiency. Efficient and safe management of water and material flows is being developed in cooperation with forest industry process experts and mining experts. Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences has the leading role in the project. Other partners are Savonia UAS, Lapland UAS, Lappeenranta University of Technology and the Geological Survey Finland. The pro-ject is financed by the Regional Council of South Savo and the European Regional Development Fund.

The strategic aims of the MAALi project (1.9.2016 – 30.9.2018) are to develop the research and education environment of environmental and material analytics and to strengthen and promote the position of environmental and material analytics at UEF. The practical aim is to acquire and introduce an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and an ion chromatograph (IC) equipment to enable cost-efficient inorganic analyses. The inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry enables broad metal quantifications with very low limits of quantification. The ion chromatograph (IC) enables the quantification of water soluble ions in the samples. The research teams at UEF do extensive research work in cooperation with business and this work benefits from the acquisition of the analysis equipment. The leader of the project is UEF and Savonia UAS is the co-operator. The project is financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

The project (1.7.2012-31.12.2014) aimed at compiling the water security knowhow in Kuopio Science Park and creating an extensive educational programme on that basis to develop expertise and business activities.

The LakeAdmin project (1.1.2012 – 31.12.2014) aimed at compiling a set of good practices for lake restoration and transferring them into practice in their regional planning and water management. For further information, please click: http://www.interreg4c.eu/projects/project-details/index-project=181-regional-administration-of-lake-restoration-initiatives&.html

The METLI project (1.8.2012-30.6.2014) aimed at finding a holistic solution to the utilisation of forest industry sludge and at helping the players in the field to network. In addition, the aim was to produce information on the applicability of various sludge and sludge mixture treatment processes as well as on the qualities of the end products and their utilisation potential.

The aim of the RAE project (1.6.2011 – 28.02.2015) was to help farms utilise nutrient losses efficiently to improve prof-itability. The project aimed at increasing farm nutrient recycling and reducing the nutrient content in the water system. It also aimed at producing and transferring knowledge of the most suitable cultivation methods in Eastern Finland and at creating an active network of players to support this work.

The ERKKA project (1.9.2011 – 28.2.2015) aimed at examining how dairy farms can improve profitability by reducing energy costs. The focus was on increased energy efficiency and self-produced energy benefitting from renewable energy sources. The target groups were farms, advisors and civil engineers.