Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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12 | AUGUST 2018 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Hot ideas on show at Innovation Festival The talk: Events I nnovative ideas, fresh thinking and imaginative solutions were all on dis- play at Northumbrian Water Group's Innovation Festival, held on July 9th-13th at Newcastle Racecourse. The five-day event, the second of its kind following the inaugural festival held last year, attracted thousands of attendees and involvement from 510 businesses, as par- ticipants worked together to tackle 13 major social and environmental challenges. Data hacks and design sprints exam- ined not only water-related questions such as tackling leakage and sewer flooding, using smart technology in the network and reducing water consump- tion, but also environmental challenges, such as phasing out single-use plastics and green transport, and societal issues, such as providing better customer service to visually impaired people. Festival guests throughout the week included TV star and Pointless host Al- exander Armstrong, BBC business expert Steph McGovern, Defra permanent secre- tary Clare Moriarty and senior directors at the Environment Agency and Ofwat. They were joined by innovation Northumbrian Water's second Innovation Festival brought together a host of innovative minds from the water sector and beyond to try to find answers to multiple challenges James Brockett reports from Newcastle experts, scientists, engineers, designers, local businesses, universities, schools, artists and members of the public to come up with and explore innovative ways to help change the world. In between the sprints and problem- solving, festival attendees were also treated to activities including comedy improv workshops, leak-sniffing-dog dem- onstrations, weather bulletins, volleyball competitions, yoga demonstrations, world cup screenings and more. "At the heart of this event is the idea of open innovation," Northumbrian Water CEO Heidi Mottram told WWT on the Northumbrian Water's Nigel Watson was the brains behind the festival The event saw a 'teenager sprint' for young people on single use plastics