ThWIC at the "Week of the Environment"

The innovation cluster initiated by the University of Jena together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS and the Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences will be represented at this year's "Week of the Environment" in Berlin. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) are inviting visitors to the innovation showcase for a sustainable future on 4 and 5 June.

A total of around 190 exhibitors will present their innovations and solutions for greater environmental protection at Environment Week 2024 in the park of Bellevue Palace, the official residence of the Federal President. A jury from society, business and science has reviewed around 400 applications from a nationwide job advertisement|invitation to tender research|call for applications|call for tenders. ThWIC is one of only two exhibitors from Thuringia to be represented at stand 111.

"ThWIC offers the unique approach of combining cutting-edge technological research and data science innovations with sociological research in order to find solutions for sustainable water management," says Prof Dr Michael Stelter from the University of Jena. He is one of two ThWIC spokespersons representing the cluster at the "Week of the Environment".

ThWIC was founded in 2023 with the aim of developing new solutions for the sustainable use of water and sensitising society to the far-reaching importance of the issue. The network, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, brings together 28 university and non-university research institutions, companies and associations working on more than 20 sub-projects.

Four projects from the ThWIC consortium will be presented during the "Week of the Environment":

WaterLab

The WaterLab project de aims to develop immersive educational and training programmes, for example for traineeships in the water industry. A demonstrator for such a learning environment will be presented at the "Week of the Environment".

WaterSim

The WaterSim project de aims to visualise the process of natural water transport in the geological subsurface of different regions. In the current project phase, an attempt is being made to depict fluid transport in the geological subsurface of the Saale Valley as a marginal area of the Thuringian Basin. During the "Week of the Environment", both a model of groundwater flows and measurement technology for surveying a drill core will be presented.

Public Water Science

The Public Water Science project de focuses on the sustainable use of water in society. An experiment kit will be presented that will be handed out to schools in the future. The mini water laboratory it contains can be used to determine the pH value, nitrate and hardness of water. The results can be transmitted online and form the basis of a water map.

KontiMonit

The KontiMonit project de aims to develop a real-time, electrochemical sensor that enables continuous measurement of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and forms the basis for new forms of water quality forecasting. The COD sensor developed in the project will be demonstrated live during the "Week of the Environment".

"Week of the Environment" in its seventh edition

The "Week of the Environment" was launched in 2002 by the then Federal President Johannes Rau and has been organised together with the German Federal Environmental Foundation ever since. This year, the seventh edition will take place in the park of Bellevue Palace, as it did last time, and will be dedicated to current aspects of climate, environmental and species protection, including climate neutrality and energy security, hydrogen technology, biodiversity and resource protection, sustainable change and social cohesion.