Collaboration on developing new governance models for sustainable water management

UMinho aims to be a University without walls, focusing on the regional, national and international socioeconomic environment. International activities are quite intense, with a range of countries from all continents, including the Portuguese-speaking ones. UMinho is a research University, engaged in the valorization of the chain Knowledge-Research, Development and Innovation – as evidenced by a series of indicators. The ratio between PhD students and academic staff is over 1; the fraction of postgraduate students in the total student population is over 20%; the ratio between research projects and PhDs is over 0.5; around 150 PhDs are awarded every year; the average yearly production of refereed papers in scientific journals is impressive for an eclectic University: above 2/FTE/year; citations are strongly increasing every year; 250 R&D contracts are signed yearly with companies.
Amongst the 28 UMinho Research Units evaluated by FCT in 2014, 1 was considered Exceptional, 10 Excellent and 11 Very Good. Under FP7, EC awarded 2 ERC Advanced Grants to UMinho. UMinho is involved in the graphene FET flagship and coordinates several other large projects including a REGPOT on nanomedicine. The Times Higher Education (THE) 100 under 50 University Ranking 2014 ranked UMinho on the 75th position and the 2014 THE World University Rankings: at 350-400 (only 2 Portuguese HEI, being UMinho the best PT). In the CWTS Leiden bibliometric Ranking 2014 UMinho is the Best Portuguese University.

We work at the Centre of Biological Engineering (CEB), a research unit integrated into the Portuguese Science and Technology System, located at the University of Minho (Braga, Portugal). CEB has a strong experience in knowledge-based entrepreneurship and discovery activities with a potential for international competitiveness in the fields of environmental, industrial biotechnology, and circular economy. We, in particular, have scientific expertise and a proven ability to generate internationally competitive knowledge in the cross-cutting area of agri-food and water sectors, namely by the incorporation of efficient wastewater treatments, resource recovery, and water reuse technologies. We have also experience in regional and interregional cooperation projects in the field of water management tools and methods.

Water management; Water quality modelling; Water Innovation Action Plan