Water Innovation Challenges Initiative

• 17 Dec 2021

Why in News

Recently, the second edition of water innovation challenges was announced to address the global water woes through innovations.

Key Points

• About:
  
  • It was announced by the Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog and the Royal Embassy of Denmark to India as part of the Indo-Danish Bilateral Green Strategic partnership in 2020.
    
    • An important driving force in the green transition – and the Green Strategic Partnership - is technology, especially entrepreneurship driven technology.
    • The water challenge will foster this, but also bring it to on the ground implementation.
  • This collaboration will provide solutions to improve sustainable water supply in India and at the global level.
    
    • The winners of the challenges will also represent India at the International Water Congress 2022.
• Objective:
  
  • The initiative aims to identify innovative & next-gen solutions in the water sector to solve proposed challenges in collaboration with corporate and public partners.
    
    • The initiative will engage young talents from leading universities and innovation hubs across the nation to build their skills and apply their technical disciplines and innovation capacity.
• Need:
  
  • For India, it is significant because India is currently facing massive water challenges, which in recent years have become one of the most urgent policy issues.
  • The problem ranges across depleting underground water levels, unsafe drinking water, water loss due to inadequate sewerage systems, access to water and untreated wastewater polluting India’s major rivers.

Green Strategic Partnership

• In September 2020, India and Denmark entered into a new age Green Strategic Partnership following a virtual summit chaired by both prime ministers. 
• India and Denmark both have ambitious goals within the climate agenda and are including more sustainable practices day by day.
• The Green Strategic Partnership provides a perfect framework because it emphasizes how international collaboration can help accelerate the green transition and deliver on global goals.
• The Partnership focuses on expanding economic ties, green growth, and cooperation on global challenges such as climate change.
  
  • Green growth is a term to describe a path of economic growth that uses natural resources in a sustainable manner.
• Danish companies with niche technologies and expertise have offered to help India in meeting its air pollution control targets, including in the key area of tackling the problem of burning crop stubble.
• Other key points under the partnership include dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and cooperation in water efficiency and water loss.
• The creation of India-Denmark energy parks in areas with large numbers of Danish firms and an India-Denmark skill institute to train Indian manpower has been proposed.
• The Green Strategic Partnership builds on an existing Joint Commission for Cooperation and existing joint working groups.

Source: PIB