On 23 September, the HFT Stuttgart, together with the Wirtschaftsförderung Region Stuttgart GmbH (WRS) and the Digital Water Institute e.V., explored the question of how sustainable use of the resource water can be possible.
The event in the auditorium of the HFT began at 09:00 and was divided into the two thematic blocks "The overflow" and "The shortage". The Dialogue Forum was opened by Holger Haas (WRS), the starting impulse was provided by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Bach from the HFT with the topic "Between abundance and scarcity – water management in the 21st century".
The topic "The overflow" was led by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Baumann (HFT), who dealt with the advantages and disadvantages of wastewater in flowing waters. He was followed by keynote speeches by M.Eng. Jedrzej Baryla (BIT Ingenieure AG) and Dipl.-Ing. Markus Funke (BWK e. V./SYDRO Consult GmbH) on the topics of heavy rain risk management and immission-oriented water pollution control. Possible concepts for action were outlined. This was followed by a panel discussion with the previous speakers and Phillip Grimm (Digital Water Institute e.V.). Among other things, the role of AI in flood control was discussed, as well as the implementation of the measures mentioned by the municipalities.
After thecoffee break, the participants met again in the auditorium for the second thematic block "The shortage". It began with a presentation by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sonja Bauer (OTH Amberg-Weiden) on the topic of possible uses of treated wastewater. In addition to the opportunities and risks, examples were given of existing projects that are already using new techniques to make better use of wastewater. Rethinking was the appeal of the impulse lecture. This was followed by the presentation of Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Martin Wagner (Technical University Darmstadt) on the technical possibilities for the treatment of wastewater, which thematically deepened the previous lecture. Here, technically advanced wastewater treatment plants were discussed, which have already been built and put into operation in China within the framework of a cooperation between German companies and Chinese investors and universities. The final presentation was given by Michaela Rohrbach (ISOE Institute for Social-Ecological Research) on the topic of innovative WaterReuse in agriculture and urban quarters. She elaborated on alternative water resources and the stakeholders of WaterReuse.
This block of topics was also followed by a panel discussion with the speakers on the interplay of the previously mentioned topics and approaches.
After the discussion, the audience had the chance to interact with each other and have in-depth conversations with the speakers over lunch.
The event was moderated by Hannah Pinell (IBA27).
Within the framework of the Innovative University, the transfer of knowledge from HFT Stuttgart to society is being further expanded. The Dialogue Forum Region Stuttgart offers a suitable platform to promote exactly this transfer and exchange of knowledge between experts and interested parties.
The series of events is conceived and organized within the framework of the M4_LAB innovation laboratory – a cooperation between HFT Stuttgart and Wirtschaftsförderung Region Stuttgart GmbH in the Innovative Hochschule funding line. We were also able to win the Digital Water Institute e.V. as a cooperation partner for this Dialogue Forum.
So far, dialog forums have already been held on the topics of "Regional Public Utilities", "Artificial Intelligence" and "Future City".
Text: Lennart Schütz (WRS)
