UN Global Compact: Week of SMEs and SDGs

On the occasion of the 1st Week of SMEs and SDGs from the UN Global Compact, they have programmed various activities in order to share knowledge, experiences and guide entities in their commitment to sustainability. Bioazul has participated in this campaign, sharing as good practice its experience in creating alliances to be more resilient in line with SDG 17.

Since its creation, in Bioazul we have opted to create alliances and work in cooperation with entities of different nature and recognized prestige at the international level, to achieve common objectives.

This way of working is especially useful for innovation, since it fosters an extremely enriching exchange of knowledge, experiences and skills between professionals and relevant actors. As an example of the implementation of open innovation processes, in 2017 we created a “Living Lab” focused on water, within the RichWater demonstration-type project and with the participation and commitment of multiple territorial agents, including water authorities, to promote new models business models based on the value of water (page 41 of the “Atlas of the EU water oriented Living Labs”). The creation of this Living Lab has brought together the territorial agents of the region of Axarquía (Málaga), who have committed to supporting initiatives focused on the use of regenerated and became part of an EIP Agri Operational Group that It was created in 2017. This Operational Group has been collaborating since then in the organization of workshops and in the active search for financing to give continuity to the laboratory.

Likewise, we promote the development and transfer of environmentally sound technologies in developing countries. We are currently working in India on the PAVITR project, which started in 2019 as a continuation of the alliances that were established in the NaWaTech project (2012-2015), within the framework of which BIOAZUL designed and installed two systems to treat urban wastewater flows to reuse it and complement traditional water sources. In addition, other natural wastewater treatment systems were designed at five more locations. Approximately 4,000 people benefit from the water treated by these systems.

The objective of the PAVITR project is to validate, develop and implement efficient and sustainable solutions that face water challenges and thereby guarantee the reuse of water, ensure the quality of river water and restore degraded ecosystems in India. In this project we work in an interdisciplinary consortium of universities, research centers, SMEs and non-governmental entities, whose objective is to identify and form knowledge networks between Europe and India, specialized in technology transfer.

On the other hand, working in alliances with all the agents of the quadruple helix is something that we believe is necessary for the success of the initiative, generating a real impact.

In this sense, we understand that the resilience of an SME is closely associated with this way of working in alliances, as we have seen above all in times of crisis (the economic one of 2008 and the current one of the coronavirus) where there is no longer competition, only cooperation as a means of survival. These crises have shown that these alliances help us to have a better understanding of our business environment, which will again be essential to face current challenges, adapting to overcome crises in a more resilient way.