The Mikkeli region is a hub of water expertise, which takes a concrete form in the Blue Economy Mikkeli water cluster (BEM), LUT University's water treatment research and education, and the international Emerging Trends in Water Treatment conference (ETWT).
Water sector exports require cooperation from companies, universities and the public sector. The water cluster and its networking events provide a framework for strengthening and expanding cooperation.
“In Finland, water utilities and city organisations, for example, have a large amount of water expertise, and Finland is ranked high in terms of both clean water and wastewater treatment. However, we cannot export our expertise abroad without close cooperation between companies, universities and public bodies,” says Chief Financial Officer Mikko Laitinen from Operon Oy.
Operon is one of the cluster’s partner companies.
International visibility and project funding
“The BEM cluster operates like a centre of excellence. We are not a legal organisation, but a cooperation network, whose purpose is to bring together actors and research in the water industry and to support the activities of the industry with various services both in the Mikkeli region and throughout Finland,” says Juha Kauppinen, who coordinates the cluster on behalf of the City of Mikkeli.
Most Finnish water treatment companies are small or medium-sized. The cluster makes it easier for them to access project funding or international cooperation, for example.
“Cluster status guarantees us international visibility. It indicates that our operations have been audited and that we are a credible partner for international projects. Thanks to the status, we receive invitations to various project consortia, for example,” Kauppinen says.
In addition to the aforementioned Operon, the core of the cluster consists of the City of Mikkeli, LUT and South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences XAMK and another partner companies Mipro.
The testing and piloting environment serves member companies
At the heart of the services provided by the cluster is the testing and piloting environment connected to the new, modern water treatment plant in Mikkeli, which is available to the cluster's corporate members and educational institutions. A similar testing environment cannot be found anywhere else in Finland.
“Cooperation with LUT is very important to us. We are a centre of excellence, and LUT excels in water treatment research, development and innovation. It is of great benefit to companies in the field. LUT's master's programme in water technology, launched in 2023, is also significant for the region, the cluster and water expertise in Finland as a whole, and will certainly increase interest in BEM as well,” Kauppinen says.
Operon's Mikko Laitinen agrees.
“We are eager to participate in the master's programme. It provides us insight into people entering the industry, for example, which is why we also want to promote the education.”
Katja Lahikainen, Director of the Centre for Separation Technology (CST) at LUT University, also emphasises the importance of higher education in solving global water-related challenges, such as drought, flash floods and the shortage of clean water that weakens agriculture and people's living conditions.
Colliding companies with universities opens doors to international markets
According to Laitinen, cooperation with LUT is fruitful for Operon also in other respects. Academic research provides in-depth knowledge of separation technology and membrane separation and tells in which direction the industry is heading. Through LUT, Operon has also grown its international network.
“I consider colliding companies with universities to be very important in terms of the development of the industry. The cooperation could be much more active than it is at the moment.”
Operon was also involved in the ETWT conference, which was held for the first time in autumn 2024 in connection with Mikkeli Water Week. The conference focuses on presenting the latest research on water treatment technology and at the same time serves as a meeting and networking place for researchers and companies in the field. Laitinen himself gave a keynote speech on membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology at the conference.
“We were a bit of an odd fish there in the academic pond, but the conference was very rewarding. Speeches were given on themes, such as PFAS, that will inevitably come across in the industry in the future. I got sparring for my own ideas, and also networked with some new faces,” Laitinen says.
Mikkeli Water Week will bring together industry players again in the autumn
According to Laitinen Mikkeli Water Week has succeeded well in bringing together people in the industry. He believes that working actively together is a good starting point for broader cooperation.
Juha Kauppinen also emphasises the profiling of the Mikkeli region as a national hub of certain kinds of expertise. The intention is not to compete with other regions within Finland.
“We have mainly focused on urban water treatment, such as the reuse of purified wastewater. We want to complement the national offering, which also opens up opportunities for cooperation between cities.”
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