The outstanding water management expertise found in Northern and Eastern Finland should not remain confined to the region – it deserves global recognition. The Arctic Water Excellence (AWE) project, led by a consortium of technology developers and research organizations, including VTT, aims to deliver integrated, competitive solutions for optimizing water management processes in mining industry and water supply sector.
Funded by the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, and the European Social Fund, the AWE project is designed to strengthen regional expertise and support international growth.
Among supporting technological developments, such as new monitoring capacities, the project addresses a critical gap: small mining technology providers often lack the capacity or credibility to deliver holistic solutions independently. By fostering collaboration, AWE supports these companies to jointly offer scalable, market-ready innovations.
In Finland we have a world-class know-how in mining water management. However, our main challenge is the tendency to work in isolation and the lack of incentives to reach out to networks and research facilities. Collaboration in projects is always beneficial – even if the financial gain is modest.
Despite the mining industry’s interest in new innovations, significant hurdles slow down the adoption of novel technologies. High environmental risks and regulatory constraints discourage investment in unproven solutions, while strong process interdependencies mean that changes in one area can trigger costly downstream modifications. This creates a vicious cycle: developers have promising innovations but struggle to gain market traction without references, while mining companies hesitate to implement untested technologies.
The Finnish market is too small, but our solutions have global applicability
Building a future-ready ecosystem
AWE’s long-term goal is to establish a regionally coordinated water expertise network that supports smart specialization and fosters new business opportunities.
By building developer ecosystems around promising technologies, the project creates a strong foundation for commercialization and long-term international competitiveness – extending beyond the project’s conclusion.
As VTT’s team emphazises, orchestrating the innovation ecosystem is the key. Centralised coordination brings agility and alignment with industry needs, enabling stakeholders to co-create value without being constrained by predefined financial conditions or rigid R&D plans.
“The goal is to help technology developers recognize how their solutions can complement one another and, together, deliver holistic solutions that cover a larger share of the production chain,” says Principal Scientist Mona Arnold from VTT.
