Over 3,000 innovators descended upon Newcastle Racecourse earlier this month, as Northumbrian Water’s Innovation Festival returned for its most successful event yet.
The festival, which has been running since 2017, saw huge guests including Olympians Ellie Simmonds and Steve Cram inspiring the crowds with some words of wisdom – tying into this year’s theme of Speed and Scale.
Innovators from 37 different countries, some travelling as far as America, India, Chile, New Zealand and Australia, took part in the event and got involved with sprints aimed at solving huge problems such as storm overflows and water quality.
Other attendees included representatives from every water company in the country, as well as senior officials from the utility and environmental sectors. Over 300 pupils from schools across the region took part in the Young Citizen’s Work Experience Festival – which was a separate event running parallel to the Innovation Festival set on getting 15-18 year olds ready for the world of work.
Angela MacOscar, Head of Innovation at Northumbrian Water Group, said:
“This was without doubt the biggest festival we have ever had – both in terms of the physical size of it, the amount of people and also in terms of the ideas that have already started to emerge.
“As we have seen countless times now in the previous eight events, we know that some of these fabulous ideas will evolve into some real-life concepts that will help to make our services even better for our customers – because they are at the heart of why we run this brilliant event after all.
“Despite the rain, the energy we were met with from our attendees, our sponsors and our crew was absolutely incomparable, and we can’t thank those involved enough. Now, the hard work will begin!”
