Eima, the event where the entire European and international irrigation profession meets every two years, was a great opportunity to organise the annual EIA face-to-face event.
Almost 80 people from Europe and the rest of the world, members and non-members, attended the cocktail.
It was the opportunity to celebrate together the strong development of the association over the last 4 years and the various projects of the association for 2025. Four years ago, the association had 34 members, today it has 85.
Fleur Martin, EIA's Communications Officer, welcomed the participants and thanked EIA members for their interest and participation in the Association's activities, working groups, online forums, Board meetings and face-to-face events. Without them the development of the association wouldn't have been possible.
Then Moshi Berenstein, the EIA President, started with a summary of the activities and achievements 2021-2024 and updated the activities and achievements of the 6 Working Groups of the Association (Sustainability in Agriculture, Urban Landscape, Standardisation, Training and Knowledge Transfer, Wastewater Reuse and Communication). He then moved on to the Strategic Roadmap EIA 2025 and its 5 pillars:
1- Recognising the potential of irrigation in transforming the sector to be recognised as a contributor to sustainability, allowing access to sustainable financial capital and green funds, focus on taxonomy.
2- Advocacy activities: Institutional mapping, public consultations, flagship events, supporting balanced policies (EU and regions), sharing information with members, calling for member participation.
3- Building multi-stakeholder partnerships in the food chain (AG) and with communities (urban landscape).
4- Building a framework for knowledge transfer and training.
5- Visibility with the aim of communicating and raising awareness on water conservation, becoming the voice of the irrigation sector.
The presentation was followed by a convivial moment of exchange over a glass of wine and a snack.
This cocktail was also an opportunity to meet - this time in person - experts and irrigation professionals who share the same concerns.
We know how sustainable the sector can be, let us join forces to prove it!
