On January 8, the government confirmed the designation of the Aqua Valley Cluster as a Competitiveness Cluster for the period 2024-2026. The cluster is present in the Occitanie and South Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions and has been involved since 2010 in “the development of innovative solutions to adapt territories to the effects of global warming on the management of water resources”.
Aqua-Valley currently has 250 members with an average membership of more than ten years and is targeting at least 285 members in 2026. It brings together large companies (Veolia, Suez, Saint-Gobain PAM Pipeline, EDF, etc.), fast-growing medium-sized companies (Biotope, Phytocontrol) and structuring companies (Compagnie du Bas Rhône Languedoc, Société du canal de Provence, Compagnie d'Aménagement des Côteaux de Gascogne) and innovative SMEs (Bio-UV Group, Irrifrance, Altereo). , Ecofilae etc.). In addition, there are leading academic and scientific institutions (University of Montpellier with the Montpellier Institute of Water and the Environment, the University of Toulouse, etc.) with a total of more than 1,200 researchers and 500 doctoral students on water topics. Aqua-Valley works with the eco-business cluster Éa, which brings together 162 eco-businesses working on water, ecological and energy transitions in the South Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.