AMERICANA 2009 - Belgium and the Netherlands well represented!

Monday, March 30, 2009

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• Environment

The eighth AMERICANA conference, the International Environmental Technology Trade Show that was held from March 17 to 19 in Montreal, hosted some 8,000 participants representing all sectors of activity in the environmental industry, including 400 exhibitors, 230 guest speakers and delegates from 60 countries. AMERICANA 2009 provided an opportunity to take stock of the latest developments in such sectors as water, air, soil, residual materials, energy and sustainable development and to discuss such wide-ranging topics as life cycle analysis, biofuels, environmental management, sustainable development and transportation.

Loupe

The AWEX stand on AMERICANA, which was held on 17 to 19 march in Montreal.

Technology fair, business matchmaking and conferences

Several hundred businesses and organizations presented their latest products and services in the field of environmental technology. AMERICANA 2009 played host to the pavilions of various North American and European countries, including Belgium and the Netherlands.



Walloon region of Belgium

Led by Jean-Marie Wauthier, Director in charge of the environment at AWEX, the Walloon team included 10 firms that displayed their products in the AWEX pavilion, six firms and two prime contractors, SPAQUE and INTRADEL/COPIDEC. All of them intended to highlight their expertise and form partnerships with other complementary firms that are active elsewhere in the world. Three guest speakers made the trip: Luc Joine of Intradel who discussed waste management in the province of Liège, Robert Grabczan, climatic architecture expert, and Sandrine Xhantoulis, Liège water issue specialist. The latter two experts are part of the standing conference on territorial development, an interuniversity research centre that helps develop transregional and international exchanges in research and land use planning.




Brussels

Brussels was represented by two experts, including Jean-Pierre Janssens of Brussels Environment who gave a presentation discussing inventory management of at-risk land in the case of the City of Brussels.

A journalist from Écho, Gérard Guillaume, also travelled to Montréal, where he met Walloon firms that are active in the field of the environment and several Belgian firms with sites in Québec.




Flanders

The commercial attaché of Flanders Investment and Trade (FIT) in Montreal, Conny Van Wulpen, was instrumental in getting eight Flemish companies to participate in AMERICANA. They included Envisan, Eps, Model engineering, Most for Water, Neyskens, Roam Chemie, the Sniffers and TNAV, active in such diverse sectors as waste treatment, water distribution systems, pulp and paper treatment, construction products and chemical products.




Netherlands


Finally, nine exhibitors were present at the Dutch Consulate stand. They included the City of Rotterdam, the TNO Research Centre and five firms: Boskalis, Dolman, Groundwater Technology, Tauw, Deltares and Biosoils.
Four guest speakers highlighted Dutch environmental expertise. Yvo Veenis, Laurent Bakker and Hans Van Duyne talked about managing contaminated lands in the regulatory and technological context of the Netherlands. Finally, Aart Bastmeyer of the City of Amsterdam participated in a panel discussion on managing residual materials.