KnowledgeTransfer Networks (KTNs) have been set up by government, industry and academia to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and experience between industry and the science base. They bring together diverse organisations and provide activities and initiatives that promote the exchange of knowledge and the stimulation of innovation in these communities. KTNs encourage the active participation of all networks currently operating in their areas and aim to establish connections with networks in other fields that have common interests.

KTNs are active in specific sectors, technologies and market-based areas and they interact strongly with the government’s Technology Programme and overall technology strategy. They also interact with each other, creating strong links, to maximise the benefits to the UK from successful knowledge transfer across technology boundaries. This KTN portal helps to facilitate this.

Environmental KTN

The Environmental KTN is a business-led network, comprising over 1,300 members from industry, government and academia. We are sponsored by the Technology Strategy Board, the UK government’s lead body for business-led innovation, and by Defra. Working with members and over 70 other networks and business support bodies, our overarching role is to improve the UK’s innovation performance in the environmental sector by accelerating knowledge transfer. Our objective is to improve the competitiveness of UK environmental industries by:

• Catalysing Innovation
• Enhancing uptake of technology
• Improving knowledge transfer
• Informing Government policy

To achieve our objective most effectively, we focus much of our effort upon ten Priority Technology Areas (PTAs). These PTAs are where industrial expenditure (and therefore need) and government support (and therefore drive) are predicted to be greatest in the UK.
For further information see our website at www.environmental-ktn.com

Resource Efficiency KTN

Not all UK businesses use their material and energy resources as efficiently as they might. Resource inefficiency reduces competitiveness, eats up primary resources, and creates waste management challenges. Businesses need to make better use of their resources and minimise waste to be environmentally and financially sustainable.

We help UK companies reduce their waste by promoting business and research collaboration in better use of materials and energy, use of industrial wastes as a source of valuable recovered materials, and recovery and processing of waste from one site, for use as a resource elsewhere.

Our services are delivered via an on-line information portal, and through the support of a dedicated team of Knowledge Transfer Managers. Membership is FREE via a simple on-line registration at www.resource-efficiency.org. Membership applications are welcomed from individuals and companies with a bona fide interest in increasing the resource efficiency of any aspect of UK industry or commerce.