The 2-day Learning Tour in Cotonu, Benin (11th and 12th of April) was a great success! During the tour a selection of future project owners came together, worked on their proposals (with a team of partners or colleagues), followed workshops, learned about proposal writing, experienced how beneficial sharing experiences with other project applicants can be and learned how to present their ideas effectively. At the end of the Learning Tour the certifcates were handed out to all of the 8 participants: 

• Greenkeeper: a Benin company that transforms water hyacinth in a very absorbent fibre, which can heavily decrease industrial waste. 
• PNE (Partenariat National de L´Eau) and EAA (Eau et Assainissement pour l’Afrique) work together with SONEB (the largest drinking water company of Benin) on a warning system for customers on the availability of drinking water, combined with educational services to inform customers about proper use of water resources.
• BEES -  (Benin Environment and Education Society): works with drones in order to investigate and find solutions for the different forms of pollution in the waters surrounding Cotonou.
• DGRE (the Directorate-General of Water resources in Benin): develops iAlert, a system to inform the people of Benin of upcoming floods, droughts and instant sea level rise.
• IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement) and INE (Institut National de l’Eau): developed an innovative way to measure groundwater resources and its recharge by using nuclear magnetic resonance.
• AFEB: the association for private drinking water operators develops the concept of pre-paid water both on household level as well as on public stand posts.
• DCAM BETHESDA, a Benin NGO: heavily involved in collecting, treating and valorising all different sorts of waste, will try out a new technology in the city of Parakou to separate liquid and solid waste of sceptic tanks. They will then transform the waste into valuable products for agricultural purposes
• The University of Abomey Calavi and its UACStart Up Valley: opportunity to experiment with the concept of pisciculture to their students that are active within the Start Up Valley

The 2 days really gave the participants a boost to work on a full proposal.