SDG Roundtable: In Search of Water Circularity
2025-03-20 09:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago) | Sunrise Banks Corporate Headquarters, 2525 Wabash Ave., SAINT PAUL, MN, 55114, United States
We are excited to partner with Global Minnesota for their Sustainable Development Goals Roundtable on water circularity. Join this important conversation around water reuse and recycling in advance of World Water Day 2025.
Minnesota-based Kurita America, part of the Kurita Group headquartered in Japan, will deliver the keynote presentation. You’ll also hear from other globally-minded water experts, including Oriana Raabe, Senior Director of Sustainability at Pentair and President of the Pentair Foundation, during a panel addressing some of today’s pressing water conservation questions.
Register here.

The Great Minnesota Icebreaker
2025-04-14 18:00 - 20:30 | Back Channel Brewing Co., 4787 Shoreline Drive, Spring Park, MN, 55384, United States
Join us for The Great Minnesota Icebreaker, celebrating ice-out season in the Land of 10,000 Lakes!
About the event
The Great Minnesota Icebreaker is a celebration and networking event to mark the annual ice-out season in Minnesota. We welcome Freshwater members and all champions of water conservation to join us for an evening of camaraderie, food and drink along the banks of Lake Minnetonka, not far from where Freshwater was originally founded.
This year’s event will be held Monday, April 14th, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Back Channel Brewing in Spring Park, Minnesota.
Panel discussion: Lakes, wetlands and water quality
Enjoy an informative discussion as we explore various facets of lake science and management, wetland conservation, shoreline health, invasive species, and sustainability practices. Our guest panelists will be:
Jeff Hanratty – Managing Director of National Sustainability Programs at Ducks Unlimited and partner of Freshwater on the Minnesota One Water Delegation. Jeff works at the intersection of regeneration, conservation and corporate stewardship and is a key connector in aligning DU’s conservation efforts and ecosystem services to corporate sustainability needs. He’s passionate about sustainability, relentlessly promotes that it’s value must be part of business deals and is a conservationist and avid outdoorsman. Jeff raised his family on the shores of Lake Minnetonka and has been a youth mentor in the local community helping create trap shooting teams in area schools. Jeff holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in EHS management from the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Steve McComas – Owner of Blue Water Science is a columnist at Outdoor News and occasionally checks in on Joe Soucheray’s Garage Logic podcast as the Lake Detective. Steve has written two books on lake management topics and published over 1,000 journal articles and reports in the last 40 years. He has worked on lakes conducting surveys and lake improvement projects in various parts of the world including every bay in Lake Minnetonka.
Schedule

6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Doors open, social hour
7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Welcome and panel discussion
7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Networking and wrap-up

Admission
General admission is $20, which includes access to networking happy hour, hors d’oeuvres buffet, and a complimentary drink token. Admission is free for Freshwater members (contact us for details).
Register here

Earth Week Water Party
2025-04-23 18:30 - 21:00 | Malcolm Yards, 501 30th Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55414, United States
Join the Metropolitan Council, Towerside Innovation District, and Freshwater for an evening celebrating Earth Day! On Wednesday, April 23, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. enjoy tasty snacks and refreshments at Malcolm Yards in Minneapolis while connecting with artists, engaged residents and industry professionals.
Immerse yourself in the world of water through:

A panel discussion about the ways in which water weaves connection through government, recreation, arts, and culture – and where you fit in!
Interactive art-creation.
Relaxing sound bath experiences.
Vast projections on the United Crushers building, including footage from water treatment processes and water-related graphics and animations.
Tabling displays by organizations from around our region.

RSVP here for this free event!

2°C Climate Change Exhibit and Performance
2025-07-31 - 2025-08-09 | Hamilton Studio, 3112 West 28th Street, Minneapolis, MN, 55416, United States
2°C (two degrees Celsius) is an exhibit that uses powerful metaphor, provocative imagery and dark humor through the language of paint to confront humanity’s complex relationship with our fragile planet.
Running July 31 through August 9 at Hamilton Studio in Minneapolis, the exhibit consists of oil paintings, on canvas and panel, by artists Mark Granlund and Drevis Hager. Exploring the landscapes of the Midwest (and the mind) these two painters provide a unique vision of the future. 2°C invites viewers to contemplate our pivotal ecological moment through works that are at once beautiful, unsettling and a little bit quirky.
A free opening reception was held Thursday, July 31, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a short artist’s talk at 7 p.m. In addition, Freshwater will co-host an sold out music and poetry performance on Thursday, August 7, featuring Prudence Johnson, Dean Magraw, Kyle Tran Mhyre and Tom Cassidy. Proceeds from art sales, donations and the August 7 event go to support Freshwater’s work for water.
Schedule of events

Opening Reception: Thursday, July 31, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Gallery hours: Saturday, August 2, noon to 4 p.m.
Music and spoken word performance: August 7, 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Final Gallery hours: Saturday, August 9, noon to 4 p.m.

Minnesota Water Innovation Social Hour
2025-08-07 17:00 - 19:00 | Utepils Brewing, 225 Thomas Avenue N #700, Minneapolis, MN, 55405, United States
Global Minnesota is pleased to partner with Burnt Island Ventures as well as Freshwater Society to host an informal gathering of our local water technology community.
Join us for an informal social time bringing together Minnesota’s water innovation ecosystem. This is a chance to connect with fellow water tech entrepreneurs, investors, policy-makers, nonprofit leaders, and professionals all working to accelerate water innovation in our state and beyond. Whether you’re advancing solutions, crafting policy, funding innovation, or driving community change – this gathering is for you.
This will be a (mostly) unstructured event with brief remarks. Food and drink available for purchase. RSVP recommended.

Catalyst 2025: Navigating the modern media landscape
2025-09-22 - 2025-09-24 | MN
Catalyst — hosted by Rogue Water Lab — is an immersive, hands-on experience where attendees don’t just listen; they engage, experiment, and step into real-world challenges in water communication. This year’s experience will be held September 22-24 in Milwaukee.
Traditional training often falls short in preparing water professionals for the complex human dynamics of public engagement. Catalyst isn’t about theory — it’s about action. It equips leaders with the real-world skills to foster trust, handle misinformation, and strengthen relationships between water organizations and their communities.
This year’s content theme is navigating the modern media landscape. We’ll dive into media relations, social media engagement, mis- and disinformation, and how to rise above all the noise. If you or your organization are interested in sponsoring, several packages are available.
Learn more about the Catalyst experience by watching this 2024 Highlight Reel.
Applications are accepted through May 31.

Hansen Park Iron Enhanced Sand Filter Site Visit
2025-10-29 14:30 - 16:00 | Hansen Park, 1555 5th Street NW, New Brighton, MN, 55112, United States
Join us for a site visit of Rice Creek Watershed District’s Hansen Park iron enhanced sand filter followed by an optional happy hour at The Exchange Food and Drink from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Registration for this event is closed. Stay tuned for our next site visit in Spring 2026!

Weatherguide 50th Anniversary Celebration
2025-10-30 10:00 - 13:00 | CLA Connection Center, 2865 Vikings Circle, Suite 125, Eagan, MN, 55121, United States
For this year’s annual Water Connects Us fundraising event, Freshwater is thrilled to present the Minnesota Weatherguide 50th Anniversary Celebration on Thursday, October 30, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the CLA Connection Center in Eagan!
Join us as we recognize key Weatherguide contributors and partners while enjoying an inside look at how Minnesota’s favorite calendar and almanac has evolved and flourished over the past half-century. Mark your Weatherguide for this once-in-a-generation event, and stay tuned for more details.

Iron Enhanced Sand Filter Workshop
2026-01-16 09:30 - 15:00 | Court International Building, 2550 University Ave W, Suite 320N, St. Paul, MN, 55114, United States
Join us for an interactive workshop to explore the nuances of iron enhanced sand filter systems for stormwater treatment. You’ll hear from researchers, practitioners, and engineers about the relevant decision inputs for constructing iron enhanced sand filters, ongoing maintenance required, and recent advancements and research in iron enhanced sand filter design.

Registration - Iron Enhanced Sand Filter Workshop

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