The Council of the European Union officially endorsed the launch of the Water JPI on 6 December 2011. Over its duration, Water JPI successfully reduced the fragmentation of national efforts, mobilized skills, knowledge, and resources, and strengthened Europe's leadership in water research and innovation.
By fostering collaboration between European nations and the European Commission, Water JPI delivered lasting value, paving the way for innovative approaches and solutions to critical water challenges. Its multidisciplinary framework demonstrates the power of joint action in tackling issues that transcend national borders.
Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) are European intergovernmental platforms that pool together national research programmes in order to tackle complex challenges that no single country can address alone. The Water JPI (“Water Challenges for a Changing World”) has sought to enable sustainable water systems in Europe and beyond by harmonising national research agendas, launching joint calls for proposals, developing technological and governance tools, and gathering evidence around water scarcity, pollution, climate change, emerging contaminants, and ecosystem restoration.
On this website one can find full details of the projects that have been funded (for example via the WaterWorks2014, WaterWorks2015, Aquatic Pollutants and other joint calls), strategic documents (such as the SRIA – the Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda), and the main outcomes of other additional activities such as the mapping exercise of research and innovation, exploratory workshops or political influence.
Though the initiative finishes its activities, its legacy lives on: all project results, tools, publications and datasets will remain accessible via the Water JPI website, offering a rich resource for researchers, policy makers, and stakeholders alike.
Dive in now to explore the achievements, learn from what has been done, and carry these insights forward.
The purpose of the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) is to lay down guiding principles and identify research priorities for the future, while making them openly accessible to the various stakeholder groups including policy makers, regulatory agencies, researchers, end users (such as water enterprises and water utilities & river basin management bodies) and the public.