About Water JPI
Joint Programming Initiatives are inter-governmental collaborations meant to tackle major societal challenges unable to be addressed by individual countries and in doing so contribute to the development of the European Research Area. Member States and Associated Countries participate in joint initiatives on a voluntary basis in order to increase the value of relevant national and European R&D funding through joint planning, implementation and evaluation of national research programmes. Launched in 2010, the Joint Programming Initiative Water challenges for a changing world, the Water JPI, tackles the ambitious challenge of achieving sustainable water systems for a sustainable economy in Europe and abroad.
The JPI “Water challenges for a changing world” deals with research in the field of water and hydrological sciences. The availability of water in sufficient quantities and adequate quality is indeed a public issue of high priority and addresses a pan-European and global environmental challenge.
The Council of the European Union decided to launch the Joint Programming Initiative “Water Challenges for a Changing World” on 6 December 2011 as a contribution to the reduction of fragmentation of efforts by Member States and mobilisation of skills, knowledge and resources, with a view to strengthening Europe's leadership and competitiveness on water research and innovation.
Europe invests an estimated amount of 500 million € per year to fund public research and innovation activities in water. While European countries invest 370 million €, the European Commission invests 130 million €. The Joint Programming Initiative will actively cooperate with the European Commission to provide the European society with the maximum return of these investments. The Initiative responds to the grand challenge of “Achieving Sustainable Water Systems for a Sustainable Economy in Europe and Abroad”. No single European country can address this challenge by itself, due to the magnitude of the needed operations and to the geographical variation of the water problems. Responding to the grand challenge requires a joint multi-disciplinary approach, since outstanding economic, ecological, technological and societal challenges are to be addressed.