AquaticPollutants Thematic Annual Programming Action

LATEST NEWS

NEW! AquaticPollutants TAP Action final Repport. Download here

NEW! AquaticPollutants TAP Leverage Network. Download here

The TAP implementation plan is available. Download here

Overview

The ERA-NET Cofund AquaticPollutants Thematic Annual Programming (TAP) Action will run for 24 months, from January 2022 to December 2024. The goal of the TAP Action is to help broaden and/or transfer knowledge on the characterization and transformation of physical, chemical or biological contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and methodologies and strategies to remediate and reduce these contaminants in aquatic ecosystems, by creating a network of national projects.

This network will also allow further alignment between the individual projects, lead to a greater impact at the European level, addressing research gaps and avoiding duplication across Europe and beyond.

Theme

The general theme of the AquaticPollutants TAP Action has been defined as “Measuring of inputs and taking actions to reduce CECs, pathogens and antimicrobial resistant bacteria in the aquatic ecosystems (inland and marine)”.

This theme aims at reducing the effects of CECs, including chemicals, pathogens, antimicrobial resistant bacteria and (micro)plastics in the aquatic ecosystems (inland and marine) and subsequent impacts on human, animal, plants and ecosystems.

Following the priorities identified in the Strategic and Research Innovation Agendas (SRIAs) of the three participating JPIs on Water, Oceans and Antimicrobial Resistance, the theme of the AquaticPollutants TAP Action focuses in particular on multidisciplinary approaches to:

the development of methodologies and strategies to remediate and reduce CECs (at the sources, on their pathways and end-of-pipe), including their environmental effects on water, soil, sediment and sludge and subsequently their effects on living organisms, ecosystems and human and animal health;
the determination and modelling of the contribution of existing wastewater and excreta treatment technologies to the emergence and spread of AMR in aquatic ecosystems;
the characterization of the exposome (including cocktail of contaminants, individual and collective behaviour and interactions between stresses of different natures);
the evaluation of governance tools for new risk linked to contamination taking into account the reactions of public communities;
the impact of CECs occurrence and AMR on the ecosystem services at the level of the catchment, and into the river basin management planning.

Funding Agencies

The countries who confirmed their participation in this TAP action are:

Czech Republic, CZ (represented by TA CR)
France, FR (represented by ANR)
Ireland, IE (represented by EPA)
Spain, ES (represented by AEI)
Sweden, SE (represented by SRC).

For TAP national contact points click here.

This list is subjected to modification until July 2022.

TAP Action Steering Committee Contact
Baya Barbora Nuñez
project officer - strategy and synergies
Development Activities Department
Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR)
Evropská 1692/37,160 00 Prague 6
+420 732 258 376
www.tacr.cz

Participation to the TAP

Depending on the funding mechanisms at national level, the selection of national projects participating TAP action will be as follow:

Participating funding organisations would include the same topic description (see section Theme) in their own national calls for 2020-2022. A part of the national project budget would be dedicated to networking activities with the other projects funded under the TAP action. Participating national research funding agencies will then select projects interested in the TAP action according to their national criteria.

Participating national research funding agencies will identify projects awarded from their most recent national calls or running national projects, which are relevant to the theme of the TAP Action and will be running until the end of 2023. Funding organisations invite the coordinators of these projects to join the TAP Action with either additional new national funding or using their existing budget to cover the TAP Action-related activities.

The national funded projects will be invited to join an international network of projects selected by the participating funding agencies.

Once formed, all members of the TAP Action will meet face-to-face in January 2022 (kick-off meeting facilitated by TA CR in the Czech Republic). Coordinators of these national funded projects will also have to participate in annual working meetings to exchange on approaches, methods, data (exchange) and results. It is envisaged that the TAP Action will carry out its networking and knowledge sharing activities:

via two meetings per year;
via online forum; and
remotely (time input required) in between the meetings.

Timeline of the Action

Expected outputs

The expected outputs of the AquaticPollutants TAP Action may include (but are not limited to):

creation of a leveraging network, which would not necessarily exist without this action – increasing transnational synergies of projects funded in national schemes;
fostering research coordination and promoting sharing of results, data and other resources;
fostering mobility and sharing of infrastructure;
preparing policy briefs, stakeholder briefs, joint scientific publications, etc. that will be translated into the official languages of countries participating in the Action;
facilitating mutual learning;
developing common and cohesive practices/methodologies; and
delivering knowledge for policy making, anticipate scientific and technological needs and provide efficient scientific support for strategic and political decision making in the specific field.

For more information about the action please contact the Steering Committee or your respective participating organisations.

The Kick-off meeting of the AquaticPollutants Thematic Annual Programming (TAP) action took place virtually on the 20th of January 2022. Click here to read more

Who is Who Brochure

Download the Who is Who brochure

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