Newsletter February 2021

On 1^st January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the Agenda officially came into force. These goals cover the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection. The Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals comprehensively addresses the SDGs in an integrated way. It encompasses 17 volumes, each devoted to one of the 17 SDGs.

The volume on “Clean Water and Sanitation” is dedicated to SDG 6 "Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all". Water and sanitation are fundamental to human well-being. Integrated water resources management is essential to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all and to the realization of Sustainable Development. More information here.

We are pleased to inform you that Dominique Darmendrail, former Water JPI Coordinator, and Alice Wemaere (EPA) successfully contributed to the Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the book and living reference work on “Clean Water and Sanitation” recently published. The part dedicated to “Water Research and Innovation Partnership Addressing Sustainable Development Goals” is now available online!

2021 - Darmendrail D., Wemaere A. (2021) Water Research and Innovation Partnership Addressing Sustainable Development Goals. In: Leal Filho W., Azul A.M., Brandli L., Lange Salvia A., Wall T. (eds) Clean Water and Sanitation. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70061-8_124-1

Horizon Europe, the new European Research and Innovation framework programme, has been officially launched on 2 February 2021 by the European Commission and the Presidency of the EU Council. With the opening of work programmes coming soon, the co-design of the candidate Partnership on Water security under Horizon Europe, Water4All, is going on.

The networks in charge of developing this Partnership (Water JPI, Water Europe, EurEau, EurAqua, European Water Association, Aqua Publica Europea, WaterCampus Leeuwarden, together with the EC) issued a first draft version of its Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) in early December 2020. It was submitted to the consultation of national representatives as well as to an open online survey until the 18^th January. Altogether, more than 100 reactions and contributions have been collected, from Member States, networks, research organisations, private companies, associations, and also from individuals concerned with water issues – mostly researchers. The feedback was overall supportive of the proposal.

Based on the received comments, a second draft version of the SRIA has been issued in early February, and presented to Member States representatives on the 11^th February. The partners will further improve the draft in the coming weeks, to release the first final agenda by May. The Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda shall describe the themes and topics that the partners consider important to address in order to enable water security for all on the long term. It will constitute the strategic backbone of Water4All and guide all activities carried out during its lifetime: annual Implementation Plans will derive from this agenda. The first Implementation Plan is due with the submission of Water4All’s formal application to Horizon Europe, expected during Summer 2021.

On their way to the adoption of the multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027 and the recovery package, the EU Council approved on 14 December 2020 a Decision on legislative acts forming part of the package and laying down the EU budgetary framework for the coming years. Member States shall adopt the Decision in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements.

Once into force the decision will introduce a new contribution from Member States based on non-recycled plastic packaging waste. The uniform call rate shall be EUR 0,80 per kilogram of non-recycled plastic waste and the Decision also envision an annual lump sum reduction for certain Member States.

Set in accordance with the European strategy, the national contributions will be proportional to the quantity of plastic packaging waste that is not recycled in each Member State. In this way, it will be an incentive to reduce the consumption of single-use plastics, foster recycling and boost the circular economy. At the same time, Member States will be free to take the most suitable measures to achieve those goals, in line with the principle of subsidiarity.

The “Horizon Europe” programme was symbolic launched Tuesday, 2 February with a budget of around €95 billion for research and innovation all over Europe from 2021-2027.

“Horizon Europe” is the ninth European framework programme for research and innovation, following the “Horizon 2020” programme (2014-2020), and will be the biggest programme ever undertaken in Europe. Its launch by the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU is being promoted along with a mobilisation process for all of Europe, in conjunction with structural funds and, particularly, with the national recovery and resilience plans of each member state in preparation for the “Next Generation EU, 2021-26” programme.

The aim is for the European Union to lead the twin green and digital transition in association with a resilient recovery through a renewed European Research Area (ERA) and through an effective increase in public and private investment in R&D, particularly in the context of the recent reaffirmation by the European Commission of the goal of 3% of public and private investment in R&D in terms of gross domestic product by 2030.

Read more on the launch event here.

Horizon Europe draft work programmes available online gives researchers some rather large clues as to what to expect from the first rounds of calls to be launched later this year.

The European Commission is planning to publish the final work programmes by April, but drafts circulated to research associations, universities and other stakeholders can already be found.

Here follow summaries and links to the Horizon Europe drafts.

Pillar 1

The European Research Council

Pillar 2

Health cluster, Culture, creativity and inclusive society, Civil security for society, Digital, industry and space cluster, Climate, energy and mobility, Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Pillar 3

The European Innovation Council

Cross-cutting

Widening participation

The goal of the widening programme is to boost research performance in EU regions that are lagging behind. To do this, the Commission will launch three lines of action: enhancing networking between researchers in widening countries and their counterparts in leading R&I countries; reversing brain drain and encouraging brain circulation; and strengthening the European Research Area.