Water JPI Management Board
The Water JPI held its 25th Management Board meeting online on 9th March 2021. The main objective was to progress on next steps and perspectives for the Water JPI in light of the candidate EU partnership Water4All on “Water Security for the Planet”. This Management Board was also the opportunities to raise the sustainability of the Water JPI and its funding model in the near future. The meeting gathered representatives from France, Germany, Italy and Spain. An important focus of the Board included the renewal of the Task Forces on Alignment and Research Infrastructure, the follow-up of on-going activities - including joint transnational calls launched in the framework of AquaticPollutants and BiodivRestore - and the participation in International events such as the Cairo Water Week 2021 and World Water Forum 2022 in Dakar.
The Water JPI & BiodivERsA Joint Call 2020-2021 - BiodivRestore - on “Conservation and restoration of degraded ecosystems and their biodiversity, including a focus on aquatic systems” has finalised its first steps, which involved the submission of pre-proposals, the eligibility check of the applicants by the funding partner organisations and the evaluation of pre-proposals by experts, according to the call announcement guidelines. In line with the call schedule, the applicants were notified of the outcomes. The second step of the joint call will open for the submission of full proposals to the consortia that passed the eligibility check and the first step of the evaluation. The deadline for full proposal submission is on Monday 3 May 2021.
The Management Board progressed on the preparation of the next Governing Board meeting in May delineating the main topics for the agenda. Management Board members agreed on the work plans for the two Task Forces on Alignment and Research Infrastructures to be presented for decision to the Governing Board.
The meeting was also the occasion to discuss about the next meeting of the Water JPI Advisory Boards meeting organised on 24th March 2021. The upcoming Stakeholders event on “Aquatic ecosystem services on the science-policy-practice connection: challenges and opportunities” was discussed: it will be held on 22nd June 2021, and will showcase key achievements of the Water JPI TAP Action on Ecosystem Services, AQUATAP-ES. More information about this online event coming soon!