Newsletter February 2022
Kick Off Meeting of the AquaticPollutants TAP Action
The Kick-off meeting of the AquaticPollutants Thematic Annual Programming (TAP) action took place virtually on the 20th of January 2022. This online event gathered 21 participants from five European countries, representing four Steering committee organisations, eight national research projects from Czech Republic, France, Ireland and Spain, and three external organisations from Czech Republic and Germany. Among the external organisations there were representatives of the AquaticPollutantsTransNet project, funded as part of the AquaticPollutants Transfer Project joint call.
Participants joined forces to learn about the concept of the TAP Actions, align expectations, discover synergies and identify outputs that could be achieved over the two-year lifetime of the AquaticPollutants TAP Action. Findings from the mapping survey previously distributed were presented with focus on crosscutting background and expectations. Furthermore, the eight national projects representing the cluster of excellence presented themselves in an informal way.
Over the break-out sessions the participants addressed practical issues and exchanged about the implementation of the TAP Action. They elected the Scientific coordinator, Dr Angeles Blanco (Complutense University of Madrid, Spain), and shortly brainstormed about a possible cluster acronym. The next steps for the AquaticPollutants TAP cluster are to build and present the TAP Implementation Plan by the end of May 2022.
More information about the AquaticPollutants TAP Action will be published soon!
WORLD WATER DAY 2022: Groundwater - making the invisible visible
Every year, the World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater. World Water Day 2022 draws attention to groundwater, the hidden water resource that has always been critically important but not fully recognized in sustainable development policy-making. The overarching message of the 2022 campaign is that exploring, protecting and sustainably using groundwater is central to surviving and adapting to climate change and meeting the needs of a growing population.
Groundwater is invisible, but its impact is visible everywhere.
Out of sight, under our feet, groundwater is a hidden treasure that enriches our lives.
Almost all of the liquid freshwater in the world is groundwater.
As climate change gets worse, groundwater will become more and more critical.
We need to work together to sustainably manage this precious resource.
Groundwater may be out of sight, but it must not be out of mind.
Join the World Water Day 2022 campaign and promote these key messages!
- Groundwater is invisible, but its impact is visible everywhere.
- Almost all of the liquid freshwater in the world is groundwater, supporting drinking water supplies, sanitation systems, farming, industry and ecosystems.
- What we do on the surface matters underground. We must only put harmless, biodegradable products on the soil and use water as efficiently as possible.
- Groundwater crosses borders. We must work together to manage transboundary groundwater resources.
- We cannot manage what we do not measure. Groundwater must be thoroughly explored, analyzed and monitored.
- Groundwater will play a critical role in adapting to climate change. We must protect and explore groundwater, balancing the needs of people and the planet.
22 March 2022
