Newsletter June 2022

The year 2022 will undoubtedly be marked by the official launch of the Water4All Partnership, which will bring together more than 70 entities from all over Europe with the mission to boost systemic transformations and changes across the water research and innovation pipeline. But whilst the community gets ready for the first Water4All’s call, the Water JPI carries on the implementation of its action plan. A number of supporting projects are still running and several thematic activities have been launched.

The kick-off meeting of the AquaticPollutants Thematic Annual Programming (TAP) took place in January. The event gathered 21 participants, who learnt about the concept of the TAP, aligned expectations and identified outputs that could be achieved over the duration of the action.  Key lessons and recommendations to bear in mind in the launch of future TAPs have also been recently presented as part of the WaterWorks2017 project.

Much work has been done by partners in the frame of the IC4WATER supporting project. In February, the Water JPI Secretariat – as coordinator of the project – presented its Water JPI’s international cooperation strategy draft to the members of the Governing Board. A number of recommendations were made and integrated later on in the final version of the document. Two more deliverables are in the pipeline: a deliverable describing cooperation activities with other water initiatives in Europe and abroad as well as strategic contacts for the Water JPI in the next few years, and a second one offering a number of recommendations for strengthening international cooperation. These recommendations will not only drive activities of the Water JPI but also those of the Water4All Partnership.

Several members of the Water JPI decided to join forces with partners from the Climate JPI and PRIMA for the submission of a proposal in April in response to the call HORIZON-WIDER-2022-01-10: Programme level collaboration between national Research and Innovation Programmes. The proposal aimed at the protection and sustainable management of cultural heritage in Europe and far afield through a better understanding of the impacts on cultural heritage of, and the identification of best available solutions in response to, hydroclimatic extreme events in the context of climate change. Amongst other results, it is expected to set the ground for the launch of a TAP action.

One of the most important events of the first semester of the year was the Global Impact Assessment of Water JPI activities, also as part of the IC4WATER project. The event, held on 20 May 2022, offered a good understanding of the impact of the initiative and the key learning points that should be considered in the future for the global success of the Water JPI.

Also in May the twenty-two Research and Development projects selected for funding in the BiodivRestore 2020-2021 Joint call on the topic of “Conservation and restoration of degraded ecosystems and their biodiversity, including a focus on aquatic systems” started. Last but not least, and following the departure of Dr Véronique Briquet-Laugier from the ANR (France), Dr Esther Díez Cebollero was appointed new coordinator of the initiative till the end of November 2023.

The month of June is being particularly hectic for Water JPI partners as the IC4WATER project is coming to an end, and the WATER JPI Secretariat & Coordination team is exploring opportunities for further collaboration with other initiatives and for the wider communication and dissemination of our work. Thus, once again, we are getting ready for the organisation of a side event within the next edition of the Cairo Water Week (October 2022) on a topic that is still under internal discussion.

Moreover, we are about to start a joint activity with PRIMA for the valorisation of our projects. We will keep you fully updated of our progress and the actions to come!

For those interested in the outcomes of 2021 side event on “Strengthening EU-Africa Cooperation in Water RDI: challenges and opportunities” that was held as part of the Cairo Water Week last year in cooperation with PRIMA, the workshop proceedings and records, as well as the keynote presentation from Daan du Toit , Deputy Director-General of International Cooperation and Resources at the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) of the Republic of South Africa, are now available online. Read more here.

The Joint Programming Initiative “Water Challenges for a Changing World” (Water JPI) was established in 2011 as a European platform to address the major global societal challenges in the water area and to have strong contribution to the reduction of fragmentation, mobilisation of skills, knowledge, and resources, with a view to strengthening Europe's leadership and competitiveness in water research and innovation.

After 10 years of active multifaceted operation in 2021 the global impact of Water JPI activities was assessed and report on Impact Assessment of Water JPI activities has been published as part of the IC4WATER Project.

The Water JPI Global Impact Assessment Report is available here for download!

The assessment was carried out by a high-level Panel chaired by Leonidas Antoniou. Other panel members were Jennifer Cassingena Harper, Abida Durrani, Steven Eisenreich, Eeva Furman, Juliette Lassman and Andrea Rubini.

The evaluation framework included a set of common important Dimensions: alignment, internationalisation, enhanced knowledge production, governance, and contribution to the societal challenges. In addition, Panel investigated possible future perspectives of the Water JPI and gave their recommendations.

The Panel concluded that the overall impact of the Water JPI is positive, however there are subjects for improvement in the future. One of the key recommendations is to develop more ambitious Valorisation Strategy. In the report foreword they say: “The establishment of an effective mechanism to promote and monitor the valorisation of projects’ results is crucial in achieving the goals. Research outputs should be translated into policy advice and dedicated communication and knowledge transfer strategies should enhance the dissemination and global outreach.” and further recommend that: “The launching of the European Partnership Water4All should be seen as a first-class opportunity to bring the Water JPI to another level by further strengthening the knowledge transfer of research outputs to pragmatic—and actual—working deliverables and results based on sound science.”

Finally, the panel stated that “it is believed that joint European and international action is the only way to meet the water challenges”. To achieve this, strong and long-term national and EC commitment should be secured.

As part of the additional activities under the Joint Transnational Call of AquaticPollutants, an early career scientists PhD forum was established. The aim is to connect PhD students and post-docs of the research projects to each other, for improving their research, capacities increasing their professional network, and to broaden their possibilities.

The forum consists of a series of activities for the early career scientists of the co-funded projects, such as webinars, networking meetings (online and face-to-face when possible) and social network activities through LinkedIn. PhDs and post-docs will meet regularly to exchange on their research. Out of these connections, synergies can be gained and the transnational cooperation and exploitation of research results can improve by e.g. jointly publishing their studies in journals, books etc.

In addition, the PhD Forum will support the alignment of the three participating JPIs by connecting the researchers of the different disciplines. The idea is that the PhDs will understand and know the stakeholders of their research. Therewith, if implemented, they will understand the features of European research and will be able to apply for funds themselves in the future.

The first webinar took place on May 9th and featured Dr. Yael Kiro, a geochemist of the Weizmann Institute, who gave her lecture on the role of coastal aquifers in ocean chemistry, possible effects on the carbon cycle and climate.

Our upcoming webinars:

You may be updated on the forum’s next webinars on LinkedIn - please follow for more information on the forum’s activities.