Newsletter Issue 2 of 2023

Following the recent launch of the Water4All Partnership, and as decided by its members, the Water JPI has not launched any new calls for proposals in 2022. The initiative has reduced its activities and it is now focusing on the implementation of an action plan based upon the valorisation of results both from funded projects and additional activities.

The following paragraphs outline some of the activities undertaken last year as well as latest news as regards the development of the Water JPI Consortium.

Water JPI Membership

In 2022, the Water JPI welcomed Malta, represented by the Energy and Water Agency (EWA), as an Observer country. EWA is one of the members of the SD-WISHEES Consortium, described below. Two Members, Cyprus and Romania, changed their status to become Associated Partners, and Israel withdrew its participation. Esther Diez Cebollero (ANR, France), who has a long-lasting experience within the Water JPI community, was elected as new Coordinator of the Water JPI until December 2023, and the mandates of Giuseppina Monacelli (MUR, Italy) as Water JPI Chair and of Miguel Angel Gilarranz (AEI, Spain) as Water JPI vice-Chair, have been renewed for two years.

In June 2023, the Water JPI memberships counts with seventeen voting Member countries (AT, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, IE, IT, LV, MD, NL, NO, PT, SE, UK and ZA), seven Associated Partners (BE, CY, EE, PL, RO, TN and TR), four Observers (EL, HU, MT and SI), and the European Commission as non-voting member.

Launch of the Water JPI’s international cooperation strategy and participation in international events

As part of the activities of the IC4WATER project, the Water JPI completed its international cooperation strategy. The document lays out strategic areas in the field of water research and innovation, and it lists strategic partners with which collaboration will be strengthened in the future e.g. Belmont Forum, PRIMA, Danube-based organisations. In addition, the strategy offers a good understanding of barriers for cooperation with more than 30 countries all over the world as identified by the initiative thorough the IC4WATER project with more than 30 countries all over the world.

In addition, the Water JPI has participated in several international events in 2022. The Water JPI was present in the last edition of the Ecomondo conference, held in Rimini in November. Ecomondo is the reference event in Europe for technological and industrial innovation in the green and circular economy sector within the framework of the Next Generation EU. The Water JPI hosted a workshop on the valorisation of Research and Innovation results to better support policy decisions and enhance the market uptake of the solutions proposed by funded projects.

Likewise, the Water JPI participated in October in the 5^th EU-India Forum, aimed at the exchange of views on good practices, regulatory approaches, business solutions and research and innovation opportunities in the water field in India and the European Union. This was an excellent opportunity for the initiative to present its current activities and its international cooperation strategy. 

Finally, the Water JPI has been involved in the 5^th Asia- Europe Meeting (ASEM), held in November, on the topic of Urban Water Management organised in support of the United Nations Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and China’s National Plan on Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Projet SD WISHEES

Several members of the Water JPI and the JPI Climate are also involved in the SD-WISHEES project (Supporting and Developing WIdening Strategies to tackle Hydroclimatic Extreme Events: impacts and Sustainable solutions for cultural heritage). The project is a widening-oriented CSA funded by the Horizon Europe Programme. It will run activities from January 2023 to December 2026. Its overarching aim is to enhance collaboration with widening countries in the field of cultural heritage protection in the face of hydroclimatic extreme events. To this end, the Consortium counts partners from Albania, Belgium, France, Italy, Kenya, Portugal, Romania and The Netherlands

 Global impact assessment

Last but not least, and also as part of the activities of the IC4WATER project, the global impact of the Water JPI was assessed by looking at the following dimensions: alignment, internationalisation, enhanced knowledge production, governance, and contribution to societal challenges.  Amongst other recommendations, the expert Panel advocated Water JPI members to promote the valorisation of results through dedicated communication and knowledge transfer activities. The report is available for download here.

The aim of the Water JPI Joint Call launched in 2017 in the frame of the CSA IC4WATER was to enable transnational collaborative research and innovation projects supporting the implementation of water policies, in particular on “Water Resource Management in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals”, in order to increase knowledge and develop solutions.

Projects adressed the following challenges :

• Multiple pressure effects on ecosystems and ecosystem services as well as effective mitigation – adaptation tools and assessments for implementing the water related targets of the UN SDGs
• Developing accessible solutions for clean water management to address UN SDG6 targets and associated SDGs

They were also encouraged to i) promote trans-disciplinary research, ii) combine basic and applied approaches, iii) stimulate mobility of researchers within the consortia, iv) enhance collaborative research and innovation during the project’s lifespan and beyond, and v) promote international cooperation in the water area.

The 8 projects funded covered a wide variety of themes. 

The final review of the eight projects funded was organized by the Research Council of Norway in cooperation with the Water JPI secretariat in a remote meeting on 9th February 2023. All eight projects as well as the Funding Agencies (Belgium, Brazil, Cyprus, France, Germany, Norway, South Africa, Sweden) and the Water JPI Coordinator, Esther Diez Cebollero (ANR, France) were represented at the meeting. Due to the fact that IC4water project was officially over before this meeting, the follow up group experts could not attend.

The Principal Investigators presented the activities carried out and the main outcomes of their projects that were also compiled in final progress reports made availbale prior to the review meeting.

The Funding Agencies agreed that all projects achieved their objectives despite the Covid-19 pandemic causing restrictions and lockdowns over the the different continents which delayed field work and analysis and hindered the mobility actions.

The Principal Investigators and their partners must be acknowledged for the detailed accounts of their project achievements.

Many project partners applied to new fundings (e.g. Water4All partnership, Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area, European South African Science and Technology Advancement Programme) to follow up additional activities.

Find more about the call by clicking here.

To read more about the projects, click here.

The Water JPI has contributed to the development of the Water4All partnership. Collaboration between the Water JPI and Water4All is particularly expected in the areas of international cooperation strategy, alignment and prioritisation, valorisation and knowledge sharing. To ensure a continuity of the activities between both initiatives, the Water JPI is represented in the Executive Board and in the Observing Partners Board of the partnership.

Dr. Giuseppina Monacelli, Chair of the Water JPI, participated in the first Executive Board meeting of the Water4All Partnership on the 7^th February 2023. Chaired by one of the Water4All Vice-Chair, the Executive Board is responsible for the implementation of the strategy defined and issued by the Governing Board of the partnership, as well as for the monitoring of the progress of Water4All activities. The Water JPI is member of the Executive Board without voting right, and. The other members of the Executive Board are the Partnership’s Chair and vice-Chairs, the Water 4All CEO and Coordination Team, the European Commission, two representatives of Water4All Governing Board, and the leaders of the five operational Pillars.

During the meeting of the Executive Board, Pillar leaders described the progress made so far and planned activities during the second phase of Water4All (June 2024 – June 2026). This meeting was also an opportunity to prepare the first meeting gathering newly appointed Advisory Boards and exchange on the role of the Water JPI in Water4All.

As part of the BiodivRestore project, the Water JPI and Biodiversa+ are exploring possibilities for strategic collaborations and the uptake of research results. To this end, the Water JPI has identified key thematic areas of interest for both initiatives and potential activities in support of the production of new knowledge, stronger knowledge integration and impact. Based upon the analysis of their strategic research and innovation agendas, common areas of interest for the Water JPI and Biodiversa+ include:

• Monitoring tools.
• Generation of knowledge on biodiversity status, dynamics and trends.
• Development of interoperable and easy-to-use tools for data collection, including citizen science.
• Understanding of the causes and impacts of multiple pressures, including pollutants, climate change and invasive species.
• Biodiversity and ecosystems restoration.

Despite the progressive downscaling of JPIs in the European research and innovation system, opportunities for collaboration between Biodiversa and the Water JPI still remain. The Water JPI is particularly interested in the wide communication and dissemination of project results as a way to assess and inform members of the added value of the initiative and the results obtained so far to support innovation in Europe and policy-driven decisions.

The selection of the Advisory Boards made up of a Scientific and Technological Board (STB) and a Stakeholders Advisory Group (SAG) has been completed in January 2023. The Advisory Boards are from now shared with the Water4All partnership, which can consult them on specific issues according to its own needs.

The first meeting of the Advisory Boards, kindly hosted by the Department of Science and Innovation, was held on 9-10 May 2023 at the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa in Brussels. The meeting gathered nine experts from the STB and representatives of six institutions of the SAG. The primary objective of the meeting was to get to know each other. Water4All and the Water JPI presented their activities and specific areas in which the contributions from the Advisory Boards are expected. The boards were particularly enthusiastic, they brought fruitful inputs and relevant suggestions to questions raised by Water4All Pillar leaders and the Water JPI.

The Coordination and Support Action on “Supporting and Developing WIdening Strategies to tackle Hydroclimatic Extreme Events: impacts and Sustainable solutions for cultural heritage” – SD-WISHEES – has been officially launched in March 2023 in Bari, Italy.

SD-WISHEES is a project funded by the Horizon Europe widening work programme that aims at the protection of cultural heritage in the face of hydroclimatic extreme events. The project gathers 16 members, some of them partnering in the Water JPI (ANR from France, EWA from Malta, MUR from Italy, and the National Authority for Scientific Research from Romania). Running for four years, the project is coordinated by Dr Antonio Lo Porto (CNR, Italy, and former representative of the EurAqua network in the Water JPI’s Advisory Board).