Newsletter 09 December 2018

The Water JPI is currently updating the Vision 2030 and Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda 3.0. As part of the public consultation process, your feedback is important to us because it will help to inform our new Vision 2030 and SRIA 3.0. By completing the online survey, you will ensure both of the revised documents are relevant and robust. The results of this public consultation will inform a series of national and international consultative workshops in 2019.
The Water JPI Vision document is the overarching road map that is reviewed every 10 years. It provides the context (trends, drivers and challenges) and outlines the JPI objectives and research questions responding to the issues and challenges facing the European water sector up to 2030 and beyond.
The Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda sets out the guiding principles and identifies policy-relevant research priorities for the future, while making them openly accessible to the various stakeholders, including policy makers, regulatory agencies, researchers, end-users and the public. It charts the future water-related research, development and innovation in Europe and is reviewed every 5 years to ensure it remains relevant. The current SRIA 2.0 presents the strategic objectives and research priorities under five key themes. However, the next revision, must respond to both current and emerging global water challenges for the next 10 years and beyond.

Please Fill-out the Online Survey available here. by 1^st February 2019

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ireland is currently preparing the new Vision of the Water JPI up to 2030 and preparing the next update of the Water JPI SRIA (3.0). Following on from a number of workshops during 2018, the process and timeline to complete this has now been agreed. As part of the consultative and collaborative process it has been recommended that each partner organise a national workshop(s) on the SRIA and Vision Updates, in order to:

• to promote input and feedback on the Vision and SRIA at national level;
• to ensure geographical representation;
• to capture national priorities, where relevant.

All of these workshops will be finalized by the end of March 2019, for timely input to the Vision and SRIA updates. To date over 13 partner countries have confirmed they will have a national workshop. So watch out for local updates from your own national contact point, as to where and when you can take part on a national basis.

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (MEYS), with the support of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TACR) have joined the Water JPI. The candidature was approved unanimously by the Water JPI Governing Board. Czech Republic will join the upcoming joint transnational call on ‘’Risks posed to human health and the environment by pollutants and pathogens present in water resources”, planned in cooperation with the JPI’s Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) and OCEANS.

Following the meeting with the Independent Evaluation Panel of experts and WW2017 the Call Steering Committee – composed by the WaterWorks2017 ERA-NET partners participating in the Water JPI 2018 Joint Call; 18 transnational research projects worth a total grant amount of over 15.2 million euros (including 4.9 million euros cofounded by EC) been has shortlisted for funding. The eighteen shortlisted projects are scientifically excellent projects, covering a wide range of disciplines (from social and economic sciences to nature sciences), and addressing all challenges presented in the call announcement. The kick-off meeting for these projects is planned for April 2019.

The Water JPI has established a Task Force on Research Infrastructures (RIs) at the Governing Board in May 2018. A ‘definition document’ has been developed to strengthen the establishment and need of such a Task Force with its first web conference being held on 29^th of November 2018. Under the frame of the Task Force, the Task Force Lead Germany visited the 3^rd Open ENVRI Community Meeting, which was organized by the ENVRIPLUS H2020-project. The project brings 26 RIs from four environmental domains together. The project holds biannually a ‘ENVRI week’ to increase integration and cooperation, targeting different groups of stakeholders. The Task Force lead used this meeting to gain an insight to the ‘State of The Art’ gaining knowledge and experiences of the project; presented on the need for water-related Research Infrastructures and established linkages with potential relevant Research Infrastructures and the ENVRIplus-project.

Over the last number of decades, the decreasing availability of fresh water for the agricultural sector due to climate change and overexploitation of natural resources has raised the popularity of treated wastewater reuse. Wastewater treatment processes have reached high levels of technological advancement, providing treated reclaimed resources for multipurpose, ranging from safe restoration of natural water bodies to drinking standards. However, reuse still encounters resistance as users at different levels are not well informed about the potential use of these waters, the benefits when it comes to nutrient recovery for agriculture, and the range of suitable methodologies for treated wastewater applications. To address this issue and promote treated wastewater reuse, an integrated innovative methodology has been developed, published and applied in three demonstration sites cultivated with olives and grapevines
MEPROWARE introduces an innovative methodology towards treated wastewater reuse specifically addressing well-defined types of crops, agronomic practices, and water constraints that are typical to Mediterranean countries. The idea is to highlight the positive relationships between treated wastewater reuse, plant growth and crop productivity with specific relevance to the Mediterranean area. Acceptance amongst stakeholders has grown through their direct participation and implementation of the proposed methodology. Making nutrient use efficient and treated wastewater reuse practices more acceptable.