Water JPI governing board - latest development

The Water JPI hold its 14^th Governing Board meeting in Berlin on 23^rd May 2019. The meeting was hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with the support of Project Management Jülich (PtJ). The Governing Board meeting facilitated discussion on the sustainability of the Initiative, including exchanges on the budget for future years, and potential impacts on planned activities and membership criteria. The role of Joint Programming Initiatives within the context of the next European Framework Programme, Horizon Europe, was also addressed during the meeting. A detailed discussion on the Water JPI position with respect to the shaping of Partnerships and a Mission on water was facilitated. This discussion on Horizon Europe was held with contributions from a representative from the European Commission, Panagiotis Balabanis, DG Research and Innovation.

The meeting was also an opportunity to update Governing Board members on on-going activities. In particular, the Governing Board approved the new Policy Brief produced by the 23 experts involved in the Water JPI Knowledge Hub on Contaminants of Emerging Concerns (CECs) and entitled “Contaminants of Emerging Concern - an emerging risk in our waters”. This second Water JPI Policy Brief will be soon available for download on our website. A second International Knowledge Hub on Global Water Challenges in the context of the UN SDGs is currently under development in the frame of the CSA IC4WATER. Following the results of a workshop for the development and setting-up of this second Knowledge Hub, the Governing Board selected the topic on “New water under water scarcity: new sources, treatment, recycling, reuse, water-health-food-energy nexus”. Furthermore, the Governing Board welcomed and approved the German proposal to organise the Water JPI 2020 Conference in the context of the German Presidency of the European Union.