Newsletter June 2020

The SRIA, which sits under the Water JPI Vision, is a roadmap for future water-related RDI actions in Europe, including, but not limited to, the Water JPI actions. It sets out specific RDI research themes, sub-themes and priorities. It also identifies areas where RDI actions are required. The identified research priorities are openly accessible to various stakeholders, such as researchers, regulatory agencies, policymakers, industry and the public.

The Water JPI SRIA 2025 core research themes are Ecosystems, Health and Wellbeing, Water Value and Usage and Sustainable Water Management. This new Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for the Water JPI will guide the activities over the next 5 years. It details each of the core themes that will in turn form part of an Implementation Plan with descriptions of tasks and indicators.

The SRIA 2025 makes a direct contribution in addressing the needs of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular the UN SDG 6 (“Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”), and the European Green Deal, while developing European Union (EU) and international cooperation to join efforts to solve the global challenges on water.

As part of the process to update the Water JPI’s Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) 2025 between 2019 and early 2020, synergies were identified between the Water JPI SRIA Sub-themes and Research Priorities and the core theme/research areas of other initiatives and their SRIAs/SRAs (Strategic Research Agendas). Together these can contribute to tackling the societal challenges also being addressed by other initiatives.
To read more about the SRIA 2025 and the Synergies Between The Water Jpi and Other Relevant Initiatives Click Here.

The Water JPI Vision 2030, “Together for a Water-secure World”, outlines what the Water JPI aims to achieve during the next 10-year period (until 2030) and sets out the roadmap for all Water JPI activities taking into account the main trends, the key drivers and challenges in relation to our water resources.

The Vision 2030 will reinforce global leadership in water research and foster collaboration to achieve safe, clean and sustainably managed water resources for all. This will be achieved using a multi-faceted and cross-sectoral approach that encompasses policy, environmental, economic, technological and societal considerations.

It is first in the hierarchy of the Water JPI’s activities and provides the context for further activities (i.e. trends, drivers and challenges) in responding to the issues faced by Europe and increasingly at a global level.

This Vision 2030 document includes:

■ an overview of the key water challenges;

■ an overview of water-related policy and recent developments;

■ an overview of key cross-cutting issues, drivers and enablers that drive change and apply across all areas of research;

■ the four key research themes being addressed by the Water JPI; and

■ objectives and indicators to measure the effectiveness of the Water JPI and its activities.

Click here to read more about the Vision 2030 document, Download the full content of the document and the Vision 2030 infographics.

At the occasion of its 16th Governing Board Meeting in May 2020, the Water Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) (visit the Water JPI website) launched its new 10-year Vision 2030, and five-year Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) 2025. These two important strategic documents were produced by the EPA in collaboration with the Water JPI, following an extensive consultation.

The Water JPI Vision 2030 is an overarching forward-looking roadmap that illustrates what the Water JPI aims to achieve within the next 10 years, taking into account the main trends, key drivers and challenges in relation to our global water resources.

The Water JPI SRIA 2025 is an the five year reference base, highlighting the range and direction of all Water JPI activities, which will be delivered through the Water JPI Implementation Plan. The SRIA 2025 has been developed to guide future water-related research, development and innovation actions. It sets out specific research themes, sub-themes and research priorities. These research priorities can then be considered by various stakeholders, such as researchers, regulatory agencies, policymakers, industry and the public. Four core themes will drive this agenda: (1) Ecosystem, (2) Health and Wellbeing, (3) Water Value and Usage and (4) Sustainable Water Management.

Research gaps and topics, as well as the means of implementation (e.g. joint actions, via calls or networks.), will be prioritised and further developed by developing an agreed implementation plan, detailing joint actions.

The Water JPI, will act as a facilitator of cooperation between countries on water research, supporting European and international water and environmental policy by coordinating and funding research on existing and the emerging problems to come up with feasible solutions.

The Water JPI Governing Board met online on May 14, 2020 for the 16^th Governing Board meeting. Eighteen countries (out of twenty-three full members) were represented at the meeting, which mainly focused on the Water JPI sustainability and the Role of Initiative under Horizon Europe, including a structured discussion on the Water4All partnership. This discussion was preceded by a presentation from the European Commission DG RTD on the state of play of the ninth Framework Programme. Governing Board members were invited to vote online on important issues during the meeting, which allowed to take crucial decisions for the future of the Water JPI.

The Water JPI Advisory Boards met on the 5th of March 2020 in Brussels (Belgium), at the South African Embassy.

The Advisory Boards (ABs) meeting gathered seven institutions involved in the Stakeholders Advisory Group (SAG) and eight experts involved in the recently renewed Scientific and Technological Board (STB).

The items discussed during the meeting included i) the development of the Water4All Partnership candidature for Horizon Europe and the role of the Water JPI in this Partnership if accepted by the European Commission and the Member States, and ii) the options for knowledge transfer.

The ABs provided their recommendations on:

• The PRO and CONS of the different knowledge transfer instruments,
• The process for the composition of the Knowledge Hub (KH) seed group and its possible role for defining the KH content or enlarging the KH if needed.

This meeting was also the occasion to officially nominate Yolanda Pico and Sylvester Mpandeli respectively as Deputy Chair and Chair of the STB. The online booklet presenting the members of the STB and SAG is available here.

The IC4WATER workshop on international cooperation held on 4 December 2019 in Lisbon aimed at exchanging with peer international institutions interested in joint initiatives on a voluntary basis, in order to increase the value of relevant Research and Development funding through joint planning.

Built on the previous workshops with European initiatives and researchers, this workshop targeted funders beyond the EU. It was attended by 40 participants representing international funding agencies, international initiatives (PRIMA, CEWP, Belmont forum) and the water Economic Sector aiming to collect their views to better understand the difficulties faced in participating in  JPI activities, to propose models for further cooperation with different types of partners, and how to deal with different requirements from the economic sector.

Download the Workshop Programme

Download the Workshop Master Presentation

The second AQUATAP_ES workshop took place in Brussels on 19 November 2019 with 13 attendees from the various projects and the Water JPI community. Our Dutch colleagues hosted the workshop in their offices in Brussels. This workshop focused on discussing the relevant and appropriate stakeholders for mapping the impact of AQUATAP-ES TAP, and appropriate methods to communicate the outputs of AQUATAP-ES TAP. The main aims of this workshop was to identify ways of translating the Ecosystem Approach into policy and practice, generating a suitable knowledge transfer and communication/dissemination strategy for different target stakeholders.

The group concentrated on means of mapping and measuring the impact of the AQUATAP-ES TAP, short, medium and long term.  Following on with work relating to the translation of the ecosystem approach and best practice, such as illustrated by the Netherlands example. Also identifying key stakeholders, generating a policy brief that is relevant to particular audiences (again looking at best practice such as MARS project and BiodivERsA policy briefs) and creating linkages and collaboration with existing initiatives critically not duplicating work but finding the network’s own unique message and identity.

This 2nd workshop is a positive development in the activities in the AQUATAP_ES, moving forward into an operational phase where the network participants will co-develop outputs, impacts and linkages with other initiatives and stakeholders to ensure the message of the importance of Ecosystems Services is central to policy and can be practically applied on the ground to make a real impact.

The 3rd workshop scheduled on June 16th 2020 will take place virtually  due to the Covid-19 situation.

In February 2020 the three Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) on Water, Oceans and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in collaboration with the European Commission launched the AquaticPollutants joint transnational call for research and innovation projects on risks posed to human health and the environment by pollutants and pathogens present in the water resources. In the call 26 countries are pooling resources of about 24.2 M€.

Research & innovation proposals were invited to respond to at least one of the themes outlined in the call.  The table below gives an overview of the themes addressed in the project proposals:

Pre-proposals passing the eligibility check and national regulations will be forwarded to the evaluators for a scientific assessment based on two criteria - ‘Excellence’ and ‘Impact’. The best pre-proposals will be invited by the Call Secretariat to proceed to the submission of the full proposal.

To read more about the Eligibility Criteria and evaluation procedures, please download the Call Announcement HERE.

The Water Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) set up the 1^st pilot Knowledge Hub on Contaminants of Emerging Concern (KHCEC) in March 2018, for a two year period. The aim of the Water JPI Knowledge Hub was to build a network for selected researchers whose work is targeted at key stakeholders and how best to successfully transfer this knowledge. This network of 23 scientists from across the globe, led by Prof Norbert Kreuzinger as Scientific Coordinator TU Vienna, established a critical mass of research and technological excellence, by integrating and sharing of knowledge, in addition to improving communication and networking between stakeholders and the scientific community. The network co-developed a number of significant outputs – Stakeholder Briefing, policy briefs and Infographics on CECs aiming to heighten awareness of CECs and their impact on our environment and health in the member states. The network worked to transfer this knowledge from ‘science to society’, via numerous outreach campaigns, press releases, policy briefs, infographics, and social media to the public, industrial sectors and policy makers and engaged in dissemination activities for achieving its primary goal of knowledge transfer.

Water JPI’s pilot KHCEC came to an end in February 2020. The Steering Committee of the KHCEC had a final evaluation meeting, held online on March 25, 2020 to bring forward recommendations for the future knowledge hub activities of Water JPI. The general opinion was that the KHCEC performed well in terms of generating outputs and organizing workshops to identify knowledge gaps and translate new knowledge for the interested parties in the area of contaminants of emerging concern. It is recommended that future knowledge hubs should be as inclusive as possible by engaging in collaboration with diverse stakeholders.

Some key outputs from the KHCEC network:

1. Water JPI Knowledge Hub on CECs Stakeholder Brief“Continuous increase of CECs in the anthroposphere as a stressor for water resources” – January 2020 – for download from here

This briefing document forms part of the current Water / Oceans /AMR JPIs Transnational Call on AquaticPollutants.

2. Three key infographics on CECs:

• Educational Infographics on CECs (for society)
• Water JPI KHCEC infographic for society: Did you know? Introducing CECs and our water resources.
• Water JPI KHCEC infographic for industry: The challenge - Implementing priority actions to address CECs.

1. Other outputs from the KHCEC available  to download 

1. Download the second Policy Brief “Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) – an emerging risk in our waters”from here.
2. Download the “Who is Who”of international researchers involved in the Water JPI Knowledge Hub on CECs from here.

Download the first Policy Brief “What is contaminating our waters next? Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) – novel ways to reduce their human and environmental risks” from here.

The 2nd Water JPI Knowledge Hub on UN SDGs kicked-off on the 3rd of December 2019 in Lisbon and was the first opportunity for the for the selected Seed Group to meet. By the end of the workshop, the participants had gathered a pool of exciting ideas, which will be evaluated to further develop the thematic scope of the KH and its implementation plan. It was agreed that the first output of the Seed Group should be a policy brief that will be supplemented by scientific outcomes and deliver clear-cut policy recommendations addressing international cooperation challenges associated with achieving SDGs related to water. Roberto Deidda (University of Cagliari, Italy) was chosen as the Scientific Coordinator of the KH and he will be assisted by Kevin McGuigan (Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland) in this task. Finally, the attendees agreed  on the acronym “WATER4SDGs”, which reflects the SDGs approach of the second Water JPI Knowledge Hub.

The BiodivRestore ERANET COFUND proposal was submitted the 13th of February 2020 to the European Commission, after a preparation process started a few months ago following the publication of the 2020 Work Programme of Horizon2020 in July 2019.

Addressing the topic of “Conservation and restoration of degraded ecosystems and their biodiversity, including a focus on aquatic systems”, it is pooling resources from 34 funding agencies from 27 countries from Europe & other continents.

In addition to the Co-funded joint call for research proposals, the BiodivRestore Cofund Action envisages i) one additional non-Co-funded joint call (which could take different format, including a TAP - thematic annual programming),

ii) supporting networking and clustering activities with other relevant projects to allow for cross-projects collaboration, and

iii) consultations, experience and results sharing along with joint activities on cross-cutting issues.

BiodivRestore should contribute to reinforce the links between BiodivERsA and the WATER JPI, to enhance their collaboration for issues at the crossroad of water resources, aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity sustainable management