Innovations for water challenges

OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE JOINT PROGRAMMING INITIATIVE “WATER CHALLENGES FOR A CHANGING WORLD”AND KICK-OFF OF THE COORDINATION AND SUPPORT ACTION WATEUR

MADRID February 5th, 2013 — The Spanish Government, the European Commission and high level representatives of other Member States and associate countries have launched the WATER JPI which will contribute to the establishment of the European Research Area by ensuring the coherence of national and regional research programmes and priorities on one of the major societal challenge to face in the future: to achieve sustainable water systems for a sustainable economy in Europe and abroad 

This Joint Programming Initiative is currently participated by eighteen European countries and the European Commission. Five other EU countries follow the initiative as observers. Responding to the grand challenge to ensure that enough good quality water is available to meet the needs of people, the economy and the environment requires a joint multi-disciplinary approach.

This initiative will better coordinate European research agendas, triggering specific activities such as projects, infrastructure and mobility. It will also promote competitiveness in the water industry and implement a water-wise bio-based economy.

The Coordination and Support Action WatEUr

The implementation of the Water JPI is prepared and supported by the FP7 project WatEUr which held its kick-off meeting today and will involve 17 institutions of 14 countries members of the Water Joint Programming Initiative for three years.

Background

The Water JPI was approved on 6th December 2011 by the Council of the European Union to foster more strategic cooperation on water research and innovation in Europe, a sector which has a high economic importance with an average growth rate of 5% and a turnover of about 80€ billion a year.