The EU Water Initiative and its research component

1. The EU Water Initiative and its research component Marialuisa Tamborra European Commission - DG Research International Cooperation Marialuisa.Tamborra@ec.europa.eu

2. EU initiative launched at the WSSD (2002)in Johannesburg Contributing to MDG and WSSD on water: Halve by 2015 the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation; develop Integrated Water manag. and efficiency plans. EUWI at present under review Introducing the EU Water initiative – Water for life

3. Reinforcing political committment towards action and innovation-oriented partnership; Promoting improved water governance, capacity building & awareness; Promoting improved efficiency & effectiveness of water management through multi-stakeholder dialogue; Strengthening cooperation through promoting river basin approaches in national and transboundary waters; Identifying additional financing resources to ensure sustainable financing EUWI: Objectives

4. Governing bodies: Secretariat (Commission DGs), Steering Group and Multi-stakeholder Forum; Regional components/WGs: Africa, EECCA, Latin America, Mediterranean; Horizontal components/WGs: Research, Finance, Monitoring EUWI: structure

5. The EU Water initiative (EUWI) has given boost to IWRM research and its global dimension, with FP6 introducing topics in its calls for proposals since 2002 in support of EUWI and the MDGs. IN FP5 IWRM research involving international cooperation was carried out essentially under INCO. In FP6 funding was available both under INCO & priority “Global Change & Ecosystems” with a budget of ~130Mio€ IN FP7 this area of research will be carried out mainly under the Environment Theme (areas: Sustainable Management of Resources and also Environmental Technologies) Possible contribution from Health Theme & Food, Agriculture, Fisheries and Biotechnologies theme. Research in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)

6. Examples of ongoing RTD activities with expected lasting impact • Coordinating Member States and EU Research Programmes in Water Science and technology for the Developing World: The EU WI ERA-NET, the main achievement of the EUWI Research Working Group • Contributing to the analysis of joint European and developing Countries approaches to IWRM The Review ‘EU-INCO water research from FP4 to FP6 (1994-2006)’ • Contributing to capacity building and awareness raising through the uptake of research results at the local level: The River Twinning projects under FP6 - Thematic Priority “Global Change and Ecosystems” Networking and co-ordination activities – FP6 Co-ordination actions

7. Objective: To improve communication, collaboration and coordination of water research funded by Member States in developing countries to increase the effectiveness and benefits, reduce duplication and repetition and enhance synergy between actions under the Commission Framework Programme for RTD and Member State research programmes 15 research programme owners/managers from 11 Countries: UK (Department of International Development - Co-ordinator), Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Czech Rep., Norway, Switzerland Several international organisations as observers EU WI ERA-NET: Co-ordination of MS Research Programmes in Water Science and technology for the Developing World

8. Systematic exchange of information and good practices on existing research programmes and improvement of access to this information; Identification of common strategies on specific thematic and/or regional reseaarch activities through mapping of activities; Development of joint activities between national and regioanl programmes (personnel exchanges, workshops, sharing research facilities, clustering of programmes) Explorative analysis in view of implementing joint research programmes (towards ERA-NET plus?) EU WI ERA-NET: Strategic objectives

9. Background: Stronger commitment at EU level not only at the project level but also at programme & policy level towards Impact Assessment (COM(2002)276 of 5/6/2002) A sample of 67international S&T cooperation projects supported by the INCO Programme through Research Framework Programmes (FP4, 5, 6) have been reviewed by a panel This represents an investment of >50 MEuro International expert group to analyse what we have learnt through this cooperation. Introducing the Review ‘EU-INCO water research from FP4 to FP5’

10. Pragya Dipak Gyawali, Nepal (Chair) Prof. Anthony Allan, UK (Rapporteur) Prof. Paula Antunes, Portugal Dr. Basim Dudeen, Palestinian Authority Dr. Pietro Laureano, Italy Prof. Cassio Luiselli, Mexico Dr. Pedro Monteiro, South Africa Dr. Hong Khanh Nguyen, Vietnam Prof. Pavel Novácek, Czech Republic Prof. Claudia Pahl-Wostl, Germany International Review Panel of the Review

11. Has research addressed social, economic & environmental priorities (Sust)? E.g. Was Sustainable Development at the core of research? Was an integrated approach practiced (Intg)? E.g.Was co-dependence of the water sector and other sectors clear? Were there policy–relevant impacts (Impc)?E.g. Contribution to societal problem solving? What was the uptake by others? Legacy – capacity building, educational etc. Was there constructive engagement (Comm)? E.g. with governments, civil society, private sector, education system etc. Was there communication with the society (Narr)? Scoring methodology of the Review

12. Some Findings (1) The aggregated average scores on the six main indicators to evaluate the performance of 67 EU-INCO water research projects

13. Some Findings (2) The standard deviation data reflecting the scatter of results of the FP4, FP5 and FP6 scores

14. Increased role in raisingawareness among societal actors of the challenges facing political leaders, policy-makers & water users. Enhanced integration of science with policypriorities Increased emphasis on environmental, societal & economic impacts of research Promotion of new approaches to water policy and policy-relevant water science thanks to stronger interplay between EU & 3rd countries research teams. Main conclusions of the Review ‘EU-INCO water research from FP4 to FP6’

15. Introducing the River Twinning initiative under FP6 Overall objective: Promote twinnings of European and third countries river basins for the development of IWRM to underpin the implementation of the EUWI Regions involved: Europe:Spain (Guadalentin River Basin), UK (Thames), Sweden (Norrstrom), Germany (Neckar), Austria (Mur), Upper Danube River Basin (UDRB), Norway (Glomma), Spain/Portugal (Tejo/Tagus) and various RBOs in France, Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Hungary Mediterranean countries:RBOs in Algeria, Morocco, Israel (Nahal Zin Catchment - Negev Desert) Africa:Namibia (Kuiseb Catchment), South Africa (Western Namaqualand), Botswana (Okavango), Benin (Queme), RBOs in Niger and Senegal EECCA Countries:Uzbekistan (Chirchik/Upper Syrdaria), Kazakhstan (Nura) Latin America:Chile (Bio Bio) and RBOs from Mexico and Brasil Asia:RBOs in Indonesia, Upper Brahmaputra River Basin, Vietnam/Cambodia (Sesan), India (Tunga Bahdra)

16. Total EU contribution for this initiative of 13.8 Million € with 1.3 to 2.8 Million € per project; Seven « twinning » projects: RIVERTWIN, TWINBAS,WADE, TWINLATIN, TWINBASINxn, BRAHMATWINN, STRIVER; TWINBASINxn: multi-regional CA co-ordinated by the Office International de l’Eau with Algeria (BO of Algerois-Hodna-Soummam) and Morocco (BO of Sebou) promoting exchanges among Basin organisations (http://www.twinbasin.org) Its success is also demonstrated by its continuation under FP7: present call on South America under Theme ‘Environment’ (published on 22/12/2006). The River Twinning initiative: facts and figures in FP6

17. Emphasis on ‘global change’ concept… On-the-job training, capacity building … Public participation and End-Users… Blueprints for integrated river basin management plans adapted to local conditions… Replicability… Some Important Features of the River ‘Twinning’ initiative

18. Objective: connecting different strands of knowledge and translating scientific knowledge in policy terms; A number of Coordination actions have been set up in different regions, e.g.: Mediterranean: MELIA, NOSTRUM-DSS Asia: ASEMWATERNET, MAI-TAI Latin America: WAFLA Introducing Coordination Actions in IWRM

19. NOSTRUM-DSS (http://www.feem-web.it/nostrum): Objectives: To establish durable links between scientific institutions, governments, NGOs, and other stakeholders and improve public awareness on water management; To improve scientific knowledge and applied methodologies in IWRM; To promote the development of suitable DSS tools built upon real needs of policy making. Algeria, Croatia, Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, Turkey MELIA (http://www.meliaproject.eu/): Objectives: Establish a dialogue and connect with other research projects dealing with IWRM in view to enhange dissemination and improve uptake of research results in local contexts; Improve water regional planning and management under scarcity to enhance Sustainable development in the Mediterranean region; Involve stakeholders from the UE and Mediterranean countries in view of understanding and applying the principles of the EU Water Framework Directive Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Israel/Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey Coordination Actions in the Mediterranean

20. High impact through integrating previously disconnected knowledge strands and perspectives along sustainability dimensions High impact through connecting policy objectives (sustainability, equity) to actionable lessons High impact through constructive engagement with different social actors and their empowerment Increasingly effective use of the internet and a range of other communication modes, to enable broad-based social learning and use in practice. Awareness of political nature of water allocation, of cultural preferences and contexts, and of traditional knowledge Targeted networking with other European, national and international projects for critical mass, accountability & impact. Expectations towards futureresearch

21. Research has a great potential in contributing to solve water challenges in the World if research results are translated into policy terms. Science should devote more efforts to this effect. To conclude:

22. Information EU Water Initiative EUWI web Site:http://www.euwi.net/ EUWI Research Web Site: http://ec.europa.eu/research/water-initiative EUWI ERA-NET: http//www.euwi-era.net