Draft versions of the Horizon 2020 work programmes for 2016-17 which have now been published by the European Commission include water, blue-green infrastructure and climate services across a wide range of issues the Commission wants to address.
The documents are 'pre-publication’ versions and have not yet been endorsed by the EC. However, they provide potential participants with the currently expected topics of the work programme 2016-2017, including intended deadlines. The official work programmes are expected to be published in mid-October 2015.
EC wants to harness strong potential for EU to become a global market leader in the water sector
The overview says that the objective of this part of the call is to harness the strong potential for European industry (including SMEs) to become a global market leader in the water sector.
The aim is to continue the efforts undertaken in the 2014-2015 Focus Area call ‘Water Innovation: Boosting its value for Europe’, i.e. bringing innovative water solutions to the market and supporting the implementation of the objectives of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) and the Joint Programming Initiative on Water.
Describing water as a key resource, the paper says “intervention at EU level is crucial to meet water demand from increased urbanisation and agriculture, and to manage the competition for scarce water from multiple uses and the water/energy nexus. “
Water issues are addressed across the entire Horizon 2020 structure, including integration in the work programmes of several Societal Challenges. The “Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials' challenge includes actions to boost water innovation for Europe and beyond. Topics in the Work Programme 2016-2017 with a clear relevance to water issues, in addition to those listed in this part of the call, include the following:
- Exploring the added value of climate services
- Integrated European regional modelling and climate prediction system
- Climate services market research
- Large-scale demonstrators on nature-based solutions for hydrometeorological risk reduction
- Water in the context of the circular economy
- Systematic approaches for resource-efficient water management systems in process industries
- Demonstrating innovative nature-based solutions in cities
The Commission also flags up the fact that a high number of topics in the calls 'Sustainable Food Security – Resilient and resource-efficient value chains' and 'Rural Renaissance – Fostering innovation and business opportunities' also address issues related to water management in agriculture and/or food production.
EC to create a coherent European Research Area in water open to international cooperation
This would contribute to creating a coherent European Research Area that is open to international cooperation in the area of water – a global research and innovation challenge par excellence, the EC says.
The EC is inviting proposals on a number of topics, including supporting international cooperation activities on water. The outreach and opening of the Water Joint Programming Initiative to third country partners is increasingly raising interest among the latter. The specific challenge is to build on this momentum and further enhance the opening of the Water JPI to international cooperation. This would contribute to creating a coherent European Research Area that is open to international cooperation in the area of water – a global research and innovation challenge par excellence, the EC says.
In addition, it would also consolidate the alignment of national, EU and international water research and innovation programmes, one of the key objectives of Joint Programming Initiatives.
Proposals under the work Programme should aim to create a framework and permanent dialogue to encourage the opening in a structured and strategic manner of the Water JPI to international cooperationwith key international water research and innovation programmes, together with funding and investment institutions.
Flagship actions for possible joint funding between the members of the JPI Water, international cooperation partners and international programmes of strategic importance for the EU should also be identified and prepared for.
Ultimate outcome: more efficient knowledge transfer, wider dissemination and take-up of research findings
Proposals should also be aimed at organising and developing the knowledge base required to address water challenges and EU policy priorities within a global perspective. – to be accomplished via access to an integrated analysis of research results and recommendations arising from national and EU funded research and innovation projects in the area of water research and innovation.
The Commission said the ultimate result would be more efficient knowledge transfer, wider dissemination and take-up of research findings both in terms of policy and innovation. In addition, it would strengthen links with relevant water sectors and the Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform.
Successful projects would be expected to contribute to increasing the scale and ambition of water research and innovation activities beyond the level that would otherwise be sustainable. They would also contribute to increasing the overall coherence and efficiency of the use of European resources and valorising European know-how on water solutions at global level in the context of the post-2015 sustainable development agenda.
Nature-based solutions for territorial resilience, including blue-green infrastructure
The objective of this part of the call is to position Europe as world leader in innovation through nature based solutions to a broad range of challenges in urban, rural and natural areas including climate change, unsustainable urbanisation, natural disaster, degradation of natural capital and ecosystem services, water quality and water scarcity.
Key components of nature-based solutions outlined in the Call include:
- well-connected green and blue infrastructure
- green and unsealed surfaces in cities
- green roofs
- natural water retention measures
- salt marshes and dunes for coastal protection
The EC says nature-based solutions use the properties and functions of ecosystems to provide water regulation, flood risk protection, climate change adaptation, etc.which are designed to bring more nature and natural features and processes into cities, landscapes and seascapes, through locally adapted and systemic interventions.
They are “locally attuned, resource efficient, multi-purpose, multi-functional and multi-beneficial” - key features which make them different from 'grey' infrastructure, such as artificial river banks, dikes, etc.
The Call states:
“For instance, nature-based solutions to enhance surface water retention of a river through re-connection of floodplains with the river watercourse will, in addition to flood risk mitigation, also enhance biodiversity, improve the ecological status of freshwater ecosystems, reduce habitat fragmentation, provide health and recreational benefits and improve the general attractiveness of the landscape for citizens and businesses.”
Lack of evidence stops wider use of nature-based solutions in EU
According to the Commission, robust EU-wide evidence of the cost-effectiveness and longer-term social, economic, cultural and ecological benefits of these solutions is currently lacking which has prevented their wider deployment.
EU-wide evidence and a European reference framework about the cost-effectiveness of nature-based solutions to address societal challenges would contribute to creating a global market, supporting both supply and demand, mobilising new investment strategies and promoting their large-scale deployment.
The Commission is looking for large-scale demonstration projects aimed at developing, demonstrating and deploying innovative systemic and locally attuned nature-based solutions, including green and blue infrastructure and ecosystem-based management approaches, in rural and natural areas, including particularly sensitive ones such as mountainous and coastal areas, for hydro-meteorological risk reduction at watershed/landscape scale.
The Commission also wants the proposals for projects to identify and assess barriers related to their social and cultural acceptance and policy regulatory frameworks and propose ways to overcome them.
The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of at least €12 million will be needed under the Call , with projects expected to contribute to the EU being recognised as a leader in nature-based solutions for hydro-meteorological risk reduction and climate change adaptation and the mainstreaming of nature-based solutions in land use planning, landscaping and territorial policies.
Aim to strengthen growing global market for demand-driven climate services
The objective of the actions in this part of the call is to build Europe's capacity to respond to and improve resilience to climate change by strengthening significantly the growing global market for demand-driven climate services for both climate change mitigation and adaptation needs.
The Commission says there is increasing demand for translating the existing wealth of climate data and information into integrated and customised tools, products and information - ‘climate services’.
For example, planners and engineers can use long-term climate forecasts to decide where buildings or infrastructure should be sited as local flood risks change, or to design bridges that will withstand changing flood and wind stress risks.
According to the Commission, the development of climate services will open broad market opportunities both to public and private operators to provide customised, high added-value services to a variety of users –which would in turn make the EU a world leader in this sector.
However, realising the full market potential implies challenges, which need to be tackled by specific research and innovation activities. The Call for proposals says a better understanding of the demand and supply sides of the market is needed, as well as a thorough assessment of the barriers and constraints associated with the provision and use of climate services.
Proposals are invited for a number of topics, including:
Exploiting the added value of climate services - the challenge being to minimise risks and costs and to seize opportunities.
The Commission says climate services have the potential to build intelligence through the transformation of the wealth of data, information, model output and related methodologies into customised services and products that mainstream climate change into decisions and actions at all levels.
Bringing climate services to the market requires serving the demand of end-users and developing the business interface between suppliers and users of climate services.
The specific challenge of this action lies in the development of climate services concepts that are ready to be used, or show potential for future deployment, demonstrating the added value of using climate information and services by end-users in their operational decision-making.
The action should also adequately address the barriers which currently hamper the full deployment of climate services in the given area and solutions to tackle these.
Projects under this proposal should be capable of delivering final results in a relatively short time period (typically within a project duration of two to three years).
The Commission is also looking for proposals to develop an integrated European regional modelling and climate prediction system, commenting:
“European decision makers and businesses currently lack access to a consistent and authoritative Europe-wide set of climate simulations at appropriate spatial and temporal scales upon which regional, national and local climate-related risk assessments and climate change adaptation programmes and businesses could be built.”
The main research objective is to develop an innovative European climate prediction system based on a new generation of high-resolution climate models, covering timescales from seasons to decades initialised with observations. The system should focus on near term (~1-40 years) predictions, which is the time span most relevant for many decisions of businesses and public authorities for infrastructure and other planning.
Click here for more information on the draft Programmes for 2016-17