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 Irish EPA in collaboration with the Water JPI members, 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 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.