Project description

Project relevance :

Many current water-related RTD projects have already established operational links with practitioners, which allow the needs of policymakers to be taken into account. However, experience has shown that this interrelationship is not as efficient as it could / should be. Often, RTD results are not easily available to policy oriented implementer (policymakers) and, vice versa, research scientists may lack insight in the needs of policymakers. SPI-Water proposes a number of concrete actions to bridge these gaps in communication by developing and implementing a 'science-policy interface', focusing on setting up a mechanism to enhance the use of RTD results in the Water Framework Directive (WFD) implementation.

Objectives :

1. Analysis and evaluation of projects in the field of river basin management that are of potential use for the WFD implementation.
   • To collect scientific knowledge, research results and demonstration projects; to select, based on established criteria, the projects for potential information useful for implementation of the WFD
   • To analyse and evaluate the relevance and usefulness of the selected information with respect to the European WFD water policy, the policy implementation tasks and the related milestones in the implementation of the WFD
   • To promote the obtained results to the end users, in particular in the context of the activities under the WFD Common Implementation Strategy (CIS)
2. Dissemination activities through the use of a science-policy interfacing instrument in the context of the development of WFD river basin management plans
   • To develop a science-policy interface linked to the WFD implementation, based on two components: a staffed communication-services centre and an operational WISE RTD Web-Portal
   • To establish a reliable and user friendly science-policy interface, by filling the WISE-RTD Web Portal with information collected, analysed and linked with the WFD implementation tasks
   • To disseminate the use of the WISE-RTD Web Portal, aiming to provide access to RTD and demonstration project information in the context of the development of WFD river basin management plans
   • To involve existing related networks on river basin management in the establishment of the science policy interface
3. Development of EU Water Initiative/WFD joint process activities for facilitating the implementation of integrated water resources management principles in non EU countries
   • To review water policy experiences in non-EU countries and to compare with the current WFD practices; to perform a need assessment of 2 Mediterranean river basins
   • To study the applicability of WFD practices to non-EU countries and to identify activities for facilitating its implementation in non-EU countries
   • To disseminate the obtained results to non-EU countries