Water & Related Environmental Research in Europe: Maintaining Awareness
A report first submitted by the Foundation for Water Research (FWR) on March 1st 2000 and revised July 25th 2000
Contents
Appendix A Detailed contents and budgets for FP5 Appendix B Eligibility of countries for participation in FP5 Appendix C COST Actions related to water-environment Appendix D UK National contact details 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Policy makers, regulators and operators in the water and related environmental sectors depend on high quality research to fulfil their duties. Much of the research in these sectors is now part-funded by the European Commission (EC), and invariably involves researchers from many European countries. The size and complexity of EC research activities is daunting to those who wish to identify European Research, Technology and Development (RTD) projects that are related to their interests. For example, the current Fifth Framework Programme (covering the period 1999 - 2002) has a total budget of close to € 15 billion and will support several thousand projects. In addition, there are 12,000 projects under the Fourth Framework programme still in progress.
This report provides basic facts about the structure of the relevant EC institutions, their research programmes (past and present), the status of water-related parts of the current programmes, and advice on how to maintain awareness of outputs and developments. The report makes several recommendations for the identification, monitoring and dissemination of European water-environment research. These are: -
- Summary information should be sought on all past and current approved projects relating to drinking water quality, water supply and environmental water quality. All available sources of information should be reviewed using the most detailed descriptions available from the UK National Contact Points, the CORDIS databases, FP4 publications and the work of the Environment Institute of the European Joint Research Centre (JRC).
- Similar information should be sought on COST, EUREKA and CRAFT projects using contacts identified in the course of producing this report.
- Search and report profiles (related the responsibilities of Water & Land Directorate, and DWI) should be registered with the RAPIDUS service as described in section 6.2 above.
- Past and current projects should be compared with the research activities proposed by the UK Mirror Task Force on Environment-Water.
- The size and complexity of European research funding can hamper those requiring regular intelligence on relevant research and associated policy developments. Discussions with the DETR National Contact Point (Dr. Arwyn Davies) have led to the suggestion that a newsletter produced by FWR would be beneficial. It is proposed that this newsletter should cover all European research and not be confined to FP5. An example is the current OST consultation exercise on the future of European research. The production of an example newsletter by FWR is recommended.
2. INTRODUCTION
Policy makers, regulators and operators in the water and related environmental sectors depend on high quality research to fulfil their duties. Much of the research in these sectors is now part-funded by the European Commission (EC), and invariably involves researchers from many European countries. This has many potential advantages such as technology transfer and the development of shared solutions to common problems.
There are also potential disadvantages such as less effective quality control and less dialogue between the eventual users of the research and the research contractors. Also, the size and complexity of EC research activities is daunting to those who wish to identify European Research, Technology and Development (RTD) projects that are related to their interests. Hence key areas of research may proceed without end-user knowledge and involvement. In the worst case the results may conflict with nationally funded research of superior scientific quality but be deemed pre-eminent because of its European basis. This report provides information and recommendations for those seeking to avoid such conflicts or who wish to identify new technologies from other organisations.
The report provides basic facts about the structure of the relevant EC institutions, the relevant research programmes (past and present), the status of water-related parts of the current programmes, and advice on how to maintain awareness of outputs and developments. In many respects obtaining pertinent information has become more difficult. Previous European Community research programmes have focussed on the support of pre-identified technologies and the transfer of technology to small and medium size enterprises. In other words the EC had defined the need and partly identified the technical approach to be followed by the research. The latest major R&D programme (FP5) has specified broad needs but leaves the definition of potential technological solutions (and hence the type of research) to the proposal. This is sensible as it emphasises problem solving and implementation. However it may be more difficult for an outsider to identify technologies of specific interest.
The report concludes with a practical proposal to aid the dissemination of European water-environment research to those individuals and organisations with a major interest in the outputs.
3. WATER - ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH & THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION STRUCTURE
The appointment of a new Commission in September 1999 was accompanied by an administrative reorganisation. Directorates General (DG’s) are no longer referred to by number. Therefore DG12 has now become the more informative ‘Research DG’ (headed by Commissioner Philippe Busquin) with responsibility for: -
- Developing policy in the field of research and technological development and thereby improving the international competitiveness of European industry;
- Co-ordinating European research activities with those carried out at the level of Member States;
- Supporting the Union’s policies in other fields such as environment, health, energy, regional development etc.
The main instruments for the implementation of this policy are the recurring Framework Programmes, which support co-operation between universities, research centres and industries - including small and medium sized enterprises. The current Fifth Framework Programme covers the period 1999 - 2002 and has a total budget of close to € 15 billion. Other programmes exist and are described later.
In carrying out the above tasks the Research DG works with the Joint Research Centre (another Commission department reporting to Commissioner Busquin) and other Directorates.
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is an integral part of the European Commission and consists of a group of eight scientific institutes that carry out research and provide technical know-how and advice to support European Union (EU) policies. The JRC receives direct funding from the Framework Programmes; within FP5 this is € 1.02 billion or 6.8% of the total FP5 budget. The institute that is most closely focussed on water-environment issues is the Environment Institute (EI), which employs 340 staff at Ispra in Northern Italy. The objectives of the EI are to investigate the level and fate of contaminants in the air, water and soil, to assess the effects of those contaminants upon the environment and individuals and to promote a sustainable energy supply. Current activities address air quality, atmospheric processes in global change, water quality, environmental assessment, radioactive monitoring and renewable energies.
Other Directorates may fund research or related demonstration projects. For example the Environment DG has a programme (called LIFE) which supports ‘innovative and demonstration actions for industry; demonstration, promotion and technical assistance actions for local authorities; and preparatory actions to support community legislation and policies.’ LIFE II (1996 to 1999) funded projects worth € 450 million, several of which are related to the water-environment. The European Parliament is currently discussing funding for a LIFE III programme. Other DGs that may support research related to water-environment are the Agriculture DG the Fisheries DG and the Health & Consumer Protection DG. However a review of their individual websites does not indicate any current R&D initiatives related to water-environment topics.
4. The Current European Research Programmes
4.1 The Fifth Framework Programme (FP5)
Background
This is the major research-funding programme of the European Community for the period 1999-2002. The programme is designed to promote the competitiveness of industry and improve quality of life in Europe through funding collaborative research projects, which will forge links between countries, and between industry and academia. It is based on four 'thematic' RTD programmes and three supporting cross-programme activities.
The four thematic programmes, accounting for about 80% of the budget, are:
- Quality of life and management of living resources - covering life sciences & agriculture;
- The user friendly information society - information & communication technologies;
- Competitive and sustainable growth - covering industrial & transport technologies;
- Energy, environment and sustainable development - covering rural and urban environmental issues, and energy research (in separate sub-programmes with their own budgets). This programme is also referred to as "Preserving the Ecosystem".
The three supporting activities are:- Confirming the international role of Community research - supporting research collaboration (including countries outside the EU);
- Promotion of innovation and encouragement of SME participation - including the dissemination and exploitation of results.
- Improving human research potential and the socio-economic knowledge base (IHP) - research fellowships and networks, access to large-scale facilities and a key action on socio-economic research
The four themes and three supporting actions are further sub-divided and budgets are allocated to these sub-divisions. Detailed contents and budgets are provided in Appendix A. Summary information is provided below.
Table 1 Budget of the specific programmes
€ million % Quality of life & management of living resources 2413 16.1 User-friendly information society 3600 24.1 Competitive & sustainable growth 2705 18.1 Environment & sustainable development 1083 7.2 Energy 1042 7.0 Confirming the international role of community research 475 3.2 Promotion of innovation & encouragement of participation of SMEs 363 2.4 Improving human research potential & the socio-economic knowledge base 1280 8.6 Nuclear energy 979 6.5 Joint Research Centre 1020 6.8 Total FP5 14960 100 Most of the funding in FP5 goes to shared-cost RTD projects. This is where the EC will provide up to 50% of the allowable project costs and the participants will provide the balance. These projects are submitted in response to calls for proposals.
To be funded, research should not have reached the near market development stage; it should be applied research with clear potential for practical exploitation. There is a limited amount of funding available for demonstration activities, which are closer to the market (possibly up to production of a prototype). There are additional funding measures to help SMEs, for promoting dissemination and exploitation of results, and for individual research fellowships (i.e. the supporting actions 5,6, & 7 above).
To be eligible for funding under FP5, research projects must normally be collaborative and be carried out by organisations from at least two eligible countries, working in project consortia. Participation is open to all types of organisations that undertake research, or could benefit from the results of research in the 15 member States of the European Union. In addition, organisations in some other countries can take part. Details of this are given in Appendix B.
Programme components related to water - environment
The most important component is the ‘the Environment and Sustainable Development’ (ESD) sub-programme within the ‘Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development’ (EESD) programme. This sub-programme is further divided into four key actions, research of a generic nature and support for research infrastructures. These are shown in Table 2 along with their respective budgets. It can be seen that Key Action 1 addressing the "sustainable management & quality of water" offers the greatest opportunities for water - environment research.
Other programmes may also fund related research, although not to the same extent as as the ESD sub-programme. In the ‘Quality of Life & Management of Living Resources’ programme there are three key actions of possible interest.
- Key action 3, the "cell factory", is aimed at developing multidisciplinary technologies that exploit the properties of micro-organisms. Although aimed primarily at the high value industries such as medicine and food, a paragraph refers to "energy-efficient bio-remediation waste bio-treatment processes".
- Key action 4, ‘environment & health’.
- Key action 5, ‘Sustainable agriculture, fisheries and forestry’.
In the ‘User-Friendly Information Society’ programme, key action 1 (Systems and services for the citizen) refers to the environment as an area of interest. In the ‘Competitive & Sustainable Growth’ programme key action 1 refers to ‘eco-efficient processes and design’.
Table 2 The Environment & Sustainable Development Work Programme
KEY ACTION 1. Sustainable Management & Quality of Water (€ 170.8-175 million) 1.1 Integrated management and sustainable use of water resources at catchment scale 1.1.1 Strategic planning and integrated management methodologies and tools at catchment scale 1.1.2 Socio-economic aspects of sustainable use of water 1.1.3 Operational management schemes and decision support systems 1.2 Ecological quality of freshwater ecosystems and wetlands 1.2.1 Ecosystem functioning 1.2.2 Ecological quality targets 1.3 Treatment and purification technologies 1.3.1 Management of water in the city 1.3.2 Waste water treatment and re-use 1.4 Pollution prevention 1.4.1 Abatement of water pollution from contaminated land, landfills and sediments 1.4.2 Combating diffuse pollution 1.5 Surveillance, early warning and communication systems 1.5.1 Pollution surveillance and control 1.5.2 Improved flood and drought forecasting 1.6 Regulation of stocks and technologies for arid and semi-arid regions and generally water-deficient regions 1.6.1 Water resources use and management 1.6.2 Prevention and mitigation of saline water intrusion 1.6.3 Technological development and management tools KEY ACTION 2. Global Change, Climate and Biodiversity (€ 206.4-210.6 million) 2.1 To understand, detect, assess and predict global change processes 2.1.1 Atmospheric composition change 2.1.2 Stratospheric ozone depletion 2.1.3 Climate change prediction and scenarios 2.1.4 Climate variability and abrupt climate changes 2.2 To foster better understanding of terrestrial (including freshwater) and marine ecosystems and their interactions 2.2.1 Ecosystem vulnerability 2.2.2 Interactions between ecosystems and the carbon and nitrogen cycles 2.2.3 Assessing and conserving biodiversity 2.3 Scenarios and strategies for responding to global issues 2.3.1 Mitigation and adaptation to global change 2.3.2 Reconciling the conservation of biodiversity with economic development 2.3.3 Fighting land degradation and desertification 2.3.4 Compatibility between EU and international environmental policies and links with trade 2.4 European component of the global observing systems 2.4.1 Better exploitation of existing data and adaptation of existing observing systems 2.4.2 Development of new long-term observing capacity KEY ACTION 3. Sustainable Marine Ecosystems (€ 127.7-131.9 million) 3.1. Improved knowledge of marine processes, ecosystems and interactions 3.1.1 Better assessment of naturally occurring mechanisms of ecosystem functioning 3.1.2. Assessment of sedimentary systems for the sustainable management and use of the shelf, slope and deep-sea floor 3.1.3 Transport pathways and impacts of pollutants, key elements and nutrients in the marine environment 3.2. Reducing the anthropogenic impact on biodiversity and the sustainable functioning of marine ecosystems, and facilitating the development of safe, economic and sustainable exploitation technologies 3.2.1 Reversing the trend in loss of marine biodiversity 3.2.2 Reducing the effects of anthropogenic activities on the marine environment and recovering degraded marine systems 3.2.3 Technologies for safe, sustainable and economic exploitation of marine resources 3.3. Monitoring and managing coastal processes and the coastal zone 3.3.1 Integrated studies on land-ocean interaction 3.3.2 Coastal zone changes 3.3.3 Coastal protection against flooding and erosion 3.3.4 Coastal processes monitoring 3.4. Operational forecasting of environmental constraints of offshore activities KEY ACTION 4. The City of Tomorrow and Cultural Heritage (€ 140.2-142.3 million) 4.1 Sustainable city planning and rational resource management 4.1.1 Improving urban governance and decision making 4.1.2 Improving the quality of urban life 4.1.3 Waste reduction and its life cycle management 4.1.4 Economic development, competitiveness and employment 4.2. Protection, conservation and enhancement of European cultural heritage 4.2.1 Improved damage assessment on cultural heritage 4.2.2 Development of innovative conservation strategies 4.2.3 Foster integration of cultural heritage in the urban setting 4.3 Development and demonstration of technologies for safe, economic, clean, effective and sustainable preservation, recovery, renovation, construction, dismantling and demolition of the built environment, in particular for large groups of buildings 4.3.1 Revitalisation of city centres and neighbourhoods 4.4 Comparative assessment and cost effective implementation of strategies for sustainable transport systems in an urban environment 4.4.1 Strategic approaches and methodologies in urban planning towards sustainable urban transport 4.4.2 Comparative assessment and demonstration of new transport technologies and related infrastructure RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES OF A GENERIC NATURE (€ 94.6-98.8 million) SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURES (€ 54.1-56.2 million) 4.2 European Co-Operation in Scientific & Technical Research (COST)
Background
COST is a European wide support scheme to encourage co-operation in S & T. There are now 32 participating countries including the 15 member states of the European Community. Any area of S & T can be considered for COST support. The scheme facilitates the co-ordination of existing or proposed research programmes in such general fields as:
- topics of international interest such as meteorology and environmental protection;
- generic technologies such as data processing and advanced materials;
- mutual adaptation of various standards and specifications.
However, the scheme only assists with the costs of co-ordination, and does not fund research activities. These include the costs of the scientific secretariat, contributions to workshops and conferences, publications and short term scientific missions. The mechanism is administered by 28 national representatives on a Committee of Senior Officials, helped by a technical secretariat in the European Commission.
National organisations, institutes, universities and industry can participate. The proposals need to be made to the national co-ordinators of COST since actions are financed on a national level and the Commission covers the functioning costs of the framework.
Programme components related to water - environment
COST Actions exist in the 17 following domains:
informatics food technology oceanography civil engineering transport medical research environment forests and forestry products materials chemistry agriculture and biotechnology miscellaneous meteorology fluid dynamics social sciences physics telecommunications However, only a few can be identified as related to water - environment topics and these are listed in Appendix C.
4.3 EUREKA
Background
EUREKA is a pan-European network for encouraging near market, collaborative R&D projects which lead to the development of advanced products, processes or services. It involves organisations from 24 European countries and the Commission of the European Union. It is not an EC programme. A EUREKA Project meets the EUREKA criteria if it: -
- is a hi-tech, market-oriented R&D project;
- involves partners from at least two EUREKA members;
- aims to develop a cutting edge, civilian product, process or service;
- is funded by the partners who may receive public finance from national governments.
Funding of up to 50% of eligible costs is available for research projects, which must involve a minimum of two independent organisations from two member countries. A project can be in any technological area chosen by the participants. However, responsibility for financial aid belongs to EUREKA's national members. Hence within the same project some partners may be subsidised while others will have to repay loans. Similarly, the procedures and time needed to obtain funding differs from one country to the next.
In the UK, all companies and research institutions are eligible for help from the EUREKA Project Co-ordinator at DTI. However, to qualify for project funding, companies must have no more than 250 employees (worldwide, including partners and executive directors) and a turnover under 20 million euro (€ 16 million).
For larger companies EUREKA can act as a catalyst, helping to bring potential collaborators together and the DTI may help with the cost of putting collaborative projects together. However, actual project costs may only be subsidised for smaller firms.
Programme components related to water - environment
Within the EUREKA scheme there are several groupings of ‘Environmental Technology’ projects, two of which are related to water - environment. These are: -
EUROENVIRON: consisting of projects that focus on industrial, urban and agricultural wastes, controlling pollution, developing environment management systems and clean production technologies, improving the indoor environment and water quality, reducing noise and agricultural pollution, and preventing the occurrence and reducing the impact of environmental catastrophes.
EUROMAR: consisting of projects concerned with the marine environment. The projects aim to increase the scientific knowledge of ocean processes, improve the technology to predict the future ocean environment and reduce marine pollution.
4.4 CRAFT (Co-operative Research Action for Technology)
Background
A minimum of 10% of the budget for each FP5 Thematic Programme is set aside specifically for the participation of SMEs, which includes funding for CRAFT projects. CRAFT or 'SME Specific Measures' is a two-step research funding programme for eligible SMEs with little or no research facilities of their own and comprises of Exploratory Awards and Co-operative Research. SMEs can obtain an Exploratory Award to progress into Collaborative Research, Demonstration and Innovation Projects under FP5.
CRAFT proposals can be submitted on a continuous basis and are evaluated three times per annum. They have to follow the general objectives of the Thematic Programmes but do not necessarily have to comply with the detailed requirements. Hence they can provide advantages to SMEs.
Programme components related to water - environment
The components are identical to the FP5 RTD projects described in section 4.1. Information concerning successful proposals and past projects is available from the same sources as used for mainstream FP5 and FP4 projects (described later in section 7).
5. CURRENT STATUS OF FP5 PROJECTS & PROPOSALS
5.1 Environment & sustainable development sub-programme
A total of 951 valid proposals were submitted in June 1999 in response to the first call for proposals. A batch of 165 projects was approved in February 2000 and will receive EU funding worth € 207 million. The first call was for projects dealing with the sustainable management and quality of water, global change, climate and biodiversity, sustainable marine ecosystems, and the city of tomorrow and cultural heritage. The details are as follows.
Action Proposals
receivedProjects
selectedBudget
€ mKA 1: Sustainable management & quality of water 252 43 63.1 KA 2: Global Change, Climate and Biodiversity 336 56 69.4 KA3: Sustainable marine ecosystems 114 19 26.9 KA 4: City of Tomorrow and Cultural Heritage 148 17 17.6 Generic Activities 109 17 13.8 Support for Research Infrastructures 35 13 16.1 Totals 994 165 206.9 A second call for proposals was announced in November 1999 with a submission deadline of 15 February 2000. This second call had a wider scope that included topics more closely related to drinking water supply and quality issues. The evaluation of these proposals will take 4 months and the combined results of the first and second calls will be reviewed and may lead to a revision of the contents of the remaining calls for proposals during 2001 and 2002.
5.2 Quality of Life & Management of Living Resources programme
1792 proposals were submitted in June 1999 in response to the first call. Participation was particularly high in the action lines on the Cell Factory, Environment and Health and the Ageing Population, as well as throughout the Generic Activities, which cover research activities of a more fundamental nature. Not surprisingly, these are domains where European efforts have never before been so deliberately focused, for instance on exploring the impact of the environment on health or tackling the problems of an ageing population. 307 projects were selected, involving 2 749 participants - including 379 from industry - and a total EU contribution of € 494 million. The details are as follows.
Action Proposals
receivedProjects
selectedBudget
€ mKA 1 Food, nutrition & health 190 39 65.7 KA 2 Control of infectious diseases 110 34 67.1 KA 3 The cell factory 399 41 79.8 KA 4 Environment and health 162 25 35.9 KA 5 Sustainable agriculture, fisheries and forestry, and integrated development of rural areas 301 71 94.5 KA 6 The ageing population and disabilities 222 29 40.3 Research of a generic nature 388 63 106.1 Support for research infrastructures 20 5 4.6 Totals 1792 307 494.0 A second call for proposals was announced in December 1999 with a submission deadline during March 2000.
5.3 Competitive & Sustainable Growth programme
The first call for proposals closed on 15 June 1999 and resulted in 848 successful proposals with total funding of € 730 million. A second call for proposals was announced in December 1999.
5.4 User-Friendly Information Society programme
Two calls for proposals occurred during 1999 and details of individual successful projects are becoming available on the webpages dedicated to this programme within CORDIS (see below for details). However, general statistics are not available as for the above programmes.
6. MAINTAINING AWARENESS
6.1 National contact points and EC Committees/Groups
Under FP5, a Europe-wide network of National Contact Points (NCPs) provides local, personal access to information about the specific programmes, and support for organisations - especially SMEs - which wish to participate. The contact details for the UK are listed in
Dr Davies also serves on the Commission’s Programme Committee for this particular sub-programme. These committees have a formal role set out in the Council decisions adopting the specific programmes. The Commission before taking certain decisions consults these programme committees. As such, members of these committees are required to maintain confidentiality but are in a position to provide information on the general scope and direction of current proposals and future calls for proposals.
The Commission also depends on the External Advisory Groups (EAGs) to provide independent advice concerning the content and direction of research work to be carried out under the key actions of the Fifth Framework Programme (FP5). This involves proposing guidelines for the detailed work programmes of FP5, including the timetable of calls for proposals, the criteria to be used for evaluating project proposals, and verifiable objectives for achieving the aims of the key actions. The groups also comment on the strategic nature and exploitation of the work to be carried out and on the analysis of results, with a view to a possible revision or reorientation of the work programmes. Each group has about 16 members chosen from the Member States of the European Union. Members of the External Advisory Groups are appointed for a period of two years, and in a personal capacity, meaning they are independent of their organisation or country. The names of members are published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, and are available for each work programme (& individual components) from http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/fp5/eag-names.html
6.2 CORDIS and related on-line services
CORDIS, the Community Research and Development Information Service provides information on research, development and innovation activities undertaken on a European level. It offers a the following specific services (amongst others) on-line from its main gateway at http://www.cordis.lu
5th Framework Programme: - Information on the on the preparation of the Fifth Research and Technological Development Framework Programme and contracts awarded (the quality of the contract information being a function of the individual programme).
Programme specific homepages: - Provide the most up-to-date information on the actions and activities of EU R&D Programmes. These home pages supplement the information provided in the CORDIS searchable databases.
CORDIS also provides the following Searchable databases
News - Daily information on key aspects of Community R&D such as calls for proposals, tenders and events. Contacts - A listing of official contact points for information, advice or assistance on EU research and development matters. Programmes - Detailed information on all EU funded research programmes and R&D related EU programmes. Publications - Studies, reports and scientific papers concerning EU research.
Projects - Details on individual research projects carried out under the programmes. Acronyms - A compact dictionary of EU research and development terms. Partners - Helps identify suitable partners for collaboration or participation in EU projects. Comdocuments - Official documents relating to the EU's legislative and decision-making process. Results - Assists to promote or locate exploitable research results and prototypes for innovation.
Document Library - Official documents such as calls for proposals, work programmes, information packages, project deliverables and participation guidelines. RAPIDUS (RAPId Delivery of Updates on Search-profiles) is a free service available to registered CORDIS users. It facilitates the creation and storage of CORDIS databases search profiles, so you do not have to enter the same information repeatedly. An added benefit is the automatic receipt of updates, which match the search profile(s), sent via email whenever there is an update to the CORDIS databases.
6.3 Publications
Synopses of all projects in the Environment and Climate programme of the Fourth RTD Framework Programme (1994-1998) are available as four volumes (ISBN 92-828-6158-9) from the Office for Official Publications of the European Union, Luxembourg.
7. RECOMMENDATIONS
- Summary information should be sought on all past and current approved projects relating to drinking water quality, water supply and environmental water quality. All available sources of information should be reviewed using the most detailed descriptions available from the UK National Contact Points, the CORDIS databases, the FP4 publications (described above in section 6.2) and the work of the Environment Institute of the European Joint Research Centre (JRC). Keyword searches may be helpful but may miss relevant projects in areas with no obvious connection with water-environment applications.
- Similar information should be sought on COST, EUREKA and CRAFT projects using contacts identified in the course of producing this report.
- Search and report profiles (related to the responsibilities of Water & Land Directorate, and DWI) should be registered with the RAPIDUS service as described in section 6.2 above.
- Past and current projects should be compared with the research activities proposed by the UK Mirror Task Force on Environment-Water.
- The size and complexity of European research funding can hamper those requiring regular intelligence on relevant research and associated policy developments. Discussions with the DETR National Contact Point (Dr. Arwyn Davies) have led to the suggestion that a newsletter produced by FWR would be beneficial. It is proposed that this newsletter should cover all European research and not be confined to FP5. An example is the current OST consultation exercise on the future of European research. The production of an example newsletter by FWR is recommended.
Appendix A
Detailed contents and budgets for FP5The full breakdown of the budget for the Fifth Framework Programme is set out below. All figures are in Euro.
FIRST ACTIVITY Four Thematic Programmes
10,843m
Theme 1: Quality of Life, Management of Living Resources
2,413m
Key actions Food, Nutrition and Health 290m Control of Infectious Diseases 300m The "Cell Factory" 400m Environment and Health 160m Sustainable Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry 520m The Ageing Population and Disabilities 190m RTD activities of a generic nature 483m Support for research infrastructure 70m Theme 2: User-Friendly Information Society
3,600m
Key actions Systems and Services for the Citizen 646m New Methods of Work and Electronic Commerce 547m Multimedia Content and Tools 564m Essential Technologies and Infrastructures 1,363m RTD activities of a generic nature 319m Support for research infrastructure 161m Theme 3: Competitive and Sustainable Growth
2,705m
Key actions Innovative Products, Processes and Organisation 731m Sustainable Mobility and Intermodality 371m Land Transport and Marine Technologies 320m New Perspectives for Aeronautics 700m RTD activities of a generic nature 546m Support for research infrastructure 37m Theme 4: Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development
This theme is divided into two parts, as follows: Environment and Sustainable Development
1,083m
Key actions Sustainable Management and Quality of Water 254m Global Change, Climate and Biodiversity 301m Sustainable Marine Ecosystems 170m The City of Tomorrow and Cultural Heritage 170m RTD activities of a generic nature 119m Support for research infrastructure 69m Energy
1,042
Key actions Cleaner Energy Systems, incl. Renewables 479m Economic and Efficient Energy 547m RTD activities of a generic nature 16m
SECOND ACTIVITY Confirming the International Role of Community Research
475m
Co-operation with third countries States in the Pre-accession Phase 26m CEECs/NIS not in the Pre-accession Phase 112m Mediterranean Partner Countries 55m Developing Countries 210m Emerging Economy and Industrialised Countries 5m Training of Researchers 15m Co-ordination 52m
THIRD ACTIVITY Promotion of Innovation, Encouragement of SMEs
363m
Promotion of Innovation 119m Encouraging SME participation 44m Joint Innovation/SME activities 200m
FOURTH ACTIVITY Improving Human Research Potential
1,280m
Training and Mobility of Researchers 858m Access to Research Infrastructures 182m Promoting S/T Excellence 50m Key action Socio-economic Knowledge Base 165m Development of S/T policies 25m Direct Actions (Joint Research Centre) 739m Serving the Citizen 292m Enhancing Sustainability 321m Underpinning European Competitiveness 126m EURATOM Treaty
1,260m
Appendix B
Eligibility of countries for participation in FP5The 15 member States of the European Union (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom).
In addition, organisations in some other countries can take part:
- Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein (fellow members of the European Economic Area) - organisations from these fully associated countries should be able to take part in FP5 with basically the same participation rights as organisations in the RHEUM member States;
- Israel, and countries which have applied to join the European Union - Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia - are expected to become fully associated; organisations from these countries are expected to have basically the same participation rights as the EC member States;
- Countries with whom the EC has a science and technology agreement - organisations can take part without receiving EU funding. Depending on the outcome of current negotiations there are likely to be agreements with: Australia, Canada, China, Russia, South Africa and USA. The agreements will also allow for organisations within the EC to take part in research programmes in these countries;
- Organisations from other countries can be part of project consortia on a case-by-case basis, without receiving funding, if their participation contributes significantly to the successful completion of the project.
Appendix C
COST Actions related to water-environmentEnvironment domain
COST 619 Effects of atmospheric CO2 increase on carbon fluxes in grassland ecosystems. COST 620 Vulnerability & risk mapping for the protection of carbonate (karst) aquifers. COST 621 Groundwater management of coastal karstic aquifers. COST 622 Soil resources of European volcanic ecosystems. COST 623 Soil erosion and global change. COST 624 Optimal management of waste-water systems. COST 625 3-D Monitoring of Active Tectonic Structures. Agriculture and biotechnology domain
COST 831 Biotechnology of soil: monitoring, conservation and remediation. COST 832 Methodologies for estimating the agricultural contribution to eutrophication. COST 837 Plant biotechnology for the removal of organic pollutants. Urban and Civil Engineering domain
COST C3 Diagnosis of urban infrastructures.
Appendix D
UK National contact detailsDAVIES, Arwyn (Dr) - EESD, Environment & Sustainable Development
DETR, London
+44 (0) 20 7944 5271
+44 (0) 20 7944 2356
arwyn_davies@detr.gsi.gov.ukSIDEBOTTOM, Sarah (Mrs) and PEARCE, Richard (Mr) EESD, Energy
March Consulting Group, Manchester
+44 (0) 161 8743636 or 3676
+44 (0) 161 8743644
energie@march-consulting.co.uk
SILWOOD, John (Mr) - Competive & Sustainable Growth
National Physical Laboratory, London
+44 (0) 20 8943 6660
+44 (0) 20 8943 2989
csghelp@npl.co.uk
COATES, David (Dr) - Quality of Life & Management of Living Resources
Office of Science and Technology, London
+44 (0) 20 7215 6423
+44 (0) 20 7215 6410
david.coates@osct.dti.gov.uk
MOORE, David (Mr) - Promotion of Innovation & Encouragement of Participation of SME’s - INNOVATION
Office of Science and Technology, London
+44 (0) 20 7215 6429
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