Dear Members,
The EOC participated at the workshop “COST Connect: Water for Food and Agriculture in the Mediterranean Area”, organised by COST on 28 June 2017. The event was by invitation only.
The
event aimed to increase awareness on the different relevant funding
opportunities in the field of Water for Food and Agriculture in the
Mediterranean Area and how to access them (promoting research
cooperation funding programmes related to water and agriculture issues:
Information on PRIMA and Calls from JPIs, ERA-NETs; EIT).
Please find attached:
· the list of participants;
· the ‘Stakeholders in “Water for Agriculture and Food in the Mediterranean Area”’ booklet that provides an overview of the funding opportunities
in this field and in particular topics suchas smart and sustainable
farming, improved land- and water- sustainability and management; new
governance models, reduced pests and pathogens in farming and innovative
solutions in agri-business;
· a second booklet about the “COST Actions working on the water – food – agriculture”, offering a wealth of opportunities for networking events, short term scientific missions, training schools, etc.
We would like to draw your attention to the following initiatives presented during the event that have open or upcoming calls for proposals:
ARIMNET: Coordination of Agricultural Research in the Mediterranean
ARIMNet2 (Coordination of Agricultural Research in the Mediterranean; 2014-2017) is
an ERA-NET Action financed by the European Union under the Seventh
Framework Programme for research, technological development and
demonstration, aimed at enhancing the coordination of agricultural research in the Mediterranean area and strengthening the cooperation among stakeholders from the food and agriculture sector (e.g.
researchers, farmers and their organisations, agricultural extension
services, agribusinesses, policy-makers, funders, etc.). ARIMNet2 gathers 24 partners (funding agencies and research institutions) from 15 Mediterranean countries (Algeria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey).
Open call for Young Researchers Projects – deadline 14 September 2017 – that covers two topics:
· Topic 1: Promoting sustainable agriculture for socio-economic development.
· Topic 2: Valorising local products through food value chains improvement.
http://www.arimnet2.net/index.php/mediterranean-joint-calls/joint-call-2017-arimnet2
Confirmed participating countries to ARIMNet2 call for Young Researchers
Southern country: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia
Northern country: Croatia, France, Greece, Spain, Turkey, Slovenia
PRIMA initiative: Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area
The new Partnership on Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA),
based on Article 185 TFEU, which enables the EU to participate in
research programmes undertaken jointly by several Member States, will develop much-needed solutions for a more sustainable management of water and agro-food systems.
The main objective of the ten-year initiative (2018 – 2028),
which is partly funded by EU's research and innovation programme
Horizon 2020, is to devise new R&I approaches to improve water
availability and sustainable agriculture production in a region heavily
distressed by climate change, urbanisation and population growth.
On
13 June 2017, the European Parliament adopted the PRIMA Basic Act and
on 26 June 2017, the Council endorsed the initiative. Once final
technical and administrative preparations have been concluded, the initiative will be launched in January 2018 with the first calls to be published early 2018. Each year there will be a call for RIA proposals under the three PRIMA thematic areas:
1) Integrated and sustainable management of water for arid and semi-arid Mediterranean areas (hereafter referred as Water Management);
2) Sustainable farming systems under Mediterranean environmental constraints (Farming systems );
3) Sustainable Mediterranean agro-food value chain for regional and local development (Agro-food Value Chain). It will also address the crosscutting issues (soil sustainability, food security).
http://ec.europa.eu/research/environment/index.cfm?pg=prima
JPI Water: Water challenges for a changing world
The
JPI “Water challenges for a changing world” deals with research and
innovation in the field of water challenges related sciences covering a
broad spectrum of water research under very different environmental and
water user conditions.
The Water JPI is planning to launch new Joint Calls on:
1. August 2017: “Water resource management in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals”, organised around two challenges:
· Multiple
pressure effects on ecosystems and ecosystem services as well as
effective mitigation – adaptation tools and assessments for implementing
the water related targets of the UN SDGs.
· Developing accessible solutions for clean water management to address UN SDG6 targets and associated SDGs.
The
Water JPI 2017 Joint Call will be funded by 13 Funding Partner
Organisations from 13 countries (including Cyprus but not Greece).
This
Call is for collaborative transnational research proposals. Consortia
should include a minimum of 3 partners from 3 different participating
countries. Researchers from other countries can also participate at
their own costs (commitment needed for being associated to a consortium
applying to the Water JPI 2017 Joint Call).
2. February 2018: Closing the water cycle gap - sustainable water management
http://www.waterjpi.eu/
ERANETMED: Euro-Mediterranean Cooperation through ERANET Joint Activities and Beyond
ERANETMED
aims to enhance Euro-Mediterranean co-ownership through innovation and
competitive research in the societal challenges of the region. The
project aims at reducing fragmentation of programming in the
Mediterranean region by increasing coordination among national research
programmes of European Member States, Associated Countries and
Mediterranean Partner Countries.
The 3rd JOINT CALL with the scope of Sustainable Water Management has been launched in May 2017 with a deadline on 14 July 2017.
Researchers from the following countries are eligible: France, Egypt,
Germany, Italy, Lebanon, Algeria, Portugal, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia,
Spain, Cyprus and Turkey.
http://www.eranetmed.eu/index.php/eranetmed-news/71-3rd-joint-callannouncement
PLATFORM of bioeconomy ERA-NET Actions (PLATFORM)
PLATFORM is the forum for funders and programme managers in European Research Area Networks (ERA-NETs)
in the fields that make up the bioeconomy: food, agriculture,
aquaculture, fisheries, forestry, climate, biodiversity and
biotechnologies. PLATFORM aims to improve exchange and cooperation and
to strengthen their impact on the ERA and the European bioeconomy.
PLATFORM provides a database with comprehensive information about networks in the area of the bioeconomy, transnational calls, and funded transnational research projects under P2P programmes, is available at www.era-platform.eu.
We are at your disposal for further information or clarifications.
Attached Files
Kind regards,
Rosemary
Rosemary STREVINIOTI
Head of Brussels Office
European Office of Cyprus
Rue du Luxembourg 3, 2nd floor
B-1000 Brussels
Tel./Fax: +32 (0) 2 280 22 85
E-mail: strevinioti.rozamaria@ucy.ac.cy
