NEWS STORIES EU-India Joint Call on Research and Innovation: 30 mn. Funding for Water The Delegation of the European Union to India, the Department of Science & Technology and the Department of Biotechnology are organising an Information and Brokerage event on 3 November 2017 to present their Joint Call on Research and Innovation for Water. In total, 30 mn. (or about INR 225 crs.) has been earmarked for research and innovation actions aiming at improving the quality of drinking water, waste water management and real time monitoring and control systems. The EU and India will fund 15 mn. each. Today, at the opening of the Information and Brokerage event on the EU- India call for cooperation on research and innovation on Water, at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi, the Ambassador of the European Union to India, Mr. Tomasz Kozlowski, recalled the importance the EU attached to the EU-India Water Partnership. He stated "Water is essential to all forms of life. Like most worldwide challenges, tackling water-related issues is a collective responsibility of many stakeholders, including governments, industry and citizens. We need to develop creative approaches to effectively address this challenge, and joint research and innovation efforts are a crucial component of our collaboration in this area." India and Europe have, in the past, already collaborated intensively on water, enriching each other's technological and scientific knowledge and management capacities to cope with stress on water resources. Uneven distribution of water resources triggered by climate change, extreme water-related events (floods and droughts) and increasing demand due to population growth and economic development as well as water pollution add additional stress to water, the environment and food security. Many of these water challenges are common to India and the EU. At the EU-India Summit in 2016, the usefulness of joining forces to address these
issues by agreeing to the India- EU Water Partnership was recognised. At the India-EU Summit in New Delhi on 6 October 2017, the leaders built on that commitment and agreed to strengthen the research and innovation efforts on water by organising a joint call of 30 mn., shared equally by both sides. The presentation of the EU-India flagship call on Water will be an ideal opportunity to get all the information on the modalities of the call and meet stakeholders from both Europe and India and start matchmaking in order to build strong consortia. The call deadline is 27 February 2018. Technological development and transfer of European technology to replicate in the Indian market and make it affordable are important components of the call. The EU Ambassador added that he was also very pleased that the network of scientists and experts on water, which has been constituted through the EU TECO project, which met the day before at the India Habitat Centre, will now have an opportunity to continue their cooperation through participation in this important call on Water. This call on water will also contribute to the EU-India Water Partnership which promotes the exchange of views on regulatory approaches, including governance, procurement, best practices, and business solutions in the water field, taking into account lessons learnt in the implementation of the EU s legislation on water. It is also expected that cooperation between the EU and India in other research fields will follow, notably on Health, Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Bio-economy, ICT, Polar Sciences, Urban Transport and Renewable Energy in the context of Mission Innovation. The EU Ambassador encouraged India to make use of the Co-Funding Mechanism agreed in 2016, for the many new research opportunities in the Horizon 2020 work programmes for 2018-2020 published on 27 October 2017. BACKGROUND Cooperation on research and innovation and 'Horizon 2020' EU strategy on International cooperation on Research and Innovation: The EU's strategy for international cooperation in research and innovation is guided by European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas' policy on research and innovation, which can be summarized in the three goals (the 3 O's): Open Innovation, Open Science and Open to the World. For the EU, science has no borders and the EU wants to cooperate on research and innovation with scientists from all over the world. Accordingly, the EU's research and innovation framework programme 'Horizon 2020' is open to the
world and India can participate in all EU calls. A distinction has to be made between eligibility for participation and receiving funding. In collaboration projects, entities from India, just like the other emerging economies of Brazil, China and Russia, have to fund their own participation. For this reason, the European Commission and the Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT) have established a Co-Funding Mechanism (CFM) to support joint projects between European and successful Indian participants (universities and research institutions) in fields of mutual interest. What is 'Horizon '2020'? 'Horizon 2020' is the EU's funding instrument for research and innovation actions among the EU Member States and countries associated to the programme and all other partners in the world. It has a budget of about 80 bn. for the seven-year period from 2014 to 2020 and consists of three pillars: The first pillar focuses on "Excellent Science" and has a budget of 24 bn. of which 13 bn. is reserved for the European Research Council (ERC). This pillar also funds grants for researcher's mobility known as Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA); 'Future and Emerging Technologies' and large European research infrastructures. The second pillar "Industrial Leadership", with a budget of 14 bn. aims at improving Europe's industrial capacity and competitiveness through academia and industry partnership. The third pillar "Societal Challenges", funds R&I aiming at finding solutions to social and economic problems. In total, seven "Societal Challenges" have been identified: Health, demographic change and well-being; Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy; Secure, clean and efficient energy; Smart, green and integrated transport; Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials; Europe in a changing world - inclusive, innovative and reflective societies; and Secure societies - protecting freedom and security of Europe and
its citizens 'Horizon 2020' funds research, technological development, and innovation, with the aim of delivering economic growth faster and delivering solutions. Participation by SMEs is strongly encouraged. What is a work programme? Funding opportunities under 'Horizon 2020' are set out in multi-annual work programmes. On 27 October 2017, the European Commission launched the work programmes for he remaining period time of 'Horizon 2020': 2018-2020, amounting to 30 bn., including 2.7 bn. to kick-start a European Innovation Council. All calls are published on the EU portal. The EU-India Water call is part of Societal Challenge 5 "Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials". EU-India Cooperation on Water Research: building upon past experience India and the EU have already been collaborating on water research in the past through the EU's previous R&I programme FP7 and the multilateral platform NEW INDIGO funded by FP7 until April 2017 as well as many forms of bilateral collaboration between India and the EU Member States/countries associated to 'Horizon 2020'. A snapshot is given below: Fact sheet: EU-India multilateral projects - 2007-2014 Programme Call No. of Projects funded EU Grant to MS/AC + India (EUR) India Grant to India (EUR) FP7 (2007-14) Water Related Research 9 81 700 659 0 Programme Call No. of Projects funded EU Grant to MS/AC India Grant to India EU-IND COORDINATED CALL Water Related Research 6 22 000 000 22 000 000 New INDIGO- NNP2 Water Related Research 9 944 247 442 867 Total 24 104 644 906 2 244 867 TECO Project
TECO is a development aid project with the specific objective of boosting research and innovation collaborations between the EU and India in the field of environment with a focus on technological eco-innovation for the quality control and the decontamination of polluted waters and soils. This project will support the EU's collaboration with India on research on global water and soil challenges, generating innovative solutions by increasing mobility schemes and collaborations. The consortium is led by Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), the National Research Council of Italy, in partnership with the National Environmental Engineering Institute (NEERI) of CSIR, India. The EU contributes 333,000 (or about INR 2.5 crs), for a duration of 4 years (1 December 2014 to 30 November 2018). India-EU Water Partnership An India- European Union Water Partnership was agreed at the EU-India Summit in Brussels in March 2016 and followed up with a Memorandum of Understanding which was signed in October 2016 in New Delhi by EU Commissioner for Environment, Karmenu Vella and India s Minister for Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Uma Bharti. The Partnership foresees cooperation in water law and governance; promotion of research, innovation and exchange of business solutions, and joint initiatives to rejuvenate the iconic Ganga river and India s other water bodies by bringing together a wide community of stakeholders on both sides. Implementation of the India EU Water Partnership is well under way with the organisation of technical exchanges & workshops, annual water fora and the creation of business and networking opportunities. The specific topics covered range from river basin management planning and governance, water allocation, water economics and ecological flows in rivers. Capacity building sessions and technical exchanges on river basin management planning have been organised for the Krishna, Godavari and Mahanadi basins. For the next phase of the India-EU Water Partnership some of the agreed priorities are: sustainable development of river basins; river restoration; ecological flows; water use in irrigation; sustainable and optimal groundwater use and recharge; capacity building and organizational development; the setting up of water accounts; and visualising monitoring data for the Ganga River and for Smart Cities, with a view of prioritising investments. For more information Horizon 2020 website: EU Delegation to India Press Contact:
Ms. Poonam Kapila Press and Communication Officer Poonam.kapila@eeas.europa.eu Documents Opening address by Mr. Tomasz Kozlowski, Ambassador of the European Union www.eeas.europa.eu Source URL: http://eueuropaeeas.fpfis.slb.ec.europa.eu:8084/delegations/india/35075/eu-india-joint-call-research-and-innova tion-%e2%82%ac-30-mn-funding-water_mn