Cofunded by the European Union

Water4All TAP Action on Water and Biodiversity

Context

The Thematic Annual Programming (TAP) Action is a “light alignment” tool aimed to foster the alignment of national research programmes, promoting the international cooperation and coordination of national research projects. It relies on the establishment of a network or cluster of excellence of national projects focusing on specific RDI needs from new or already started national calls in order to partner them, creating a critical mass of research and technological excellence, and ensuring the integration and sharing of knowledge. Activities include biannual working meetings of the cluster which allow exchange on approaches, methods, and data.

The Water4All TAP Action is an additional initiative complementary to the six Joint Transnational Calls foreseen during the lifetime of the Water4All Partnership. It will complement the Joint Transnational Call theme while aligning national programmes relevant for this theme. Moreover, it will employ a multi-disciplinary approach including economic, ecological, societal and technological disciplines and perspectives. 

Topic

The general theme of the Water4All TAP Action is Water and Biodiversity, based on the Water4All Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda Theme II “Water for ecosystems and biodiversity” and encompasses: environmental engineering and ecohydrology for ecosystems restoration,  multiple pressure–impact–response relationships, monitoring tools at different scales, harmonization of methodologies for evaluation of surface water hydromorphology, Impacts of hydrological extremes, rehabilitation of water bodies.

The Water4All TAP Action theme is aligned with the 2023 Water4All Joint Transnational Call on “Aquatic Ecosystem Services”. The themes of the TAP Action on “Water and Biodiversity” and the Joint Transnational Call on “Aquatic Ecosystem Services” are complementary. The TAP Action is focusing on those aspects not centrally addressed in the 2023 Joint Transnational Call.

Participating countries*

  • Belgium
  • Czech Republic
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • Ireland
  • Spain

*Note that this list may progress. Participation of other countries will remain open until six months after the TAP Action kick-off meeting in January 2024. However, it is strongly recommended to join before the kick-off meeting.

Timeline

The Water4All TAP Action on “Water and Biodiversity” is announced in summer 2023 and published at national level. It will be launched officially in January 2024 and will last until December 2025. Funding partner organisations can nominate national projects until the end of October 2023, exceptionally June 2024. Coordinators of the national funded projects invited to join the TAP Action will have to participate in annual working meetings to exchange on approaches, methods, data (exchange) and results.

Terms of Reference

The Terms of Reference of the Water4All TAP Action on “Water and Biodiversity” are detailing the procedure for setting up the TAP Action, including the governance structure, the selection process, expected outputs, the added-value for researchers and funding partner organisations. The document is available for download.

Attachement

The Water4All Partnership - Water Security for the Planet - is a funding programme for scientific research in freshwater. It aims to tackle water challenges to face climate change, help to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and boost the EU’s competitiveness and growth.

It is co-funded by the European Union within the frame of the Horizon Europe programme (a key funding programme for research and innovation). The Partnership duration is for seven years from 2022.

The Water4All objective is to enable water security at a large scale and in the long term. Its goal is also to tackle water issues in a holistic frame. 

All forms of life on earth need water. All human activities operate with this resource. Water is part of our everyday life. It is also integrated within urban and countryside landscapes. It is one of the most valuable elements we share with plants and animals.

These simple facts must be kept in mind to understand the Water4All ambition.

This resource is weakened in many places due to climate changes, and human habits. We know that we can improve the way we use water. Everyone has a role to play and especially the scientific research community.

Scientific research is the heart of the Partnership as It is a powerful tool to improve knowledge on preserving, restoring, and managing this essential resource. 

International cooperation is also needed as water has no borders on Earth and runs from one country to another.

Water4All brings together a broad and cohesive group of 81 partners from 31 countries in the European Union and beyond. This consortium gathers partners from the whole water Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) chain.