After recent discussions with the European Commission, it became apparent that it would be useful to hold a workshop between the coordinators and perhaps a limited number of key scientists working within European FP6 and FP7 projects that are broadly related to water and climate. The aim of this meeting is to identify key strengths and weaknesses in the different projects, and see whether some of the weaknesses (methodologies, models, data) can be overcome through (i) collaborative action with other projects or through (ii) the suggestion of future call topics and the initiation of new projects. If this approach were to be successful, there would indeed be added value to all the projects that we collectively represent.

Please note that the “EU Water Science Gaps Workshop” will be a small meeting (and not a conference) and complementary to the “Policy Meeting” organized by the European Commission in June 2010. There will be space for no more than 40 EU-FP6 and FP7 project coordinators, key researchers in addition to a few invited international experts.

Workshop topics and schedule

The meeting will include "upstream" as well as "downstream" issues of water. The final list of workshop topics will be adapted based on the background and interests of participants, but should at least include: floods, droughts, water quality, adaptation in the water sector, integrated management of climate change impacts (incl. socio-economics); as well as multi-risk evaluation, prevention, and preparedness.