Sustainable Technologies and Research for European Aquatic Management

The problem Europe faces in the field of water is not so much the development of research and new technologies, but more the awareness and the actual uptake of this knowledge, and the implementation of the results; either they are research-based policy guidelines or industry applications.

To achieve this goal STREAM project:

focuses on the identification of the most valuable research results and new technologies and makes this information accessible by actively disseminating it in a targeted way to the most relevant stakeholders;
aims at identifying the relevant policies set up in water management and water efficiency and disseminate these best practices to the main stakeholders involved in local policies implementation.

STREAM stakeholders are:

Policy makers: have to be provided with clear-easy-quick information on the current and future challenges and the available technologies to shape and to implement new policies and legislation;
Researchers and PhD students: need to be aware of recent research to avoid duplications and joint efforts at EU level and enable continuous progress of the knowledge base. They should be able to ensure a policy-driven approach in their research;
SMEs: being the main up-takers and developers of new water technologies, they urgently need to be aware of the latest research results and future policy developments and actively contributing in the conception of new technologies;
Industries and water consumers: need to be aware of the policy developments and available technologies to base their operational decisions and minimize their water use and pollution.

Partners

The kick off meeting of STREAM was held in Minerva premises on the 25th and 26th of January 2011. The project, started on the 1st January 2011 and running until the end of 2012, has been funded by the European Commission under the FP7and supports the dissemination and the adoption of water technologies.

On the 26th of January the European Commission organised a joint kick off meeting which involved STREAM and other two similar projects - Waterdiss 2.0 and STEP-WISE - to coordinate them to find synergies on some of the activities to carried out, in particular on data collection.

Project number	n/a
Subject(s)	METHTODOLOGY - STATISTICS - DECISION AID , NATURAL MEDIUM , POLICY-WATER POLICY AND WATER MANAGEMENT , TOOL TERMS
Acronym	STREAM
Geographical coverage	Netherlands,Italy
Budget (in €)	0
Programme	EU- FP7
Web site	http://www.stream-project.eu/
Objectives	The STREAM project aims in general at reducing the gap between research on water, policy making and industry, by bringing together actors from these three most relevant stakeholders in knowledge exchange dedicated events but also through target knowledge sharing experiences such as e-Learning addressed to the three groups and summer schools addressed especially to researchers and industry/SME. Considering the needs of specific stakeholders, STREAM objectives have been set in order: To identify a relevant number of actual research and technological developments on water. STREAM will focus on the results of projects under the FP6 and FP7 programmes, but also under other European programmes as well; To improve the dissemination of the results of water-related research among all stakeholders and to facilitate their uptake; To foster a better coordination between policy level, research sector and business sector to contribute shaping an even more more research-based policy and policy-driven research; To raise awareness among all stakeholders on the need of actively disseminating these results and work toghether for their implementation, thus by contributing to address Europe’s water challenges. STREAM will contribute to the following indirect objectives in the long run: To develop and implement policies and technologies to lower water consumption by consumers and industry; To develop technologies to lower water consumption in agriculture and to set the policies in order to stimulate the efficient use of water in agriculture and the uptake of enabling technologies; To promote policy guidelines to improve water management systems in urban areas, improving the efficiency of existing infrastructures.
Results	Expected Results The ultimate goal of STREAM activities is to support the European efforts to address its water challenges and to reach the EU objectives on sustainable development and economic growth. To achieve these objectives, water stakeholders (policy makers, research sector and business sector) should make better use of their available technologies and research. STREAM will contribute to achieve the following results: A better overview of the state of the art of water research and technology A higher visibility of these results, leading to wider awareness among all stakeholders; A better integration of research and technologies at political and business level; An increased partecipation of SME’s in the water sector; An improved coordination and awareness among European water projects, making better use of existing knowledge and resources; Overall improved human capacities of the target groups reached by STREAM training and seminar activities.
Period	[01/01/2011 - 31/12/2012]

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