1. A REVIEW OF UK, EUROPEAN AND INTERNATIONAL WATER SCIENCE ACTIVITY Marta Salazar, 1 Prof. Sue Grimes, 1 Dr Deborah Coughlin, 2 Stuart Kirk and 3 Dr Jim Wharfe 1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London. 2 Defra. 3 Environment Agency (EA). Introduction The most relevant water-related research is driven by water policies and associated national strategies, and it is mainly conducted under the umbrella of national and European dedicated funding programmes. Conclusions and Proposals The volume of research outputs is very large making it difficult to know what information is available, where best to find it, and how to assimilate all of the findings. A set of measures to help Defra and the EA evidence-based work is proposed, classified in four main areas. In all these areas, a major focus should be given to emerging or less developed topics. Acknowledgments Prof. Sue Grimes, Dr Deborah Coughlin, Stuart Kirk and Dr Jim Wharfe Defra and the Environment Agency. Bicentennial Becas-Chile Scholarship from the Advanced Human Capital Program of the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research of Chile. References European Commission (2011a). CORDIS: http://cordis.europa.eu/ European Commission (2011b). ERA: http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/ European Commission (2011c). ETC: http://www.territorialcooperation.eu/http://cordis.europa.eu/http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/http://www.territorialcooperation.eu/ European Commission (2011d). LIFE Programme: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/ http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/ Aim and scope The aim of the project is to ascertain the extent to which water research and evidence initiatives are responding to policy needs. A major focus remains on initiatives at European level that could help to address water evidence requirements of the government agencies in the context of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) implementation. Findings Research funding programmes, such as European Territorial Cooperation (ETC), Framework Programme (FP), European Research Area (ERA) Nets and LIFE programme at European scale, represent the major source of water-related research. Analysis Information of 51 selected projects (45 with budget information) from the main funding programmes was classified and compared with the main evidence needs required by Defra and the EA. JPI on Water ERA- Nets LIFE Programme Interreg Programme European Territorial Cooperation European Research Area EUROPEAN COMMISSION CORDIS Framework Programme Funding Cooperation Figure 1: European Research ItemMinMaxAverage Each project funding (million €) €0.40€13.00€3.95 Duration19 months5 years3.3 years Each project annual budget (million €) €0.24€4.03€1.47 Nº Partners34516 Increased participation in funding programmes Improved communication within UK bodies Collaborative work Funding Programmes web pages Collaborative research, cooperation and networking web sites. Databases and Projects web pages Periodic Scanning Maintenance of database Identification of appropriate mechanisms for dissemination and after projects closure procedure Data Management To improve access to large bodies of information on single issues or themes To orientate further research activities. Synthesis Reports Figure 2: Projects Allocation and Budget Table 1: Project individual Budget, duration and partners Topic Most common Topics River Basin Management Climate Change and Water Less developed Topics Economic dimension of the WFD Integrated sustainable management Table 2: Thematic Focus DG Research & Innovation DG Environment FP is the most important water-related funding programme, accounting for 38 projects and about 93% of the total amount funded.