Praise for EU water management projects, but more communication of results needed
The model used by the European Commission to fund research projects addressing integrated water resources management (IWRM) not only works, but could be used by other sections of the Commission's Research DG to internationalise research, according to an international expert panel. The panel reviewed 67 EU funded IWRM research projects, at the request of the European Commission. The aim of the review was to enable the Commission and others to learn lessons from past investments in water research with an IWRM focus, and to identify strengths and weaknesses of the research, with a particular emphasis on the problems of implementing IWRM principles. The review found that the EU research had mobilised good quality teams in Europe and other parts of the world, and had tangible structuring effects on the way that science was carried out. The research achieved more integration across discipline boundaries than most national research programmes manage. The main weakness picked up on by the panel was a lack of communication of research results to both decision makers and society at large. 'The importance of communication is widely underestimated, both at levels of the programme and individual research teams in projects,' states the report. The paper emphasises that the impact of research actually depends on the capability of scientific teams to communicate their sometimes unwelcome results, but also acknowledges that, on the other hand, success is also reliant upon 'the willingness of actors in the water sector to engage with potentially unpleasant messages'. The report notes that there is frequently a difference between society's perceptions of what can be done in terms of water resource use, and what is actually possible on the basis of underlying fundamentals. 'The challenge for future research is to make explicit efforts to bridge this gap. That would make the research more directly relevant for planning and decision making in the complex politics in which water management takes place,' according to the panel. However, unless the political nature of this process is acknowledged, 'it is difficult or even impossible to increase the impact of the science in the short to medium term,' states the report. The panel's recommended strategies include aligning more strongly with regional integrated water resources allocation and management (IWRAM) priorities, and requiring projects to continue connecting local knowledge, socio-economic development, policy and implementing bodies. Indeed, the review noted that successive EU funded projects had built up a better appreciation of local knowledge in the consortia. In terms of the research focus, the panel recommends ecosystem science, as well as the challenge of achieving a convergence between the way water is managed in actual political economies and the principles of sustainability evident to water scientists and economists. On human capital development, the report recommends the establishment of centres of excellence in the Partner Countries - those non-EU countries participating in the research - devoted to interdisciplinary water science and policy. 'These have intrinsic value and are needed because with some honourable exceptions, the higher education institutions in the US and the EU no longer provide the necessary leadership,' claims the report. The review, part of the EU Water Initiative's contribution to the water-related Millennium Development Goals, not only led to the publication of a technical report, but also to a policy brief and a brochure aimed at the general public. 'I have often said how important it is to work to bring science and society closer together. This brochure is one way in which the European Commission is doing just that,' writes EU Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik in his foreword. 'It is our ambition to make better use of our considerable international cooperation in water research to help address water challenges and promote integrated water resources allocation and management that engages with the people it is designed to help, and meets their needs,' he says. The review was presented at the Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico, which ended on 22 March, World Water Day.