The importance of networks of observatories and research infrastructures in hydrological data collection: the example of Water JPI and Water4All

The importance of mapping Research Infrastructures (RIs) is widely recognized, there are numerous and diverse observatories and research infrastructures dealing with water challenges, both at local, national and European levels.

With the aim to create a network, since 2013, a lot of work has already been done within the Water JPI, an intergovernmental initiative whose mission is to strengthen water RDI collaboration amongst Member States in order to spur Europe’s leadership and competitiveness in the water sector. 

A Water JPI Infrastructures Platform was developed with the aim to support and facilitate the dissemination of information, assessing the existing RIs, to promote active collaboration among institutions and to provide access to world-leading research infrastructures that will enable excellent interdisciplinary research in water topic.

Today, the new European Partnership Water4All - Water Security for the Planet, is making great efforts to continue pursuing this goal: a first mapping report has been produced for assessing possible gaps and identifying synergies between existing structures. One of the main objectives of this mapping is the facilitation of sharing and accessing large-scale and long-term environmental data, in order to cooperate with relevant EU and national actors for developing observation data, their distribution and services for broadening implementation and to enhance the European observing capacity and predicting capabilities of the water cycle at global, regional and basin scales and its impacts on ecosystems.

In parallel, Water4All is developing a platform and a toolbox for water related data by integrating various existing databases and data collected and developed in the research projects funded by Water4All. The objective is to manage water related data thus providing a platform for a more efficient use of the information collected in Water4All following the FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reuse) principles.