ISPRA meets in Brussels the GD for Research and Innovation of the European Commission and the Joint Research Center Director

An ISPRA delegation met, for the first time, the Director General Director of the European Commission's Research and Innovation Directorate, Jean Eric Paquet, explaining the organization of ISPRA and SNPA and the exclusive skills in the field of  environmental research (ISPRA is the only European agency organized as a research center). Jean Eric Paquet underlined also the importance for the European Commission to collaborate with organizations such as ISPRA and expressed the intention to involve an institution with such exclusive capacities within the thematic tables that discuss the research priorities of the EU.

The DG has seen ISPRA's interest in participating in major applied research actions, in particular ERA-NET and similar tools, which are considered very useful. The next Framework Program for Research, which is in definition and which will replace the current Horizon 2020, provides a more structured collaboration between the General  Directorates  of the European Commission and project bigger than now; more attention will be given to integrated and transversal approaches, in line with the new ISPRA and SNPA structure. The DG has invited ISPRA to participate in the various activities that will be organized in 2019 to prepare the different subjects to work in 'clusters' on the basis of this new strategy. Then, he identified Pillar n. 2 ('Global Challenges' Global Challenges) of the new Research Framework Program, which includes joint integrated actions, as of particular interest to ISPRA, and vice versa, the interest of DG RTD to a participation of ISPRA in the Program.

The delegation also met the Director of the Joint Research Center, Vladimir Sucha, discussing the collaboration between ISPRA and the JRC. They agreed to expand cooperation to a new thematic areas with a formal agreement. An intense exchange between the various scientific representatives of the two structures will start immediately, to form the basis of a wide-ranging agreement that re-launches environmental research in the European field and reinforces the national part.