57
The fundamental principle if to bring innovation into current research programmes developed in the Euro-
Med area and foster innovative solutions for regional development.
A summary of the most relevant ongoing EU and International initiatives is provided below. A critical
evaluation shows
how the results of these initiatives, whilst being of immediate relevance, fails to deliver
a paramount impact when the entire Euro-Mediterranean area is considered or in case of evaluating the
food-water-energy nexus as a whole.
ERA-NET MED
Scope and Objective
Strengths
Following the Conference of Barcelona on 2012, the
ERANETMED responds to the need to develop new ways
of “sustainable” cooperation, in which both European and
MPC partners will equally participate and benefit from the
output and the opportunities created by the project. The
ERANETMED will consider a broad area for research,
addressing not only the most important societal
challenges of the region but also actions to enhance
innovation through applied research, capacity building,
mobility and clustering.
In the framework of ERANETMED, the participation of 10
EU Countries, 1 AC and 6 MPC was foreseen. 21 projects
have been funded for a total of about 23 m€.
In particular, collaborative research was the action
funded, plus some fellowships/scholarships. Capacity
building and innovation are not recurrent among the
actions funded in thIs ERA-NET.
Weaknesses
Therefore, despite being this ERANET a good instrument
of cooperation across the two shores of the
Mediterranean, the limited funding and the lack of a
broader scope, a larger and holistic coordination, a
stronger stakeholder participation including industries
and SMEs, did not allow the to full exploitation of its
potential.