Europe faces a range of environmental challenges that will impact on its future prosperity. Europe leads in innovative environmental technologies (ET) which can provide solutions while also increasing EU competitiveness. Breaking into the market with innovations can be a significant problem because innovations, by definition, cannot show a successful track-record. Without credible information about innovative technologies, potential buyers are unsure whether to trust the claims made about their performance.In 2011, the European Commission with seven Member States [1] intended to launch a solution to address this problem: Environmental Technology Verification (ETV). [2] ETV provides for third-party verification of the performance claims made by technology manufacturers in business- to-business relations. By issuing a Statement of Verification, which is the product of a successful ETV process, ETV provides credible information on new technologies. Market access for innovative ET is thus significantly enhanced while the technological risk for technology purchasers (whether private or public) is greatly reduced.The ETV4INNOVATION Eco-Innovative partnership comprising six partners from five European countries (Ireland, Spain, France, Bulgaria, Denmark, and Poland)The objective of the partnership was to design and develop an e-learning training course filling ETV-related knowledge gaps for current and future managers and workers in technological sectors.To this end, the ETV4INNOVATION partnership defined and reached the following specific objectives (SO):SO1. Identify the knowledge gaps inherent in organizations SO2. Design and develop a Joint Curriculum (JCV)SO3. Deliver the JCV via an e-learning Open Educational Resource (OER) Platform that is protected under open licensing. SO4. Bridge the divides across SMEs, large companies, and experts in ETV, creating common procedures and skills.SO5. Equip enterprises with appropriate skills and knowledge for current and future ETV verification by fostering a sustainable technology process.SO6. Raise awareness of current environmental issues and the need to carry out sustainable development and establish more environmentally-friendly and respectful practices.To achieve these objectives the partnership carried out the following activities:-Comparative analysis and evidence-gathering of examples of good practice, and case-studies of previously performed successful ETV. enabling the identification of the required skills and competences in the tech sectors and thus facilitate successful applications for the ETV process.-Development of a Joint Curriculum with the integration of different learning modes and innovative approaches.-The creation of learning and training materials together with methods, pedagogical approaches, tools, and methodologies.-The implementation of a training and collaborative e-learning platform that ensures the delivery of all the developed materials.The partnership worked fostering modernization and knowledge expansion aligned to the needs and opportunities offered by the increasing number of new eco-technologies developers in the fields of water treatment, energy technologies, materials, and waste. In addition, ETV4INNOVATION extended the ETV process to additional European Countries, with the involvement of the different stakeholders and target groups identified.The project carried out its own assessment and a wide dissemination strategy to communicate its results to as many interested parties as possible. ETV4INNOVATION also addressed transversal skills, such as entrepreneurship, green skills, and digital competences.Regarding the longer-term benefits of ETV4INNOVATION:-ETV4INNOVATION will increase the labor market relevance of Vocational and Educational Training (VET) provision and will reduce skills mismatches and shortages among the identified target groups (proposer or technology manufacturers, national accreditation bodies, verification bodies, testing bodies, analytical laboratories, and research centers, etc.)-The results will consolidate the education and training paths of workers by equipping them with the necessary skills and competences to develop a robust career in the target sectors (technological fields).[1]As of October 2010, the participating Member States are: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Poland and the United Kingdom.[2] http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecoap/etv_en

Natural/Small Water Retention Measures (NSWRMs) can help mitigate the conflicts between agricultural water uses (e.g. plant production, animals) and other human and environmental demands for water, including drinking water or maintaining environmental flow. This is crucial, since these conflicts will be probably exacerbated by an increasing number of extreme events such as droughts and heavy rainfall. A more careful management of head watersheds will significantly contribute to a more resilient agriculture and society. Moreover, NSWRMs are contributing simultaneously to the achievement of different Sustainable Development Goals and environmental targets formulated in several water- and agriculture-related European Union policies. Despite a comprehensive set of techniques available to increase water retention on both catchment and farm levels, knowledge is still lacking on the effectiveness of different scale- and region-specific measures across various soil-climatic regions and agricultural systems, especially under changing climate conditions. OPTAIN aims to (i) identify efficient techniques for the retention and reuse of water and nutrients in small agricultural catchments across Continental, Pannonian and Boreal biogeographical regions of Europe, taking into account potential synergies with existing drainage-irrigation systems, and - in close cooperation with local actors - (ii) select NSWRMs at farm and catchment level and optimize their spatial allocation and combination, based on environmental and economic sustainability indicators. By building on existing knowledge and addressing these objectives, OPTAIN will improve the Technological Readiness Level of NSWRMs for the benefit of both humans and ecosystems. All gained knowledge will be translated into a learning environment allowing analysis of trade-offs and synergies between multiple values/goals in the management and design of NSWRMs.

High-quality, safe, and sufficient drinking water is essential for life: we use it for drinking, food preparation and cleaning. Agriculture is the biggest source of pesticides and nitrate pollution in European fresh waters. The overarching objective of WATERPROTECT is to contribute to effective uptake and realisation of management practices and mitigation measures to protect drinking water resources. Therefore WATERPROTECT will create an integrative multi-actor participatory framework including innovative instruments that enable actors to monitor, to finance and to effectively implement management practices and measures for the protection of water sources. We propose seven case studies involving multiple actors in implementing good practices (land management, farming, product stewardship, point source pollution prevention) to ensure safe drinking water supply. The seven case studies cover different pedo-climatic conditions, different types of farming systems, different legal frameworks, larger and smaller water collection areas across the EU. In close cooperation with actors in the field in the case studies (farmers associations, local authorities, water producing companies, private water companies, consumer organisations) and other stakeholders (fertilizer and plant protection industry, environment agencies, nature conservation agencies, agricultural administrations) at local and EU level, WATERPROTECT will develop innovative water governance models investigating alternative pathways from focusing on the ‘costs of water treatment’ to ‘rewarding water quality delivering farming systems’. Water governance structures will be built upon cost-efficiency analysis related to mitigation and cost-benefit analysis for society, and will be supported by spatially explicit GIS analyses and predictive models that account for temporal and spatial scaling issues. The outcome will be improved participatory methods and public policy instruments to protect drinking water resources.