The Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA) is the most ambitious joint programme to be undertaken in the frame of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. It is financed through a combination of funding from participating countries and Horizon 2020.
In recent years, the agricultural sector in the Mediterranean has been suffering from severe water shortages and decreasing crop yields. Today, 180 million people in the Mediterranean basin are considered ‘water poor’. The lack of clean water and nutritious food has adverse effects on the health and stability of the populations.
By funding R&I through competitive calls, PRIMA aims to: “build research and innovation capacities and to develop knowledge and common innovative solutions for agro-food systems, to make them sustainable, and for integrated water provision and management in the Mediterranean area, to make those systems and that provision and management more climate resilient, efficient, cost-effective and environmentally and socially sustainable, and to contribute to solving water scarcity, food security, nutrition, health, well-being and migration problems upstream”.
PRIMA also aims at to contribute to United Nations’ Agenda 2030 through the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). PRIMA consists of European Union Member States, Horizon 2020 Associated Countries and Mediterranean Partner Countries on an equal footing basis (co-ownership, co-management and co-funding) with the Participation of the European Commission, under the framework of an Art.185 TFEU.
The process of establishing the PRIMA initiative between 2012 and 2018, involved several steps of science diplomacy.
Visit site: http://prima-med.org/
Keywords: Big science and flagships, Water and climate change
