Reinforcing international cooperation Attracting projects with high environmental potential is important for both the European economy and for climate change. An EU initiative put this necessary network in place. Climate Change and Environment © Thinkstock The Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) is an important source of funding for innovative projects in many fields. National Contact Points (NCPs) coordinate all these activities by providing technical support and information to potential participants in these programmes. All over Europe and worldwide, there are different NCPs related to various fields. The EU-funded 'Environment NCPs cooperating to improve their effectiveness' (ENV-NCP-TOGETHER) project grouped together environment NCPs from EU Member States and Associated Countries. The project strengthened cooperation between NCPs from Member States by promoting transnational cooperation and enhancing the quality and professionalism of services delivered by the environment NCPs. This was done by benchmarking environment NCP services, including best practice scenarios and recommendations for training newly appointed NCPs and continuing professional development. It also reinforced international cooperation with NCPs from other countries, particularly those matching projects or calls under FP7. Project efforts increased the knowledge and expertise that NCPs offer through different kinds of training. ENV-NCP-TOGETHER also created a better set of tools to pre-screen FP7 project proposals to boost submissions and upgrade their quality. It encouraged entry into project consortia through fairs or transnational brokerage events held in five countries on various themes and regional focus. Relations with countries beyond the EU intensified by mapping Indian environment research organisations that are able to participate successfully in FP7 and have the potential to strengthen EU-Indian cooperation on FP7 projects. This led to a database of Indian research partners related to the environment. A pan-European survey was conducted to study the needs and trends of present and future research possibilities and expected developments. This will provide NCPs with knowledge of the research potential in the environment sector across Europe. ENV-NCP-TOGETHER boosted cooperation and strengthened environment NCPs in Europe and beyond, helping to enhance and harmonise the services offered. Keywords Environmental, network, National Contact Points, environment NCPs, environment research
