A recent Joint Research Centre | European Commission - JRC report illustrates the resonant responses of the scientific community, which constituted the base for the possible creation of an EU-wide Wastewater Monitoring System for SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance.
This was a massive collaboration effort of many enthusiastic partners and the World Water Quality Alliance contributed to this effort by co-organizing the Second virtual Town Hall Gathering.
The second virtual event took place on July 22nd , 2020. It was co-organized between the European Commission (the Directorate-Generals JRC and ENV) managing the first part of the meeting with a focus on the European Umbrella Initiative and UNEP and the UN World Water Quality Alliance, presiding the second part.
Part II of the meeting, which was chaired by UNEP, focused on the renaissance of interest in relationship between health and the environment and provided an insight into the wider picture of the COVID-19 crisis and its relationship with water quality and availability. In order to ensure also the best synergy with the international community, activities under this umbrella are now also coordinated with the WHO (HQ and Regional Office for Europe, https://www.euro.who.int/en/home) and UNEP, the UN Environment Program, which convenes the World Water Quality Alliance (WWQA, https://communities.unep.org/display/WWQA) which counts 50+ partners across major groups and stakeholders focusing on the developing world and the environment/health feedback dynamics.
The full report can be found here: kj-na-30684-en-n (1).pdf
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