About the network

Our mission is to integrate applied research with the needs of industry and facilitate development of innovative environmental technologies for building sustainable future.

Objectives:
ENVITECH-Net's primary objective is to contribute to an effective implementation of the Environmental Technologies Action Plan in Europe. ENVITECH-Net is aimed to help establish applied research collaborations of international RTD units and academia with industry and SMEs in the area of environmental technologies development and application using available funding mechanisms.
Productive cooperation between the community of researchers and environmental technologies end-users cannot take place without an effective communication and exchange of ideas. Therefore ENVITECH-Net has been designed to serve as a forum for identification and sharing of the existing problems together with a dissemination and exchange of information on RTD accomplishments and relevant solutions addressing environmental technologies.
To strengthen the need for solutions that help protecting our natural environment and increase their absorption on the market, ENVITECH-Net supports promotion of innovative technological achievements together with raising the environmental awareness of their end-users.

Organisational structure:

The past and the present:
The network was established in 2002 as an initiative of Polish RTD units and academia active in the area of environmental technologies research in response to the increasing need for environment focused RTD due to the implementation of EU laws in Poland, in particular the IPPC Directive. Originally the research areas defined for the network reflected the technological scope of the IPPC Directive. The network was established by a group of 67 Polish RTD units - original ENVITECH-net members. Soon, 15 European-level and 8 domestic Centres of Excellence established by the networking organisations have become partners to ENVITECH-Net. a report produced by the European Commission in 2002 that provided an overview of possible developments in the field of environmental technologies together with an outline of the environmental technologies market, including some of the barriers to their development (COM(2002)122) gave a start-up to modify the scientific scope of ENVITECH-Net. In consequence, in 2003 the Steering Committee made a decision to define the research fields of the network accordingly to the trends in technology development set up in the above mentioned EC Communication. In 2004 ENVITECH-Net has become open to international research community. That time inquiries from 11 countries were made in order to join ENVITECH-Net. Currently there are over 60 members from 8 countries, who declared their interested in co-operation and participation in the activities of the network. We have extended an open invitation to all RTD units and academia who would like to join us and identify with network's mission and objectives.

Research Fields:
The present ENVITECH-Net research scope has emerged during the period of intensified actions leading to implementation of the Environmental Technology Action Plan. Thus, the scope of network interest reflects the technological areas indicated in this document, i.e.:

RESEARCH FIELD 1: Water resources protection: shaping and protection of water resources, use of water, water resources management. RESEARCH FIELD 2: Development of technologies for global climate change prevention. RESEARCH FIELD 3: Development of technologies for sustainable production and consumption. RESEARCH FIELD 4: Development of soil protection technologies. RESEARCH FIELD 5: Development of cross-cutting research covering the above-mentioned 4 research areas.