The Implementation of the Coordination Project SMARTWATER Has Started

The implementation of the first coordination project funded by the European Commission through the Horizon 2020 programme titled "Promoting Smart Agricultural Water Management in Bosnia and Herzegovina" has begun (SMARTWATER)“.

It is a project implemented by the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Banja Luka. This is the first coordination project from this programme that has been allocated to higher education institutions in the Republic of Srpska.

Partners of our Faculty of Agriculture in this project are: the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies - Mediterranean Agronomic Institute, Bari, Italy; Superior Council for Scientific Research, Zaragoza, Spain; University of Lisbon, School of Agriculture, Portugal; SYSMAN Progetti and Servizi MSP, Rome, Italy, and Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University of Sarajevo.

There is a growing need for farmers to adhere to the 'more crop per drop' concept to increase water productivity.

This is why the field of sustainable water management in agriculture is so important. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is about to get a big boost from the EU-funded SMARTWATER project, which will bolster the networking, research and innovation capacities of the University of Banja Luka, the University of Sarajevo and other institutions in the country.

Moreover, the project will develop a large set of joint activities promoting networking, joint experimental fields, research cooperation and the exchange of knowledge and experts. The focus will be on the application of smart technologies (cloud-based and remote sensing) in agricultural water management, the optimisation of the water–energy–food nexus, climate change impacts and adaptation measures.

The Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Banja Luka, as the institution in charge of project coordination, will be fully responsible for achieving project objectives, institutional contacts with national and international institutions and liaison with the European Commission, as well as for daily project implementation. Also, the faculty is responsible for the organization and implementation of overall project activities and for technical, financial, administrative and communication aspects of project implementation, submission of results and reports to the European Commission, but also for the promotion of project results.

The project is being implemented from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2023.