Science and Policy Commentaries 138 © 2006 ecomed publishers (Verlagsgruppe Hüthig Jehle Rehm GmbH), D-86899 Landsberg and Tokyo • Mumbai • Seoul • Melbourne • Paris ESPR – Environ Sci & Pollut Res 13 13 13 13 13 (2) 138 – 139 (2006) Commentaries: Science and Policy Efforts of the European Commission to Improve Communication between Environmental Scientists and Policy-makers Dan L. Danielopol 1 *, Janine Gibert 2 and Christian Griebler 3 1 Austrian Academy of Sciences, Limnological Institute, 5310 Mondsee, Austria 2 University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Department of Hydrobiology and Subterranean Ecology, 69622 Villeurbanne, France 3 GSF – Research Centre for Environment and Health, Institute of Groundwater Ecology, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany * Corresponding author ( dan.danielopol@oeaw .ac.at) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1065/espr2006.02.002 1. Quevauviller et al. [1] show that this aim can be achieved through the development of a science-policy interface chan- nel. This should improve the communication between the various partners and would allow better coordination of the RTD programs, especially those that will be developed during the 7 th FP (2007–2013). A multi-level approach to develop a 'science-policy inter- face' in support of water policies should facilitate the trans- mission and use of recent scientific research (Fig. 1). Prima- rily, there should be an improvement in the flow of appropriately interpreted information towards a range of stakeholders (including the public) about the main features of scientific programs and policies. One of the possibilities here could be the development of improved visualisation tools. Models and/or scenarios which describe complex and/ or complicated ecological systems make the communica- tion with stakeholders and environmental planners easier. 2. The second level of information is addressed to operational managers and RTD providers (access to guidance, good practices, methods and technologies) aiming to promote technological solutions to specific queries/situations. 3. The third step should provide the scientific information in a policy-formatted way to RTD program-managers and policy Research, especially that related to environmental problems, is well known to be difficult to evaluate and translate into policy- decisions. Scientists, research-planners and policy-makers try to find the mix of research projects that optimizes scientific progress and integration of scientific results into the framework of political decisions. In this context, the recent publication of Quevauviller et al. [1] reviews the efforts made by the Directo- rates for Environment and Research of the European Commis- sion, to fund Research and Technological Development (RTD) projects dealing with environmental protection, water sanita- tion and/or sustainability of aquatic ecosystems, during the 5 th and 6 th Framework Programs (FP). The scientific results of these two FP need now to be efficiently disseminated, especially in Europe where they should be used to implement the Water Framework Directive [2] voted by the European Parliament and the Council. The importance of such integration is further em- phasized by discussions on the draft of a new Ground Water Directive at the European Parliament [3] in April 2005 and subsequent political agreement adopted by the European Coun- cil in June 2005 [4]. There is pressing need to bridge the gap between available sci- entific information and policy implementation: Fig. 1: Integration of scientific progress into the policy-making process and policy implementation