Abstract Making agriculture sustainable is a global challenge. In the European Union (EU), the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is failing with respect to biodiversity, climate, soil, land degradation as well as socio-economic challenges. The European Commission's proposal for a CAP post-2020 provides a scope for enhanced sustainability. However, it also allows Member States to choose low-ambition implementation pathways. It therefore remains essential to address citizens' demands for sustainable agriculture and rectify systemic weaknesses in the CAP, using the full breadth of available scientific evidence and knowledge. Concerned about current attempts to dilute the environmental ambition of the future CAP, and the lack of concrete proposals for improving the CAP in the draft of the European Green Deal, we call on the European Parliament, Council and Commission to adopt 10 urgent action points for delivering sustainable food production, biodiversity conservation and climate mitigation. Knowledge is available to help moving towards evidence-based, sustainable European agriculture that can benefit people, nature and their joint futures. The statements made in this article have the broad support of the scientific community, as expressed by above 3,600 signatories to the preprint version of this manuscript. The list can be found here (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3685632). A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. ; Peer reviewed
More than half of the human population currently lives in urban areas and according to the United Nations, cities will be the living space of an additional 2.5 billion people by the year 2050 (UN, 2015b). The proportion and speed of this urban growth increase the pressure on water resources, and this is often seen negatively. However, this challenge can also be a chance to substantially improve the quality of life in urban areas, if we consider how we want to live tomorrow and actively shape our future. As a group of interdisciplinary young scientists authoring the current science policy report, we agreed that we want to live in cities where sustainable, integrated watershed management guarantees public health and environmental safety. This requires sanitation and rainwater management, solutions for dealing with contaminants, such as micropollutants, as well as information flows and public involvement in water management. Integrated watershed management as part of urban planning takes into account interdisciplinary relationships and connects different sectors, for example city administration, health providers and water managers. It also ensures access to sustainable, adaptable, effective and resilient rain and wastewater management, which includes the specific needs of vulnerable groups. Such a rain and wastewater management considers water reuse as a possibility to increase the available water supply. A growing number and increasing concentration of micropollutants in the aquatic environment are a health risk. It is important to understand their fate and effects and to develop appropriate management strategies. In such decision-making processes, all aspects of water management should be included and local stakeholders involved. Moreover, comprehensive and optimized information flows improve the understanding of water-related problems and must be used to help communities to set priorities, take action and assume responsibilities. Education, capacity building and community engagement are particularly important for creating ownership, identification with water resources and environmental consciousness. Further research is needed in these areas to better understand challenges and chances of water management in growing urban areas and to develop scientifically based solutions. This scientific knowledge will build the basis for policy-making and implementation of actions in urban water management. In this way, we believe a better and more desirable urban environment can be achieved for future generations.
