Deliverable 6.1 - The Operational Pillar of LIS-Water

Abstract

This report was developed as part of the LIS-Water (Lisbon International Centre for Water) project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Grant Agreement Number 763562. The centre will focus on public policies, regulation and management on water services and related water resources and will be located in Lisbon, Portugal. The goal of this work package (WP6) is to create the LIS-Water operational plan that is the legal form and the structure of the future centre. It encompasses the following issues: i) the legal status of the CoE, according to the Portuguese law; ii) the governance model; iii) the human resources requirements and strategy the premises; and iv) its resources and needs. Because of the comparative analysis made, it was decided that an "Association of private rights" is the most suitable legal framework for LIS-Water for it guarantees full autonomy in decision-making, being it in legal, administrative, operational, personnel and academic matters. The Association founding members are the Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil (LNEC), the Cranfield University (United Kingdom), and the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (France), the three partners of the Teaming-supported LIS-Water project (1st phase). In due course, other members may be admitted. A draft of the LIS-Water Bylaws is presented in Annex I. The governing bodies are: i) the General Assembly, composed of all members of the Association, ii) the Board of Directors, composed of 5 members – three of these members are appointed by the founding members and the other two are elected by the General Assembly; iii) the Audit Committee; and iv) the Advisory Board. The complete governance model is described in chapter 3. The majority of the research staff to be hired is expected to have a scientific-oriented background that may include engineering, technology, physics, chemical, microbiology. However, there is also a need to hire people from other domains, from the so-called social sciences: economy, law and regulatory issues, and social sciences. This research staff will have a PhD degree and different levels of experience: Post-doc researchers, people with none or a few years of experience, up to 10 years; mid-researchers from 10 to 20 years of experience; and, senior researchers, at least 20 years of professional experience. As a private entity that will integrate the National Scientific and Technological System, LIS-Water employment policy will be regulated and bounded through the legal figure of the individual employment contract, as defined in the Employment Code, as well as in other legislation that governs employment in science and technology. LIS-Water will be located at the campus of LNEC, in Lisbon, Portugal, in a two-storey building with an area of 1,440 m2, together with several other water related organisations, which are already physically sited in the campus of LNEC. This co-location is expected to create synergies between several organisations, bringing a clear added value for LIS-Water, which strengthens the role of all its objectives.