The aim of the present project is to establish a research network between Romania and Serbia with 2 poles: the West University of Timisoara and the Mining and Metallurgy Institute Bor. The novelty resides in the fact that up to the present there is not such a structure in the region able to provide support to a multi-inter-trans disciplinary approach in the field of environmental protection. Taking into account that the research to date of each partner has been limited, the proposed partnership will broaden and complement our knowledge and experience and mostly will reduce fragmentation across the European research area. Therefore, this network may be taken as a model able to be transferred to similar situations. Moreover, it will remove the political and economical barriers, so that in the future other institutions can adhere to it in order to apply to other common research projects within trans-national and/or FP7 calls. This cross-border project will also offer training of specialists in the field of environmental protection and a large number of young specialists, students, bachelors, and PhDs will be involved for a better cooperation. Beside research, the project is designed to raise awareness with regard to different issues of environmental pollution and ways to protect the environment. The Romanian partner wants to improve its experience in the realm obtained after the EU integration and to transmit it to the Serbian partner as a European country. To initiate the activities within the network the cooperation between the 2 poles will be focused on a major environmental cross-border issue concerning the treatment of wastewater coming from mining processes. The industrial activities conduct to economic prosperity and creation of working places, but they are also generating a significant impact on the environment. The polluting activities should be known due to their cumulative effects from the years of intensive industrial exploitation in which the environment protection was not highly considered. The 2008/1/CE directive (IPPC) covers the concept of sustainable development and the most efficient technique for environment protection is recommended from the cost-benefit point of view. The main feature of the industrial wastewater is the variety and toxicity of the pollutants. The mining industry is a source of heavy metals, and their recovery is useful to lower the purification costs. Heavy metals are toxic for living organisms making the water undrinkable and affecting the flora, fauna, and also the soil. The World Health Organization considers that 2/3 of diseases come from polluted water. Therefore, a common strategy for prevention and treatment of it is necessary. Depending on the nature, physicochemical properties of the pollutants, and the specific conditions, the wastewater treatment will be done using complex methods observing the social effects and the recovery of the elements with economic value. The chemical methods to be used will be set according to the pollutants present, which will be revealed throughout the research. Some of the most used treatment methods are: decantation, electrical/magnetic treatment, clotting, pH neutralization, ions exchange extraction, flotation and reverse osmosis, ultra filtration, mixed chemical methods. Also, mesoporous multifunctional oxidic materials and advanced polymer materials with known structure and properties can be used to retain the pollutants. As an example of common research within the network the 2 teams will try to identify some methods of synthesis in order to obtain unconventional materials using different sources and some ways to lower the pollution effects of the wastewater from mining processes.