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Workshop: 'Can implementation of the Water Nexus support economic growth in the Mediterranean region?', Ankara (Turkey), 12-13 February 2015
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Water use is indispensably related to food production, energy generation and the functioning of ecosystems. Such complex interactions define the “Water-Food-Energy-Ecosystem Nexus”, which is more and more central to water policy analysis and design. Water resources are particularly limited and vulnerable to pollution and weather extremes in the Mediterranean countries. Yet, environmental protection is still considered partly in conflict with economic growth. The integrated perspective provided by the Water-Food-Energy-Ecosystem Nexus may help meeting the needs of ecosystem protection and water use, by stimulating appropriate investments in the Mediterranean region, on the basis of consistent and effective water policy and governance.
The objectives of this Workshop are to:
- bring in experience on competition, synergies and priorities among sectoral water usages and stakeholders in the Mediterranean region and address trade-off solutions on how we are going to allocate water in the future
- share best practices bridging the gaps between governments, communities and business concerning collaboration among water users that result into water cost reduction
- discuss how policies in the Mediterranean region can be improved by a Water Nexus perspective in order to create opportunities for green economic growth.
The workshop involved 66 participants from different disciplines and viewpoints: water economists, ecologists and agronomists, governmental and regional policy makers, business and water users from the across Mediterranean countries. Among others, EMWIS participated at this workshop and in terms of projects WEAM4i project was presented.
The format of the Workshop was as follows: an introductory plenary lectures followed by focused working group discussions under the direction of engaged leaders from across the Nexus sectors in the Mediterranean region. The following questions guided the discussions:
- What are the economic benefits for stakeholders and companies to adopt a cross-sectoral perspective for water management in the Mediterranean region?
- What are the barriers hampering the adoption of a cross-sectoral perspective for water management?
- Which public policies (incentives, mechanisms such as taxes or subsidies and, administrative tools such as river basin management plans) could, and should be promoted in order to remove such barriers?
- Which issues should be addressed in order to improve water governance and collaboration among stakeholders and between stakeholders and governments, in order to fully tap into the economic growth potentials of the Mediterranean region?
The Workshop produced material for a joint background paper with a synthesis of the issues corresponding to the four Workshop questions and recommendations for the promotion of Water Nexus thinking for economic growth in the Mediterranean region. All participants had the opportunity to contribute to the paper.
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| Venue Address: | Rixos Grand Hotel, Ankara |
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| Organizer: | The Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Turkish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock and the Turkish Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs. |
Presentations are available below:
Launching the Workshop
- Masum Burak (General Director, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Turkey)
- Giovanni Bidoglio [890 KB] , (Joint Research Centre, European Commission)
- Mesut Keser (ICARDA-International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, Turkey’s Office)
- Cumali Kınacı (General Director, Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, Turkey)
- Gürsel Küsek (General Director, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Turkey)
Economic costs and benefits of the Water Nexus
- Luca Marmo [2 MB] , Water policy in the context of the EU's Neighbourhood Policy (DG Environment, European Commission)
- Atif Kubursi [715 KB] , The economic science perspective of the Water Nexus (Université McMaster, Department of Economics, Canada)
- RemcoVan Ek [2 MB] , Getting the Water Nexus into markets: The business dimension (WSSTP, Water Sanitation and Supply Technology Platform, The Netherland)
Plenary session : Exploring the link between Mediterranean economies and the Water Nexus
- Olcay Unver [2 MB] , Nexus approaches incorporating water into broader development frameworks (FAO-Food and Agricultural Organisation)
- Barbara Willaarts [1 MB] ,The water-food-energy nexus in Spain: a useful framework to promote greater policy coherence (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain)
- Kostas Bithas [1 MB] , Critical conditions for efficient water nexus. The role of water markets and prices (Panteion University, Institute of Urban Environment and Human Resources, Greece)
- Maamar Sebri [617 KB] , The water-energy nexus: enhancing the role of virtual water and renewable energy (Faculté des Sciences Économiques et de Gestion de Sousse, Tunisia)
- Iddo Kan [558 KB] , Economic analysis of long-run water management (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)
- Alban Thomas [638 KB] , Environment and the water nexus (University Toulouse 1 Capitole, France)
- Silvia Donato [300 KB] , Water research within the EU framework programmes: experience and opportunities (DG Research & Innovation, European Commission)
- Workshop Participants List [228 KB]
