EMWIS Flash February - March 2023

2- The UfM Member States and partners will be gathering next 7-8 June in Rabat for the Water Expert Group, which is the UfM’s regional dialogue platform, involving countries’ water directors and other stakeholders from the Euro-Mediterranean. The overall aim of the 13th Meeting of the WEG is to continue supporting efforts by UfM member states to increase water security in the Mediterranean region through the implementation of the UfM Water Agenda and the UfM Financial Strategy for Water. The specific objectives of the Meeting are: - To review progress at national level in the implementation of the UfM Water Agenda, including the UfM Financial Strategy for Water, since the 12th meeting of the WEG; - To review efforts at regional level to support the implementation of the UfM Water Agenda, including the work of the UfM Secretariat and different partners; - To review the work plans for 2023-2024 developed by the four water task forces as well as the Secretariat’s plans for the UfM Programme on Water Investment and Financing; - To reflect on the conclusions of UNFCCC COP-27 and the UN 2023 Water Conference and discuss whether and how the work of the WEG needs to evolve accordingly: - To discuss the need for a new UfM Meeting of Water Ministers in order to provide impetus to the implementation of the UfM Water Agenda.  Further information on EMWIS website

3- The United Nations Water Conference ended on Friday 24 March, after three days of debate, with the adoption of a Water Agenda in which member states commit to accelerate progress towards the goal of ensuring access to water and sanitation for all and sustainable management of water resources.  "There can be no sustainable development without water," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who called for "a renewed commitment to our common future. "Let us take further steps now to build a future where water is secured for all," he added at the close of the conference, which was organised at UN headquarters in New York. "Water unites us all" According to the Secretary General, this conference demonstrated a central truth: "water unites us all". It is about health, sanitation, hygiene and disease prevention; it is about peace; it is about sustainable development, fighting poverty, supporting food systems and creating jobs and prosperity; and it is about human rights and gender equality. "All of humanity's hopes for the future depend, in some ways, on developing a new scientific way forward for the Water Agenda. They depend on the fulfilment of the innovative, inclusive and action-oriented commitments made by Member States and others at this Conference," said the Secretary-General. Further information on EMWIS website

4- What started as an abstract concept for turning water from a potential cause of war to a driver of peace over a decade ago grew into a regional mechanism that now explores the synergies between water, energy, food and ecosystems in the Middle East. The Blue Peace, a regional initiative dedicated to promoting water cooperation and peace in the Middle East, on Tuesday 14 April launched its second phase, which will accommodate all its activities under the umbrella of its Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus Programme. As part of the programme, the Blue Peace Middle East is carrying out an assessment of WEFE Nexus capacities and opportunities in the region with the aim of developing and implementing a number of targeted transboundary WEFE pilot projects. A regionally owned dialogue platform, with members from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey, the Blue Peace Middle East was established in 2010. It uses dialogue, capacity building and action to realise its vision of using the power of water to build a peaceful future for the region. The initiative receives support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Further information on EMWIS website

5- Europe has been in drought since 2018, according to a recent study from the Graz University of Technology in Austria. Researchers say the water situation is now “very precarious”. Countries across the continent have been struggling with water even through winter. Low rain and snowfall mean already dwindling supplies haven’t been restored during this typically wet period. In northern Italy, France and Spain, the situation “raises concerns for water supply for human use, agriculture and energy production”, according to the EU Joint Research Centre’s (JRC) latest report on droughts in Europe. And, it says, Europe and the Mediterranean region could experience another extreme summer this year. The European Commission says that it could be an even drier summer than in previous years with the precipitation in the coming weeks crucial to determining what happens. Further information on EMWIS website

6- InnWater aims at promoting social Innovation to renew multi-level and cross sector Water governance and will provide a set of digital tools and services that will be gathered in the InnWater Governance Platform. InnWater (2023-2026) is a Horizon Europe project that brings together 13 partners from 6 countries (FR, HU, ES, IT, UK, SE), either research and technology organizations, water users or associations with EU and international coverages. It will support tailored multi-level and cross sector water governance, associated with economic and financial mechanisms to support EU Green Deal transition while ensuring water systems sustainability. A set of tools and services will be developed for the benefit of water stakeholders and demonstrated in 5 pilot sites: France (La Réunion – Economic focus); Italy (La Brenta  Ecosystem services - Drinking water sector); Spain (Figueres – Water scarcity); United Kingdom (West Country – Water quality) and Hungary (Middle Tisza – Water allocation). In a second phase, the identification of replication opportunities in at least 14 EU basins and a set of policy, regulation and economic recommendations to support EU policy implementation and new orientations will be achieved. Further information on EMWIS website

7- The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) has launched a Grant Scheme to promote employment and entrepreneurship in the green economy. Aiming to support the green transformation of the Southern Mediterranean economies, this call for proposals is especially targeted to benefit vulnerable groups, which are disproportionately affected by the consequences of climate change and the related changing socio-economic landscape. In addition to a financial support of €150,000 to €300,000 per project, becoming a grantee gives access to the UfM’s technical expertise, networking opportunities and visibility. To be eligible, non-governmental organisations must be based in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine or Tunisia, with priority given to regional projects. The deadline for the submission of applications is 29th of May 2023. Further information on EMWIS website

8- In the framework of the LIFE Water & Climate project coordinated by the International Office for Water, Meteo-France launched in March 2023 DRIAS-Eau, a web portal dedicated to hydroclimatic data access on French territories, considering different climate scenarios. DRIAS-Eau proposes 3 entry points: 1. assistance area with a user guide and good practices for the use of hydrological projections; 2 Discovery area allowing to download maps on future trends of surface and ground waters for local territories or catchments; 3. data & products allowing to download all hydrologic variables and indicators in different formats. Further information on DRIAS-Eau website.

9- The kick-off meeting of the PRIMA funded project OurMED will be held from 12 to 14 June in Tunisia with the participation of the project advisory board members. The  project was designed to respond to the urgent need for more comprehensive management of water storage and distribution in the Mediterranean region, considering the natural resources and engineered infrastructure over the short and long-term horizons. OurMED is a new vision of fair, balanced and co-designed water storage and distribution management in the Mediterranean region including stakeholder perception and benefiting from technologically-advanced monitoring techniques, smart models prediction, and optimization, and digitalization capabilities. OurMED intends to develop integrated and holistic water management at various scale, ensuring multi-sectorial requirements and avoiding conflicts between domestic/industrial water use, food production, and ecosystem needs. OurMED also aims to reinforce short-term (winter/summer) water storage and distribution forecasting and long-term water management. Further information on EMWIS website

10- The latest publication from the Edible Cities Network details the design and implementation of a unique game on planning of nature-based solution that allows users to install edible greenery in a city  and track the impact across three dimensions of sustainability: environmental, social, and economic. In the Edible City Game, stakeholders can co-create and influence the implementation of nature-based solutions in their communities. Read more about the Edible City Game in EdiCitNet latest publication featuring researchers from Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Universidad de Girona, LEQUIA, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Universidad de Girona. Read the publication here

11- On 27 and 28 February 2023, Sustain-COAST team has organized the last coordination meeting in Tunisia. On the first day project partners discussed the progress of the project and highlighted the next steps before the end of the project in May 2023. The second day of the event was dedicated to the demo-site visit. Project partners visited Wadi El Bey River located at about 40 Km at the south of Tunisian capital and the coastal plain of Soliman which is located at the southern end of the Gulf of Tunis, the Soliman wetland is classified as Ramsar site. At the end of the visit, Sustain-COAST team went to the largest tannery in the region where the partners were able to see the water purification and recycling system operating in the factory. Further information on Sustain-COAST website

12- SAFERS project developing innovative services for managing forest fire risks hold its second field demonstration in Piedmont (Italie) on february 9th, 2023. The event was hosted by the Coordinamento Regionale del Volontariato di Protezione Civile del Piemonte onlus (AIB) at the Regione Piemonte facilities. The organisation was realised by CSI-Piedmont. The demo was devoted to the training of local stakeholders in using and testing the functionalities of the SAFERS services in a controlled but realistic environment with data and information from recent past events well-known by local stakeholders. The event involved technical entities, first responders, local authorities and citizens. In addition, the demo was joined by local media who reported about the workshop, namely nuovistrumenti, ATnews and Settimanale L'ANCORA. The main objective of this demo is to assess the capabilities of the tested services to improve the management of wildfire risk across all the phases of the emergency management cycle (i.e., prevention & preparedness, detection & response, adaptation & restoration), including the engagement with citizens. The demonstration performed in Italy hosted an initial training session and used ad-hoc end-user feedback collection tools and activities for evaluating the effectiveness and the usability of the SAFERS Intelligent Services (Sub-seasonal weather forecasts, chatbot, Semantic reasoning for Decision Support, ...). This event is the second out of the four demos of the Project (the first has been performed in Corsica, France, in October 2022, the other two will be executed in Spain and Greece in the late 2023).

13- A few months away from the project closure, the  HYDROUSA team continues to consolidate outcomes of the water circularity solutions by developing an online Replication Tool dedicated to end-users. The goal of the tool is to quickly assess the replicability of different HYDRO solutions (HYDRO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) based on the information available to users in order to get an initial indication of the best applicable HYDRO solution for the specific study area. In the same vein, the HYDROUSA GAME is now available on Google Store and the project’s website. It is designed to showcase the operation of HYDROUSA demo sites and their interconnectivity for resource management in a decentralized manner. Players get to understand the emerging challenge of water-stress and resource management, while becoming the decision makers on how we can act now and contributing to a more circular and sustainable future. Finally, HYDROUSA participated in the 8th edition of the Agri Travel and Slow Travel (ATEST) fair that took place from the 30 March to the 2nd of April 2023, in Bergamo (Italy). Represented by SEMIDE, the project outcomes were introduced during the the B2C event. With forecasted attendance estimated at 20.000 visitors from across the globe, this was a great opportunity to highlight the importance and the benefits of the HYDROUSA solutions regarding agro-ecotourism facilities. Furthermore, since the decentralized nature of the solutions developed are particularly suitable for rural areas, it guaranteed that some of the visitors were matching the HYDROUSA customer segments. Final HYDROUSA results will be presented at the International conference on water & circular economy in Athens, 7-9 June2013. Further information on HYDROUSA website

14-  The Euro-INBO 2023 conference will take place in Valencia (SP) 17-19 October 2023. It will mark the 20th anniversary edition of the Europe-INBO International Conferences for the Implementation of the European Union water directives. The programme is organised around 5 sessions: 1) Water and agriculture: management of diffuse pollution; 2) New challenges for the implementation of the Water Framework Directive in relation with other European water directives; 3) Adaptation to climate change: integrating reuse to cope with droughts and water scarcity; 4) The role of the different stakeholders in the implementation of the Water Framework Directive; 5) Transboundary and international cooperation. In addition two workshops will also be held, one on innovative water governance to face water scarcity co-organised by the horizon Europe water governance projects cluster (InnWater, GovAqua and Re). The 2nd workshop will be dedicated to River management in a climate change context: challenges and opportunities. Registration and preliminary programme are available here (follow the registration link)

15- Innovative Aquifers Governance for Resilient Water Management and Sustainable Ecosystems in Stressed Mediterranean Agricultural Areas (AGREEMed) is a MEDA funded project. Partners will meet in Agadir in Morocco from 30 May to 1st June 2023. Several working sessions with local stakeholders and advisory board members will be organized on different topics: i) Water resources governance: case of the Souss-Massa aquifer agreement; ii) Focus group “Typology of different farms in the Chtouka-Massa plain”; iii) Nature Based Solutions as a win-win strategy for climate change adaptation and provision of new alternative sources of water; iv)  Building bridges for effective water governance”/Workshop “Non-conventional water resources in the Mediterranean region. Further information on AGREEMed website

16- The last official meeting of COST Action Circular City took place on March 20-21, 2023, and was hosted by the local organizer in Belgrade. The meeting brought together further opportunities for collaboration and knowledge-sharing among members. The aim of the COST Action “Circular City Re.Solution” was to build an interdisciplinary platform for connecting city planners, architects, system designers, circular economists, engineers and researchers from social and natural sciences that develop systems allowing cities to cope with specific challenges. In this COST Action, the definition for a common language and understanding across disciplines are seen as crucial success factor, while CE concepts are seen as key approach and NBS or Green Infrastructure solutions are seen as core elements of the Circular city  toolbox.

17- Launched in December 2022, the Horizon Europe CRONUS project is implemented over a 45-month period, by 13 participant organisations from the private and public sector involving Universities, Agricultural Organisations, Research Centres and SMEs coming from 7 European countries, namely Greece, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and the UK. The overall ambition of CRONUS is to significantly advance the current state of the art in the area of biofuels production and the utilisation of biogenic effluent gases. CRONUS aims at introducing effective technologies with high-potential and techno-economic feasible solutions. Social Media channels (Twitter, LinkedIn) and the project website  are currently available to promote the undertaken activities and results.

18- Drought now affects 60% of the Spanish countryside, with crops like wheat and barley likely to fail entirely in four regions, the main Spanish farmers’ association said on 13 April. Spain’s long-term drought is causing “irreversible losses” to more than 3.5 million hectares of crops, the Coordinator of Farmers’ and Ranchers’ Organizations (COAG in its Spanish acronym) said in a new report. Some cereals need to be “written off” in the prime growing regions of Andalusia, Castilla La Mancha, Extremadura and Murcia, and are likely to be lost in the driest areas of three other regions, according to the report. In the wine-growing region of La Rioja, farmers were in the exceptional situation of “having to irrigate cereals ... when normally they are never watered,” the association said. Nuts and vineyards are also struggling, and olives will be badly affected if rain does not arrive in the next few weeks, the report stated. The lack of available water was further impacting the ability of farmers to irrigate corn, sunflowers, rice and cotton, likely leading to reduced sowing of these crops over the summer, it added. Three years of very low rainfall and high temperatures have put Spain officially into long-term drought, the country’s weather agency said last month. Last year was Spain’s sixth driest — and the hottest since records began in 1961. Further information on EMWIS website

19-  Drought is putting a strain on the water sector in Morocco. In the Cherifian Kingdom, barely 500 m3 of fresh water are available per capita per year, compared to 2,500 m3 in 1960, according to the United Nations (UN). This justifies the signing of a memorandum of understanding on March 24, 2023 in New York, between the Moroccan Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka and the Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Mark Harbers. This was during the UN Conference on Water held from 22 to 24 March 2023 in the United States of America. The two countries will work together to strengthen water supply in Morocco, including through the reclamation of rainwater, desalination of seawater, demineralization of brackish water and reuse of treated wastewater. Morocco will also benefit from the Netherlands’ knowledge of remote groundwater management. Remote management solutions installed in aquifers will allow remote monitoring of the quantity and quality of water reserves. Dutch experts will also support Morocco’s experts in water efficiency in various sectors of activity, as well as in its flood protection and governance efforts. The two countries will also collaborate in the area of information collection and management to support decision making and for national, regional, and global statistical purposes. Further information on EMWIS website