MWKP

The regional project towards a Mediterranean Water Knowledge Platform got the UfM label on 8 April, at the unanimity of 43 countries members of the Union for the Mediterranean.

The project has two components:

1. The 1st one, coordinated by the International Office for Water (IOWater), aims at strengthening the National Information Systems on Water in line with the regional approach taken implemented by the Euro-Mediterranean Information System on know-how in the Water sector (EMWIS).
2. The 2nd one, coordinated by the Institut Méditerranéen de l’Eau (IME), is based on the exploitation of data and information on water for the preparation of a Mediterranean White Paper on Water. This White Paper is part of logical showcasing best practices for integrated water resources management.

Six pilot countries (Jordan, Lebanon, Monaco, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia) are involved in the 1st phase of the project, while regional activities related to guidelines and capacity building will be opened to all the Mediterranean countries.

The partners have already secured more than 40% of their budget requirements for the activities up to end 2016 and actively looking for the matching funds.

The video gives an overview of the EMODnet Data Ingestion Portal (DIP) and describes how governments, industry, NGOs, scientists and academics can make their datasets part of the total offer. The Data Ingestion Portal streamlines the data ingestion process so that data holders from public and private sectors that are not yet connected to the existing marine data management infrastructures can easily release their data for safekeeping and subsequent distribution through EMODnet. This will enrich the total offer for all types of users and conform to the EMODnet motto 'collect data once and use it many times'. Do you have sleeping data? Watch the video to understand how to wake up your data!

The International Network of Basin Organisations (INBO) has published the Handbook on Water Information Systems for the 8th World Water Forum. This guidance document has been co-edited with UNESCO and includes world wide contributions including from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the Australian Meteorological Bureau, the International Office for Water, the French Agency for Biodiversity and the Mediterranean Water Knowledge Platform. It has been launched during a special session on 20 March 2018.

In the framework of the Mediterranean Water Knowledge Platform, a report on legal and regulatory enabling environment has been produced. It is the result of a study on legislative frameworks promoting the development of National Water Information Systems in European neighbourhood countries in the Mediterranean. The report available in English and French analyse the existing frameworks in 8 countries (Albania, Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia and France) and provides recommendations to develop or adapt legal and regulatory texts at national levels.

Countries that want to ensure effective management of water and aquatic environments with respect for their international agreements require not just trained staff and efficient equipment: they need to set up a water information system that is devised to be exhaustive and accessible to the public.

Since this type of system is extremely technical, the first step should be to define the legal framework and the elements needed for its organization and smooth operation.

All water information systems are imperatively based on a legislative foundation whose object is to ensure its visibility and enforceability, in particular vis-à-vis those solicited to contribute to it and any administrated parties and water users likely to use its data.

Effective implementation also involves, at the same legislative level, including the obligation for data holders, as well as the designated administration, to transmit non-confidential data for the benefit of any water users who might request them.

In addition, a regulatory application system should explicitly stipulate the water information system’s content, organization and operation, and designate the frontline central administrative authority responsible for implementing it, and the terms of this implementation. It should also set out the methodology employed for the water information system concerned.

Lastly, this central-level system should have adequate relays at decentralized levels, either geographical (e.g. hydrographic basin) or administrative (e.g. a region).

Mediterranean Water Knowledge Network project snapshot prepared by the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean

On 24 November 2015, the status of the Mediterranean Water Knowledge Platform was presented to the 5th meeting of the Water Expert Group of the Union for the Mediterranean.

Following a specific request from Ministers during the Water Conference of the Union for the Mediterranean, held in Jordan in late 2008, the Secretariat is currently supporting the development of a regional project in order to improve water knowledge at the basis of governance processes, not only on national territories, but also on shared water resources and more generally in the Mediterranean region as a whole.

Along with the project promoters, l’Institut Méditerranéen de l’Eau (IME) et l’Office International de l’eau (OIEau), a meeting will be held on 10 March 2014 in the premises of the UfM Secretariat, in Barcelona, in order to discuss and finalise the modalities of the project, aiming to a Mediterranean Water Knowledge Platform as a prerequisite to the development of sustainable policies for integrated water resources management (IWRM) and climate change adaptation.

The project directly contributes to facilitating the involvement of all water actors concerned in producing and sharing information about water within six pilot countries (Jordan, Lebanon, Monaco, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia), in order to improve the dialogue and planning process between them and make information available to all stakeholders. In addition, data infrastructure provided by the project is likely to generate the creation of added-valued services and thus contribute to sustainable growth in the Mediterranean countries and promote investment in the region.

The meeting will bring together professionals from the Mediterranean Water sector, representatives from the pilot countries as well as international donors and financial institutions. 

* Summary Note

The development of a wind farm in Jordan, the creation of a Mediterranean water knowledge platform, a capacity building programme aimed at promoting civic education in schools and a programme aimed at stimulating green industries and entrepreneurship are the four new projects recently labelled by the UfM.

The Senior Officials of the 43 UfM member countries approved the adoption of four important new projects during the Senior Officials Meeting that took place in Barcelona last 7-8 April:

Forming responsible citizens. With a special focus on the prevention of violence against girls and women, the main objective of the project is to establish schools as a main vehicle for the transmission of inclusive and sustainable development values, freedom and gender equality through the implementation of a renewed civic education curriculum. The project’s core activity is the joint analysis of the existing textbooks in Tunisian, Egyptian and Moroccan secondary-middle schools from the perspective of civic education and equality between men and women. Furthermore, it includes the production of a new, redesigned version of the present national curricula, followed by training of teachers in citizenship education and their networking on a national and regional level. The project is promoted by Ideaborn, a Spanish non-governmental organisation, in cooperation with local non-governmental organisations from Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. It will be implemented in partnership with national education authorities from the three participating countries.

Towards a Mediterranean Water Knowledge Platform. Promoted by the International Office for Water and the Mediterranean Water Institute, the project directly aims to facilitate the production and sharing of water information to all concerned parties in six pilot countries: Jordan, Lebanon, Monaco, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia. The project will contribute towards improving dialogue and planning processes and making information more easily available to all stakeholders. In addition, data infrastructure provided by the project is likely to generate the creation of added-valued services and thus contribute to sustainable growth in the Mediterranean countries and promote investment in the region.

The ultimate goal of the Mediterranean Water Knowledge Platform will be the development of sustainable policies for integrated water resources management (IWRM) and climate change adaptation.

Med ReSCP: Post Rio+20 promotion of sustainable consumption and production patterns – with emphasis on resource efficiency – in the Mediterranean region. The overall objective of the project is to actively promote the adoption of sustainable consumption and production patterns in the Mediterranean region through a comprehensive regional approach addressing different realities and challenges faced by countries. More concretely, the project aims to provide  financing access for Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) adopting Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) models in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. It will also stimulate the development of green industries and entrepreneurship in the Western Balkans and Turkey through technical assistance and pilot projects. The project is promoted by the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) with the support of the Regional Activity Centre for Cleaner Production of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP-CPRAC).

Tafila Wind Farm Project. The project aims to support Jordan’s renewable energy strategy by contributing to the reduction of the country’s heavy energy import dependency while developing renewable energy generation and energy security. Today, renewable energy sources in Jordan account to only less than 1% of the generated electricity in the country. Once fully developed, the Tafila Wind Farm complex will account for almost 10% of the country’s wind energy target by 2020, providing electricity via a long term contract of 20 years at a fixed price. The project will cover 3% of the national electricity demand. Moreover, it will entail significant qualified job opportunities and enhanced training capacities related to these skilled jobs. The project is promoted by EP Global Energy of Cyprus (EPGE), Inframed Infrastructure of France and Masdar Power of Abu Dhabi, and is financed by a consortium of lenders – International Finance Cooperation (IFC), Eksport Kredit Fonden (EKF), OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO), Europe Arab Bank (EAB) – led by the European Investment Bank (EIB).

The Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean will continue overseeing the development, implementation and follow-up of regional projects and initiatives with the overall goal of fostering regional integration in the Mediterranean region.