Limiting climate change impact on water resources: EU project to hold training workshop

A training programme is being organised in Amman to help actors in the water sector across the southern Mediterranean to adapt to the negative impacts of climate change. The three-day workshop is part of the EU-funded project 'Sustainable Water Integrated Management – Support Mechanism (SWIM‐SM)'. 

The training, to take place from 3 to 5 October in Amman, Jordan, is organised by the Global Water Partnership-Mediterranean (GWP-Med), a member of the SWIM-SM consortium, in cooperation with the EU's Horizon 2020 Capacity Building component.

It will address the following specific objectives: 

·       Raising awareness on the potential impact of climate change on water resources in the region, its socio-economic and environmental consequences;
·       Increasing participants' understanding on the degree of vulnerability, particularly to increasing drought and flood events;
·       Making the case for adopting the 'no-regret actions' approach as the appropriate and immediate means for the water sector to adapt to climate change;
·       Introducing appropriate approaches for planning, strategising and developing no-regret actions measures, plans and policies, with a special focus on drought and flood management;
·       Reviewing capacity, political commitments and measures needed for the creation of an enabling environment for the implementation of no-regret actions, including institutional, legislative and financial needs;
·       Identifying and discussing an appropriate approach and practices for mainstreaming no-regret actions into IWRM policy frameworks;
·       Identifying the optimal communication and public participation strategies to enhance the role of communities in designing and implementing no-regret water management measures. 

Sustainable Water Integrated Management (SWIM) is a Regional Technical Assistance Programme launched by the European Commission, with a total budget of approximately €22 million, to contribute to the extensive dissemination and effective implementation of sustainable water management policies and practices in the Southern Mediterranean Region. The Programme carries forward the results achieved by two earlier EC regional programmes, SMAP (I, II and III) and MEDA Water. SWIM consists of two major components, which are inter-related and complement each other: a Support Mechanism funded with a budget of €6.7 million and Demonstration Projects funded with a budget of €15 million. 

The Horizon 2020 initiative aims to improve the quality of life of more than 420 million citizens living in the 25 countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. It is an umbrella programme drawing together all the policies, strategies and action plans for enhancing environmental protection.