Highlights

Background

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is the most water scarce region in the world, with 15 countries in the region suffering from extreme water scarcity (less than 500 m³/year of renewable water per capita per year). Numerous phenomena are further worsening water security in the region, notably climate change and environmental factors (soil erosion, deforestation, water pollution), population growth, increased urbanization, ongoing water mismanagement and faulty water service provision systems.

Youth has an important role to play in working towards water security and better water awareness. Young people are innovating on water in the entire Mediterranean, and their actions and ideas should be shared and replicated to create a more secure regional water future, especially in the Maghreb and the Mashreq. Moreover, youth are often keen to adopt and test new ideas and technologies and water represents a valuable economic opportunity with the potential to create numerous green jobs that can contribute to environmental and social sustainability in the region.

Rationale

The theme of the United Nations World Water Day 2017 is “Water and Wastewater”, which will explore how wastewater is a valuable resource in the circular economy and how it can be safely managed as an efficient investment in the health of humans and ecosystems.

Wastewater reuse is still negatively perceived by a large part of the public, although it has many potential uses, especially in agriculture, industry and landscape restoration in rural and urban spaces alike. Indeed, if only 50% of potential wastewater were recycled in MENA, this could add 20-40 km³ to MENA’s renewable water resources by 2050, considering that over this period, MENA’s water gap will quintuple from 43 km³ to 200 km³ per annum.

The concepts of “circular economy” and “waste as a resource” as highlighted by wastewater reuse are on the cutting edge of the global sustainable development agenda, and are instrumental in creating a new regional water consciousness, encouraging everyone - from policy makers to the general public - to reconsider how they interact with water on a daily basis.

For all of these reasons, CMI is organizing a youth-focused Mediterranean workshop on wastewater and its role in the circular economy on March 21-22 2017, entitled “Innovating with Wastewater for a Sustainable Mediterranean Water Future”. It will focus on wastewater as an important means of combating water scarcity in the Mediterranean region.

Objectives

This workshop aims to stimulate inter-generational and regional knowledge exchange on wastewater with a clear focus on youth. It will emphasize existing solutions that can be shared and reproduced at the institutional and technical levels in the region, while stimulating youth entrepreneurship and activism as well as civil society-based actions.

The objectives of this workshop are to:

1. contribute to regional water consciousness and to change negative perceptions of wastewater by exploring its potential as a resource.
2. stimulate inter-generational mutual learning between Mediterranean youth and water practitioners.
3. share and promote innovative projects by youth working on water at all levels.
4. strengthen awareness on water scarcity as a common regional public bad in the Mediterranean.

In the medium term, this workshop aims to initiate an active and devoted youth water network facilitated by CMI, which can further be supported by the CMI Water Hub (composed of institutional partners with a more technical, programmatic focus). The workshop will explore options for more active youth involvement in the CMI Water program, while stimulating exchanges between water experts and youth activists.

Target Audience

The workshop will target Mediterranean youth water activists while involving water experts working in the region. It will welcome approximately 60 youth participants and water experts from the Mediterranean region, with a majority of youth participants.

Partners

This event is organized by the Center for Mediterranean Integration, the World Bank and Switch-Med, with the support of CIHEAM, the Global Water Partnership Mediterranean and the World Youth Parliament for Water and WAMDA.

Contact: [email protected]

Resources

The Agenda (EN,AR) 

Summary (EN)

Participants Presentations

Day 1:

Opening Remarks

Mediterranean Water Security: what Role for Wastewater?

• Dr. Richard Abdulnour, Senior Water Specialist, World Bank Water GP - “Managing Water Scarcity in the Mediterranean”   Video EN/AR/FR
• Dr. Nidal Salim, Director, Director General, Global Institute for Water, Environment and Health, Switzerland  Video EN/AR
• Dr. Alice Bouman-Dentener, Honorary Founding President of the Women for Water Partnership, The Netherlands  Video EN

Session 1: Creating a Water Secure Mediterranean by 2030

Presentations and Q & A

• Mediterranean Water Heroes Contest Winner: Dr. Tawfik El Moussaoui, Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco - “Treated Urban Wastewater Reuse in Sustainable Irrigation: An Innovative WWTP” 
• Yasmine Seghirate, International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies, France and Dr. Roula Khadra - Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, Italy - “Drivers, Constraints and Prospects with Particular Emphasis on Agriculture”   Video EN/AR
• Mariela Antonakopoulou - Global Water Partnership Mediterranean, Greece - “Non-Conventional Water Resources (NCWR) Programme in the Mediterranean"   Video EN

Session 2: The Multiple Uses of Wastewater

Presentations and Q & A

• Mediterranean Water Heroes Contest Winners: Ola Odel Mohsen and Hoda Ellattar, University of Science and Technology, Zewail City, Egypt - “Decentralized Waste Water Treatment Units for Rural Areas in Egypt”
• Nicolas Condom, Ecofilae, France, “Water Reuse: from the Idea to Sustainable Multi-Use Application” (15 minutes)   Video EN/AR/FR

Day 2:

Session 3: Wastewater Solutions Marketplace

Session 4: Wastewater and the Circular Economy 

Presentations and Q & A

• Mediterranean Water Heroes Contest Winner: Baya Aissaoui, National Institute of Agronomy of Tunisia, “Valorization of Treated Wastewater by Aquapony”
• Matthew Lagod, Project Manager, Switch-Med Networking Facility hosted by SCP/RAC, Spain - “The Link between Wastewater Reuse, Life-Cycle Thinking and the Circular Economy”   Video EN
• Abdelkrim Bessadok, Switch-Med Green Entrepreneur, Queen Luzerne de Gabès, Tunisia - “Treated (waste)water for Irrigation of Alfalfa in Tunisia: A Promising Opportunity to support High-Quality Grazing Crops and Economic Opportunities for Youth”
• Lina Al-Kurdi, Switch-Med Green Entrepreneur, Green Roof, Jordan – “Rainwater, Greywater and Efficient Irrigation of Green Roofs in Jordan – how one Young Entrepreneur is making the most of Scarce Water Resources to help Businesses reduce Energy Costs through the Installation of Green Roofs”

Event in Photos 

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Youth talk Wastewater!! 

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