EMWIS Flash N°103, September 2012

EMWIS Flash - September 2012 Euro-Mediterranean Information System on the know-how in the Water Sector EMWIS is a program of the Union for the Mediterranean. For further information: www.emwis.net Monthly Flash produced by the EMWIS Technical Unit- OIEAU, CEDEX, SOGESID- It is available in English, French & Arabic. (French & Arabic versions are available few days later) Mediterranean Water Information Mechanism / Geo-Catalogue / UfM-Water

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In this issue N°103 (www.emwis.net/thematicdirs/eflash/flash103)
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HEADLINE
1- North Africa: Developing water accounts

IN BRIEF
2- EIB and ESA launch “Space for Mediterranean Countries” Initiative
3- EIB to boost its partnership in the Mediterranean
4- ENPI-SEIS project: 2nd meeting of the Information Technologies working group
5- France: Predicting rainfall and deadliest floods in the Mediterranean - HyMeX research programme
6- IMPRINTS Final Workshop: Implementing the EU Flood Directive in Flash Flood Prone Areas
7- Spain pledges continuous support to the UfM projects
8- UfM and PWA working to raise funds for Gaza facility
9- Palestine: Gaza’s water could be undrinkable by 2016
10- Lebanon: Greenpeace warns of toxic waters
11- Egypt: Horizon 2020 targets environmental management for SMEs in coastal areas
12- Egypt: €10 million in new EU support for improving access to clean water and sanitation
13- Jordan to host international conference on Mediterranean countries and EU opportunities in research and innovation
14- Tunisia: Japanese loan of 106 million EUR for the sanitation system
15- Saudi Arabia: AES Arabia wins $14m SWRO plant contract
16- New research on water companies in EU: remunicipalisation and resistance to austerity imposed privatization
17- The 9th meeting of the CIHEAM Member Countries’ Ministers of Agriculture
NOMINATIONS and VACANCIES
PUBLICATIONS  
CALL FOR TENDERS and PROPOSALS
CALL FOR PAPERS
TRAINING
EVENTS
PROJECTS
BRIEF EMWIS SITE MAP
CONTACT US / COMMENTS

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HEADLINE
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1- A Workshop on Water Accounts and Statistics for North African French Speaking Countries was organized by UN Division on Statistics and the European Environment Agency and hosted by the “Haut Commissariat au Plan” of Morocco. This meeting is a key milestone of the ENPI-SEIS project implemented by the European Environment Agency (EEA) that focus on paving the way towards a Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS) in the European Neighborhood countries. A similar workshop was organized in Lebanon before summer for English speaking South Mediterranean countries. The workshop was attended by some 40 persons with representatives from statistics divisions and water resources management from Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Mauritius and Tunisia; basin authorities, water supply and sanitation companies and environment authorities from Morocco; and international experts from EEA, UNDS, UNEP, Austrian Environment Agency and EMWIS. The workshop was very interactive with lectures, debates and small group exercises. The participants were explained how water accounts and statistics can be used for fact based policy making. They received guidance through hands-on examples, on how to implement water accounts and statistics in their countries according to international standards and recommendations (SEEA-Water and IRWS), as well as using the SEIS principles. Each country provided a state of play related to water accounts, Mauritius cases being used as a good practice for deeper analysis as the implementation and exploitation of physical and monetary accounts were presented. The debate was the opportunity to introduce the work done at the EU level with ECRINS and water accounts at sub-basin level as well as to present the pilot projects on the use of water accounts to halt desertification and support the choice of measures for drought management plan in particular in the case of the Jucar pilot basin. The importance of linking the development of water accounts with the National Water Information Systems –NWIS- under developments appeared several times during the workshop. Indeed, resources should not be spent on the development of new databases but rather on streamlining data flows between distributed systems as recommended by the SEIS approach. The coordination with NWIS will also be beneficial for building and maintaining the partnership with the main data providers as this partnership is a key part of the institutional component of the NWIS development and operation. Finally, the role of the water accounts in the broader picture of ecosystem accounts was demonstrated with the case Kenya providing evidences on the cross-linkages between sectoral policies (e.g. energy, forestry, agriculture, natural resources) and the interest of an integrated approach. Further information on EMWIS website

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IN BRIEF (Full news)
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2- ESA and EIB signed on 10 September 2012 the Space for Mediterranean Countries Initiative agreement. The two organisations will work together towards satellite-based services bridging the digital divide and aiming at bringing economic growth to the Mediterranean region. The European Investment Bank (EIB) assists the economic and social development of partner countries in the South and East Mediterranean. It has invested €13 billion through its operations in this region since 2002, supported 2300 small- and medium-sized enterprises, which created 30 000 jobs. The EIB has also granted more than €102 million for technical assistance operations to build knowledge and capacity. In particular, the current initiative received the support of the FEMIP (Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership) Trust Fund, originally established in 2004, whose main objective is to support private sector development in the Mediterranean partner countries. On ESA's side, the Integrated Applications Promotion (IAP) programme aims to provide new, sustainable services in close partnership with end users, through the development of applications that rely on a combination of existing space and terrestrial systems. IAP has created a network of Ambassador Platforms who promote space applications to a broad range of user communities that are often not aware of the benefits that space technologies can bring to them. For instance, there are Ambassador Platforms for themes such as eHealth (with Norway), enhanced mobility (UK), renewable energy (Spain) and water management (Netherlands). To support the Space for Med initiative, ESA and Luxinnovation, Luxembourg's National Agency for Innovation and Research, in coordination with EIB have created a new Ambassador Platform located in Luxembourg. It will focus on awareness and promotion activities to show how space can improve key infrastructure in the Mediterranean regions, particularly for water management, energy and renewable energy, as well as transport and logistics. The objective is to develop projects in partnership with user communities, thereby ensuring that the services proposed are operationally sustainable. Further information on EMWIS website.

3- EU Finance Ministers celebrated 10 years of EIB-FEMIP, the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership, is the financial arm of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in the Mediterranean partner countries: Algeria, Egypt, Gaza/West Bank, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and soon Libya. Ministers called upon EIB-FEMIP to reinforce its leadership role in financing sustainable long-term investment programmes and promote partnerships that further enhance the value-added of its operations. Over the last decade the Bank has become the largest project financier in the Mediterranean region. Earlier this year, at the annual EIB Governors meeting, EU Finance Ministers confirmed that EU’s neighbours should be the priority for the Bank in its operations outside Europe. This is fully in line with EU external action policy. Further information on EMWIS website.

4- The 2nd meeting of the Information Technologies working group of the ENPI-SEIS project managed by the European Environment Agency (EEA) took place in Skopje September 19-21 with the support of the Ministry of Environment from Macedonia. It gathered IT experts from statistics institutes and Ministries of Environment from ENPI South and East regions allowing cross regional exchange of experiences, reinforced by presentations from Balkan countries on air and water information systems as well as data flows towards the EEA. The Skopje workshop focused on database streamlining and data exchange format. Experts from the South countries agreed on a set of actions for: i) streamlining the provision of data for indicators validated by the monitoring working group of Horizon 2020 initiative, and ii) preparing National pilot actions with a medium term perspective. The development of Shared National Water Information Systems based on SEIS approach in the context of the Union for the Mediterranean was presented to initiate the debate on pilot actions. A practical short term approach using EEA standard reporting facility (reportnet) was decided in order to provide the necessary data for the selected indicators in due time for the 1st Horizon2020 report planned for June 2012. The formal validation of proposed activities will take place during the next ENPI-SEIS Steering Committee planned on 21-22 November. Further information on EMWIS website.

5- Vaison-la-Romaine in 1992, Corbières in 1999, Draguignan in 2010 ... to better predict the heavy rains of the Mediterranean and deadly floods that followed, a a large measurements campaign has just been launched. This is the first campaign of "intensive measures" initiated within the research program HyMeX on the water cycle in the Mediterranean area subject to extreme hydrometeorological and considered a "hot spot" of climate change. Coordinated by the French National Research Agency -CNRS- and Météo France, the program launched in 2010 involves over 400 scientists from more than 20 countries and will continue until 2020. The first campaign of intensive measures is taking place in north-western Mediterranean side (France, Spain, Italy) from September 5 to November 6. The late summer and autumn are indeed more prone to heavy rainfall. The system put in place aims to explore four key components of the formation of intense rainfall and flash floods: the atmospheric circulation over the sea, that carries moist air masses towards the coast and lands; the Mediterranean Sea and the thunderstorm cells. Ground will also be observed with hydrological processes triggered by rainfall, especially in watersheds of Gard and Ardèche (France). The new data will help refine climate models. The campaign will also test a new weather forecasting systems. A second special observation campaign is scheduled from February 1 to March 15, 2013 in the Gulf of Lion. HyMeX (HYdrological cycle in the Mediterranean EXperiment, (www.hymex.org) aims to improve observational and modelling systems, better predict extreme events, simulate the long-term water-cycle, and provide guidelines for adaptation measures. Further information on EMWIS website

6- The directive 2007/60/CE of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on the assessment and management of flood risks requires Member States to draw up maps identifying all areas exposed to flooding risk and indicating the probability and the potential damage for local populations, property and the environment by the end of 2013. Moreover it requires to prepare and implement flood risk management plans for each river basin district including management measures focusing on reducing the probability of flooding and the potential consequences of flooding by the end of 2015. The EU research program "IMPRINTS" Final Workshop took place in Brussels on 27th September of 2012. It aims to show advanced scientific and technical tools oriented to support the implementation of the EU Floods Directive in Mediterranean basins where flash floods are the main cause of the flooding events, and to raise a joint reflection between experts, technical responsibles, stakeholders and risk management authorities about the challenges of implementing the directive in these areas. Thanks to the support of the Stream project*, the meeting and training sessions were web streamed. All meeting documents and some presentation of this webminar remain available online. Further information on EMWIS website.

7- During his working visit to Barcelona, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, José Manuel García-Margallo, visited the premises of the Union for the Mediterranean and held talks with Secretary General Sijilmassi. Both parties exchanged views in light of the current transformations in the Mediterranean Region and discussed the major challenges that the UfM is confronting. Secretary General Sijilmassi briefed the minister on the development of important projects promoted by the UfM, namely, the Euro-Mediterranean University (Euromed-UM) in Fez; the Mediterranean Initiative for Jobs (Med4jobs); the Trans Maghreb Motorway; and the desalination facility for the Gaza Strip. Foreign Affairs Minister García-Margallo reiterated the Spanish Government’s full commitment and support to the UfM and to Secretary General Sijilmassi. During the meeting, Secretary General Sijilmassi highlighted that: “The UfM is more than ever a regional cooperation platform for the development and activation of concrete projects. Our aim is to continue working close with Spain to move forward in implementing concrete programs that have a meaningful and significant impact in the field of civil society, and especially in supporting young entrepreneurs and youth employability in the southern Mediterranean area”. Further information on EMWIS website

8- The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) are working together to raise the 310 million euros of investment needed to build a desalination facility and distribution system in Gaza. Arab countries, coordinated by the Islamic Development Bank, have committed to provide half of the necessary funds to match the European financial commitment. A further 10 million euros was pledged by France during the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille ''The deteriorating situation of the aquifer - said UFM - has a clear health impact, noting especially Blue Baby Syndrome due to nitrate poisoning. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recommends that all young children should be provided only bottled water''. The Palestinian Water Authority and the UfM organised a side event during the World Water Week in Stockholm this week to present the UfM labelled project for the Gaza Strip, with the aim to produce 100 million cubic meters of drinking water a year, to address the major water deficit there for a population of 1.6 million inhabitants. Further information on EMWIS website

9- Polluted water in the Gaza Strip is seriously affecting people’s health and the situation looks set to get worse, the UN warns in a new report. Gaza’s rapidly growing population of about 1.64 million - expected to increase by 500,000 by 2020 - could soon lose its main source of fresh water, the underground coastal aquifer, which could become unusable by 2016, with the damage irreversible by 2020, it says. Clean water is limited for most Gazans to an average of 70-90 litres per person per day, compared to the minimum global World Health Organization (WHO) standard of 100 litres a day, according to Mahmud Daher, officer-in-charge of the WHO in Gaza. Further information on EMWIS website

10- Greenpeace Lebanon warned Thursday that there are hundreds of dangerous chemicals in the waters off the country, which pose dangers to people and the environment. A total of 30 samples were collected for the study and the environmental watchdog’s new report shows that the pollution is highest in Beirut, Tripoli and Sidon. Rayan Makarem, a campaigner for the non-governmental organization, presented the report, entitled “Lebanon’s Toxic Coast: an overview of threats, problems and solutions,” and emphasized that the responsibility for combating this problem lies with both the public and private sectors. “The situation, as it stands, is very dangerous,” Makarem said, adding that Lebanon’s waters must be protected. He called for a comprehensive law on waste management in the country, rather than just a series of emergency laws. He also stressed the need for Lebanon to abide by the Barcelona Convention that the government has ratified, and which was created to reduce pollution in the Mediterranean Sea. Further information on EMWIS website

11- About fifty people, mainly stakeholders from coastal Egyptian governorates and some from Cairo, have attended a training workshop addressing the issue of pollution-intensive small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in coastal areas, organised in Cairo in the framework of the Horizon 2020 Capacity Building/ Mediterranean Environment Programme (H2020 CB/MEP). The workshop, sought to highlight the sustainability concerns in the management of SMEs in Egypt. It aimed at building the capacity of the participants on how to properly manage the environmental impacts of industries, and on tools and measures for mitigating the impacts on the Mediterranean Sea. The presentations covered European experiences, and participants learned about processes and approaches implemented by some projects and agencies at the national level such as the Egyptian Pollution Abatement Project, EPAP II, and the role and best practices from the National Cleaner Production Centre. Among the themes discussed was the portfolio of funding and technical assistance mechanisms available from national authorities in coordination with funding partners for SMEs which embark on complying with the Egyptian Environmental Law. The workshop also provided a better understanding of the concepts of green economy and energy efficiency as adequate approaches for mitigating the impacts of polluting industries. The workshop concluded with a site visit to the Singer Bricks Factories in South Helwan, where participants witnessed a good model of minimising pollution, enhancing energy efficiency, providing a better work environment for employees while at the same time producing better products and achieving higher financial revenues. Further information on EMWIS website.

12- The European Commission has approved new funding of €10 million to improve access to drinking water and sanitation for over 15 million people in Egypt. This comes as a first contribution from the €303 million European Water Initiative led by top European Financial Institutions to support Egypt’s water supply and sanitation sector for the benefit of the population. The new support will go towards improving construction and rehabilitation of the infrastructure needed to supply water (e.g. mechanical equipment and pipelines), as well as technical assistance such as financial planning and project management. "Providing Egyptian citizens with universal access to drinking water supply and environmentally-friendly sanitation service was amongst the crucial demands for social justice made during the Arab Spring last year. As a result, we have transformed it in one of the key priorities of our support to Egypt," said EU Enlargement Commissioner, Štefan Füle. With the support of the Improved Water and Wastewater Services - Phase II project, the percentage of coverage of good quality drinking water supply will reach 95% and 40% for environmentally-friendly wastewater and sanitation services in both urban and rural areas in the four governorates of Assuit, Minia, Qena and Sohag. Further information on EMWIS website.

13- An international conference aimed at spurring synergies and complementarities among different research and innovation projects co-funded by European Commission under the FP7 (seventh framework programme 2007–13) Capacities Programme, will be held in Amman, Jordan on 22 and 23 October 2012.  The Conference, organised in the framework of the Mediterranean Innovation and Research Coordination Action (MIRA), seeks among others to: Boost the principle of a renewed partnership and coordination of research and innovation actions, following the results of the “Euro-Mediterranean Conference in Research and Innovation” (Barcelona on 2-3 April 2012) and Monitoring Committee conclusions; as well as to Contribute to the definition of multi-annual strategies of  EU-MPC in science, technology and innovation.  Further information on EMWIS website.

14- A loan of 106 million EUR was awarded by the Japan International Cooperation (JICA) to Tunisia to finance a project to expand the network of sanitation in ten governorates. The financing agreement was initialed by the Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, Riadh Bettaïeb and Vice-President of JICA responsible for the Middle East, Ichikawa Masakaz. A working meeting was held on this occasion between the two parties, to examine the progress of the projects funded by JICA. A list of 9 development projects was presented by the Tunisian authorities to JICA for funding projects including management and flood control in wadi Medjerda; producing a wastewater treatment plant in the Greater Tunis; a water desalination plant in Sfax. Further information on EMWIS website

15- Water and wastewater firm AES Arabia has been awarded a $14m (SAR 52.5m) contract to work on a dedicated SWRO (seawater reverse osmosis) plant for King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) Research Park. The contractor on the project is China National Chemical Engineering Company (CNCEC), under the management of Saudi Aramco. AES says that it was awarded the contract through a competitive bidding process based on its previous track record, and particularly its long experience of projects with Saudi Aramco. Under the contract, AES will be responsible for design, manufacture, construction, commission and start-up at the site. Once complete, the plant will be capable of producing up to 2,752 GPM (gallons per minute) of freshwater. Seawater for the facility will be taken from a deep open intake, and will be subject to extensive pre-treatment before being pumped to the desalination plant. Water will then be further treated to remove Boron and then re-mineralised to meet WHO water standards. AES Arabia has previous experience working at KAUST, having completed an 8000 CMD MBR (cubic metres per day membrane bio reactor) sewage treatment plant, and been involved in the construction of KAUST’s 52,000 CMD SWRO facility. Further information on EMWIS website.

16- A major new research paper on the activities of the water companies in Europe reveals a series of trends: The ownership of private water companies in Europe in 2010 has become even more concentrated than before. It is now more than ever overwhelmingly dominated by the French multinational Suez Environment (part of GdFSuez) and Veolia. Both Suez and Veolia, and other smaller companies such as SAUR (French) and FCC (Spanish), are increasingly dependent on state capital for activities in water, both from the government of France and from international development banks, including the EBRD and the IFC. There continues to be a significant trend towards remunicipalisation, with cities such as Berlin and Budapest following the example of Paris.
However, the austerity packages imposed in countries of southern Europe have become a new driver for privatisation. There is continued strong public resistance to water privatisation, notably in Italy, in Portugal against the privatisation of Aguas do Portugal, in Greece, against the proposed privatisation of water in Thessaloniki and Athens, and in Spain, against the proposed privatisation of Canal Isabel II in Madrid. The EU’s long-awaited policy on water resources will be issued at the end of 2012, and the companies are already lobbying on this. But the EU’s development policy in relation to water is more sympathetic to public provision, and more critical of the private sector. Further information on EMWIS website.

17- The 13 CIHEAM member countries’ ministers of agriculture, or their representatives, met in Valetta on the 27th of September 2012 at the invitation of the Hon. George Pullicino MP, Minister for Resources and Rural Affairs of the Republic of Malta, to discuss about “Food Security and Pricing in the Mediterranean Countries”. The European Commissioners for Agriculture and Rural Development, Health and Consumer Policy and the Chair of the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee also contributed to these deliberations. During the discussion the Ministers called for more multilateral cooperation and regional solidarity among Mediterranean countries to face these challenges. They drew particular attention to several measures able to consider the food security and food price volatility issues. They consisted among others in: Implementing national agricultural and rural development policies as well as ecologically and socially responsible food strategies, in order to reinforce food security for their citizens, while supporting agricultural producers; Pursuing adaptation efforts for climate change in agriculture; Developing innovative public-private financing and risk-management tools in agriculture; Contributing to the development of a market information system of the Mediterranean countries, linked to AMIS, in close collaboration with the G20 monitoring panel, as a way to share sound information in order to help prevent price volatility in agricultural markets. Further information on EMWIS website.

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NOMINATIONS and VACANCIES
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18- Spain:  Last September 21st, the Spanish Cabinet appointed Liana Ardiles López as Director General of Water. She replaces Juan Urbano López de Meneses, who had held the position for 9 months. Born in Bahía Blanca (Argentina), the new Director General has a degree in Civil Engineering (Roads, Canals and Ports) from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and a Masters Degree in General and Applied Hydrology from the Public Works Research and Experimentation Centre (CEDEX). After working for the CEDEX Centre for Hydrographic Studies, she worked in the Dam Safety Unit of the Directorate General of Water and was responsible for the technical management of the Hydrographic Confederation of the River Duero. Prior to last Friday's appointment, she was head of the General Management Support Unit at the Spanish Office of Climate Change. Further information on EMWIS website.

19- Egypt: New Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation. Egypt's Prime Minister Hisham Qandil nominated by President Mohamed Morsi has selected a new government. Kandil has already distinguished himself as the youngest Prime Minister to date. He is no stranger to Egypt’s current cabinet, appointed Minister of Irrigation and Water Services by former Prime Minister Essam Sharaf last July, and continued to serve in Kamal Al Ganzouri’s cabinet. The new Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation is Eng. Mohamed Bahaa-Eddin. Further information on EMWIS website.

20- Algeria: Appointment of a new Minister of Water Resources. the Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika appointed on 4 September after consultation with the Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal (former Minister of Water Resources), members of the new government, among them: Hocine Necib, as new Minister of Water Resources. Further information on EMWIS website.

21- Morocco: New Coordinator at EMWIS National Focal Point team. Eng. Redouan BOUAICHA has been nominated head of the Division of Organisation and Methods at the Water Department (SEEE in the past) in the Ministry of Energy, Mining, Water and Environment (MEMEE). Hence, he became the new coordinator of EMWIS National Focal Point (NFP) in Morocco. He replaces Eng. Belkassem DHIMI. Further information on EMWIS website

22- The UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education offers post-graduate education in Delft, The Netherlands.This is a re-advertised position for the inaugural Professor of Water Governance to lead and strengthen the Water Governance Chair Group. The deadline for applications is 30 October 2012 (closing date). Further information on EMWIS website

23- Raindrops Geneva Award 2013: “The Best Poster on the Advantages of Rainwater Harvesting”. The artist should keep in mind that the aim of the competition is to make the general public aware that rainwater can be (and is!) an essential resource. The deadline for submission is the 31^st October 2013 at 12.00 p.m. (GMT), and the winning posters will be announced in November 2013. Further information on EMWIS website

24- Action contre la Faim (ACF) is looking for: An operational technical advisor in: Water, Sanitation & Hygiene to work in Paris (France). Starting Date: End of October / Beginning of November 2012. Further information on EMWIS website

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PUBLICATIONS
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25- New Publication on Water Demand Management in the Mediterranean: At the World Water Week (Stockholm, 2012), Plan Bleu and the Technical Committee (TEC) of GWP announced the publication of a new report entitled "Water Demand Management: the Mediterranean Experience", during an event organized on August 28, on GWP stand. This report aimed to disseminate knowledge and experience of Water Demand Management in the Mediterranean, in particular for policymakers around the world. Further information on EMWIS website

26- Future challenges for water hazard early warning systems: Researchers have reviewed early warning systems (EWS) for water hazards, such as flash flooding, landslides, river flooding and coastal flooding. They conclude that EWS continue to provide valuable information to allow emergency services and local communities prepare for water-related natural hazards. However, there are a number of challenges to address to gain the most benefit from EWS. The study also identifies several important challenges for EWS, such as the need for integrated systems that can respond to multiple different hazards across national boundaries. Such initiatives are already being developed, and examples include the European Flood Alert System and the World Meteorological Organization’s Severe Weather Information Centre. Further information on EMWIS website

27- Measuring biodiversity with indicators – new report describes SEBI approach: In recent years the Streamlining European Biodiversity Indicators (SEBI) process coordinated by the European Environment Agency (EEA) has developed a set of indicators to measure progress against targets to halt biodiversity loss. The EEA has now reviewed the successful process which created the indicators in a new report.  Further information on EMWIS website

28- New publication: Community Based Problem Solving on Water Issues – Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) September 2012: This publication describes the efforts of the Good Water Neighbors project team to identify environmental challenges and provide feasible solutions for “Priority Initiatives” in the participating communities.  Further information on EMWIS website

29- Getting the Facts Right: Correcting inaccuracies in COGAT’s factsheet “Water in the West Bank”: Intended to window dress over four decades of military occupation and Israel's systematic denial of Palestinian water rights. This table juxtaposes some of these inaccuracies against the facts. Further information on EMWIS website

30- Proceedings of the Int. Conference on GMS 2020 - Food-Water-Energy Nexus: In February this year, the GMS Environment Operations Center held the International Conference on GMS 2020: Balancing Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability, in Bangkok, Thailand. The conference reflected on Greater Mekong Subregion’s economic growth between 2001 and 2010 and its impact on environmental and social development as well as provided an outlook for the next decade. More than 50 papers, presentations, and speeches have since been compiled in the conference proceedings and provide a wealth of up-to-date data and analysis on Food-Water-Energy. Further information on EMWIS website

31- The UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) and InterAction Council (IAC), along with the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, have published a report calling for the UN Security Council to take stronger action on water issues. “The Global Water Crisis: Addressing an Urgent Security Issue” presents the outcomes of a May 2011 meeting of IAC, and outlines steps in the Québec Declaration on the World Water Crisis. Further information on EMWIS website.

32- Publication of new book: "Challenges and future of water in the XXI Century: Conflict or Cooperation?" Editions l'Harmattan: Edward Boinet, Who was responsible of a mission in the International Office for Water (OIEAU), after collaborating with UNEP, UNESCO and the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), recently published a book on the Nile Basin, some experts agree make the most likely epicenter of future "water wars." The study reveals regional hydropolitical yet instead failover recent conflict to cooperation. Further information on EMWIS website.

33- The legal protection of watercourses: There are different approaches to the legal protection of waterways: limited to certain aspects of the public domain, for example, or international law; emphasize the history or status ... This book reexamines all these themes to make the confrontation right functioning of rivers as described today by the natural sciences. For the first time, the river is approached by a lawyer so modern in its entirety, as anthroposystem, and plans and not only the fluvial hydrosystem but also all its uses. Further information on EMWIS website

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CALL FOR TENDERS and PROPOSALS
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34- FP7 New Calls for Proposals: On July 9, the European Commission announced the biggest ever set of calls for proposals for research under its Seventh Framework Program (FP7), with a total of 8.1 billion euros. The funding is open to individuals, organizations and businesses in EU Member States and partner countries. The funding makes up the lion's share of the EU's proposed 10.8 billion euro research budget for 2013 and is building a bridge to Horizon 2020, the next funding program for EU research from 2014-2020. Funding is available under the Cooperation, People, Ideas, Capacities and Euratom programs. The last call is FP7-ENV-2013-two-stage (Budget: € 248 000 000): Challenge 6.1 coping with climate change; challenge 6.2 sustainable use and management of land and seas; challenge 6.3 improving resource efficiency; challenge 6.4 protecting citizens from environmental hazards; challenge 6.5 mobilising environmental knowledge for policy, industry and society. Deadline: 16 October 2012 at 17:00:00 (Brussels local time). Further information on EMWIS website.

35- Partnership for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) Call for application: The Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) Science program is now accepting proposals from developing country researchers interested in collaborating with their U.S. counterparts. Application deadline of December 4, 2012. PEER Science is a partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) that is designed to address development challenges through international research collaboration.  PEER Science invites proposals from applicants in the various specific countries including Water for the Middle East and North Africa. Regardless of the country or topic, all applicants must have a U.S. collaborator with an active NSF award. Further information on EMWIS website

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CALL FOR PAPERS
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36- The XIth International Symposium on Environment, Catalysis and Process Engineering (ECGP’11), 26-28 June, 2013, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France calls for abstracts submission up to 31th of January, 2013. Topics: Clean and End-of-Pipe catalytic technologies for the environmental protection : clean fuels and air pollution control, Transformation of waste/biomass to useful materials, Valorisation of wastes in civil Engineering and environmental impacts, Analysis and water treatment. Further information on EMWIS website.

37- The organizing committee of TG13 invites you to participate in and attend the TerraGreen13 International Conference on "Advancements in Renewable Energy and Clean Environment", to be held February 15-17,2013 in Beirut, Lebanon. Abstracts submission deadline: October 15,2012. Further information on EMWIS website.

38- The World Life Sciences Forum, BioVision, invites 100 promising PhD students and postdoctoral researchers to attend the 3-day forum, BioVision.Nxt, which will be held on 24–26 March in Lyon, France. The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) will partially cover the travel expenses of 50 distinguished young scientists, to attend this high-profile event. Each of the TWAS Regional Offices will select 10 eligible young scientists, in the field of life sciences, from the region. The young scientists selected from the Arab Region will be partially sponsored by TWAS-Arab Regional Office (TWAS-ARO). Priority will be given to first-time applicants. Online applications will close on 15 November 2012. Further information on EMWIS website

39- Call for abstracts for the International Workshop: «WCI in Hadrumète: Waste Cluster Initiative »: The Higher School of Sciences and Technology of Hammam Sousse (Sousse University), the Laboratory of Energy and Materials with the support of the “Euro-Mediterranean FP7 SOWAEUMEDproject" organize an International Workshop the 22-23 et 24 November 2012 in Sousse (Tunisia). The workshop entitled «WCI in HADRUMETE: WASTE CLUSTER INITIATIVE » will revolve around all topics related to waste water treatment and particularly innovative technologies, water reuse and recycle waste. The deadline for registration is the 25th October, 2012. Further information on EMWIS website.

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TRAINING
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40- [2012/10/14 - 2012/10/18] ACWUA- GIZ 6th Regional Training Program: Key Performance Indicators and Benchmarking for Water Utilities in the Arab/MENA Region. Aqaba, Jordan.
Further information on EMWIS website

41- [2012/10/08 - 2012/10/12] Training Course on: "Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. Theoretical foundations and applied issues", Cagliari, Italy
Further information on EMWIS website.

42- [2012/10/03 - 2012/10/05] Limiting climate change impact on water resources: EU project to hold training workshop, Amman, Jordan.
Further information on EMWIS website

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EVENTS (Full Agenda)
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PROJECTS (Projects database)
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WATER PROJECTS DATABASE (MEDA-NIPs, MEDA-Water, LIFE, SMAP, INCO-MED, FP4-FP7, INTERREG, etc.)

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BRIEF EMWIS SITE MAP
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ABOUT EMWIS (Priorities, Activities, Objectives, Structure, Funding, Team)
WATER in the EURO-MED PARTNERSHIP (MEDA programme, Key dates, European Neighbourhood Policy)
EMWIS NATIONAL WEBSITES: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Cyprus, Malta, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Austria, Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg
EMWIS WATER MULTILINGUAL THESAURUS (Available in English, French, Arabic, Spanish & Italian)- Water glossaries
DOCUMENTATION (EMWIS meetings, Documentary database, Funding for water, Key emwis-flash-ndeg100-may-2012-1uments, Water Legislation)
WHO DOES WHAT IN THE WATER SECTOR (By contacts, organisations & information sources)
PARTNERS & SPONSORS (OIEau, CEDEX, SOGESID, EC, INBO, IME, GWP-Med, MED-EUWI, SMAP-RMSU)
MEDA-WATER PROJECTS (ADIRA, EMPOWERS, EMWater, IrWA, ISIIMM, MEDAWARE, MEDROPLAN, MEDWA, Zer0-M)
WATER INITIATIVES (MED-EUWI, WFD, INCO-MED, LIFE, MEDSTAT, SMAP, EXACT, UNEP-MAP, MSSD, HORIZON 2020, Union for the Mediterranean) & Mediterranean Water Information Mechanism
FORUM ; FAQ ; TOPICS (MedWIP, Water scarcity, groundwater, wastewater reuse, desalination, satellite data, etc)
SEARCH EMWIS WEBSITE
EMWIS SITEMAP
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CONTACT US
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- This is a monthly Flash provided by the EMWIS Technical Unit (sent to: 20145 subscribers), to which you can get a free subscription, click here for an open subscription.
- The EMWIS Flash gives you regular and quality information on the water sector in the Euro-Mediterranean area. The main headlines are: Institutions, Documentation, Training, Research and Development, Data Administration. You will also find updates on: international events, relevant web sites, the Euro-Med Water programme of the European Commission, and much more ...
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