Euro-Mediterranean Information System on know-how in the Water sector

Service Procurement Notice announced for analysis on benefits of enhanced environment protection

2009-05-13T00:00:00Z

The Service Procurement Notice for analysis for ENPI countries on social and economic benefits of enhanced environment protection has been published (EuropeAid/127881/C/SER/Multi).

This contract will be dealing with the countries participating in all of the countries of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) and Russia.

Building on previous and on-going work, this project will finalise and apply a methodology to assess the societal benefits of environmental protection to all of the countries of the ENP and Russia, achieving improved understanding and awareness of the economic and social benefits of environmental improvement, and capacity to integrate environmental considerations into wide policy development.

The need for this type of study has been discussed with key International Financial Institutions (IBRD, EIB) as well as with officials in the Ministry of Environment in target countries.

In bilateral contacts with the Commission, the Ministries of Environment in the target countries have repeatedly mentioned their difficulty in concretely demonstrating the importance of environmental actions to their colleagues in other sectors as one of the barriers to progress, and have indicated the need for materials to help demonstrate the value of environment policy to their nations.

The maximum budget for the contract is €1.3 million. The provisional commencement date is September 2009, and initial period of implementation is 18 months.

Participation is open to legal persons established in an EU Member State or in a country or territory of the regions covered by the specific instruments applicable to the programme under which the contract is financed. It is also open to international organisations.

The deadline for receipt of applications is Friday, 5 June 2009, 16:00 CET, following a corrigendum extending the deadline.

More information on this tender, including participation, exclusion criteria and selection and award criteria, as well as application rules, can be found in the service procurement notice available here. Alternatively, the procurement notice and the forecast can be found here.

FEMIP conference: water solutions must be global

2009-05-13T00:00:00Z

Solutions to the challenge facing Mediterranean water supply in the face of climate change must be global and integrated, according to the recommendations of the 6th FEMIP conference held in Monaco on 11 May.

The conference on ‘The sustainable financing of water and climate change in the Mediterranean' brought together political leaders, water specialists and representatives of financial institutions and international organisations. FEMIP is the dedicated Mediterranean arm of the European Investment Bank (EIB).

The conference drew up three main recommendations: The private sector - both local and international - must be involved in the financing of water projects

A general public awareness of the issue must be achieved to enable an integrated management of water issues Greater cooperation must be envisaged through a new Agency for the Mediterranean Basin.

EIB press release (FR only)

2009-05-11T00:00:00Z

Water-Saving Gadgets to Cut Bills

2009-05-13T00:00:00Z

Thousands of newly metered Thames Water customers are being offered free products in a bid to help them reduce their water consumption and bring down bills. Water-saving devices including aerated showerheads, water butts to collect rainwater for use outdoors and digital shower timers will be given free of charge to customers who have had a meter fitted since April 2008.

Deep Tunnel Sewerage System wins Global Water Award

2009-05-13T00:00:00Z

Singapore's Deep Tunnel Sewerage System (DTSS) is fast gaining recognition on the global water stage with its second international award in less than a year. Crowned 'Water Project of the Year' at the Global Water Awards 2009 in Zurich (Switzerland), the DTSS was selected as the water project with the most significant contribution to water technology and environmental protection.

The annual Global Water Awards, organised by the Global Water Intelligence, is widely recognised as one of the most prestigious symbol of achievement in the global water industry.

The USD3.65 billion (EUR1.86 billion) DTSS is Singapore's superhighway to meet its used water needs for the next 100 years. Conceptualised and managed by Singapore's national water agency, PUB, it was conceived as a cost-effective and sustainable solution to meet Singapore's long-term used water needs. The mammoth DTSS conveys used water from homes and industries through a 48-km long deep tunnel sewer that runs 20 to 55 metres below ground to a centralised water reclamation plant for treatment.

The heart of the DTSS, the Changi Water Reclamation Plant is a state-of-the-art used water plant capable of treating 800,000 cubic metres (176 million gallons) of used water a day to international standards. The treated used water is then discharged into the sea through deep sea outfalls or channelled to the Changi NEWater factory on the rooftop of the reclamation plant where it is further purified through advanced membrane technologies into NEWater, Singapore's own brand of reclaimed water.

In clinching the 'Water Project of the Year' award, the DTSS beat competition from Jordan's As Samra Waste Water Treatment Plant, Geneva Water Treatment Facility in Illinois as well as the Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant in San Diego. This is the second international award for DTSS. Last year, it emerged as the global winner in the Planning Projects category of the International Water Association (IWA) Project Innovation Awards last year.

Besides the DTSS, PUB's water management strategy also has been making waves internationally in the last few years. The 'Water Project of the Year' award is the third award that PUB has received at the annual Global Water Awards. PUB was named

'Water Agency of the Year' at the 2006 Global Water Awards while NEWater, Singapore's own brand of reclaimed water garnered the 'Environmental Contribution of the Year' award last year. Topping off the honours, PUB won the Stockholm Industry Water Award in 2007, one of the highest accolades in the international water sector.

Giving a major boost to Singapore's global hydrohub aspirations is the Singapore International Water Week, the global platform for water solutions. Come 22 to 26 June, close to 10,000 delegates and trade visitors are expected to gather in Singapore to address challenges, showcase technologies, discover opportunities and celebrate achievements at the second Water Week this year. The Changi Water Reclamation Plant will be the star of this year's Water Week where it will officially be opened by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

2009-05-13T00:00:00Z

2009-05-18T00:00:00Z

Environmental Reporting and Information Exchanges in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Countries: Current situation and preliminary needs assessment in Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Tunisia and Israel

2009-05-04T00:00:00Z

The information contained in this report is the outcome of the compilation and analysis of information and documents available within SMAP Clearinghouse, completed by the information collected in the four above-mentioned countries in the course of SMAP RMSU expert missions, and by the main conclusions of national meetings, namely those centred on current national capacities in terms of using and contributing effectively towards the EU and regional environmental information exchange systems.

The report is made up as follows:
• The first part summarises the principal international and regional environmental conventions signed and ratified by all the South and East Mediterranean countries, and the reporting obligations entailed in said Conventions. Furthermore, there is a short overview of environmental programmes dealing, among other things, with pollution in the Mediterranean, such as Med Pol, SMAP, Medstat and EMWIS, which have developed an environmental – and sometimes data - information exchange and management system. This chapter has been drafted both in French and English.

• The second part describes current status of environmental information and reporting in the four countries visited, namely Egypt, Syria, Tunisia and Morocco, with an additional chapter on Israel which was the object of a simple desk study. For each country there is an overview of the national and international institutional framework (reminder); national institutions involved in reporting activities, and mechanisms setup for environmental information exchange and processing; existing reports; national environmental information and data management systems, and capacity-building requirements. The strengths and weaknesses of environmental information management, institutional and legal constraints, as well as national capacity-building requirements in the field of environmental information exchange and management have been compiled during the national meetings. The national reports have been drafted in English for Syria, Egypt and Israel, in French for Tunisia and Morocco.

--
English version
http://smap.ew.eea.europa.eu/media_server/files/J/i/Report_EN.pdf

Version française
http://smap.ew.eea.europa.eu/media_server/files/z/b/Report_FR.pdf

Announcement: Call for Applications 2009/2010 - PhD Programme in Science and Management of Climate Change

2009-05-04T00:00:00Z

Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, in collaboration with the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change (CMCC), launched a 3-year PhD Programme in Science and Management of Climate Change, organised in two Streams: Dynamic Climatology at CMCC in Bologna; and Climate change impact and management, at the Department of Economics of the Ca’ Foscari University in Venice.

The PhD Programme in Science and Management of Climate Change was established in 2007, through an agreement between the Universita' Foscari in Venice (Unive) and the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change (CMCC), a consortium comprising several Italian public and private Research institutions.

Objectives of the PhD
Unive and CMCC joined their efforts to launch a joint PhD Programme in order to provide the job market with experts with a broad, in-depth, scientific and socio-economic background, as well as with a sound and innovative research experience focusing on the dynamics of climate change and the methodologies and techniques for evaluation and management, in terms of mitigation and adaptation measures and policies.

Organisation of the PhD Programme
The Programme is organised in two Streams:

Dynamic Climatology, at CMCC in Bologna
Climate change impact and management, at the Department of Economics of the University Ca Foscari in Venice

Twelve 5-credit courses are planned for the first academic year, in order to provide students with the state of the art of the scientific findings related to the two disciplinary streams. These also foresee common activities with the objective of offering tools to build a sound scientific, managerial and economic base for the general comprehension of the broader theme of climate change, with the opportunity for in depth studies of specific issues and for experiencing a multidisciplinary approach.
The second year is aimed at providing the PhD candidates with an experience of research in a foreign institution, while the third year is mainly devoted to the preparation of the thesis.
The PhD admits every year up to twelve students, from Italy and elsewhere.

Application information and forms
The Call for Applications will be opened around the 15th of May 2009 and the deadline will be set at mid June 2009.
If you would like to receive an alert when the call open, please write to phd-climate-change@unive.it in order to be added in our mailing list.
For further information please visit: http://venus.unive.it/phd-climate-change/

2009-05-04T00:00:00Z

Israel Providing Jordan with Additional Water to Avoid a Crisis in Bilateral Relations

2009-05-04T00:00:00Z

The recent water crisis in Israel and the neighboring countries was about to harm bilateral Israeli-Jordanian relations. Israel was asked in the middle of the present water crisis to provide Jordan with millions of cubic meters of water in addition to the already agreed upon amounts, due to a contamination incident that was found in one of the main water canals in Jordan.

A month ago, contamination was detected in the East Ghor canal, also known as the King Abdullah Canal (KAC), the main water canal for Jordan. In the wake of this incident Jordan called on its Israeli neighbor to control the sewage flooding in from the Golan Heights which due to much rainfall reached the KAC. As a result, the Israeli Water Authority quickly pumped millions of cubic meters of water from Lake Tiberias to Jordan. The Israeli sources confirmed that the step was to avoid the rising tension with Jordan.

In the mean time, Jordan declared the formation of an investigation committee on the issue, and confirmed that Israel pumped water to Jordan on 5 consecutive days after discovering the problem. The committee also confirmed however that Israel never gave clarifications on this problem. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs supplied the investigation committee with a document confirming the extra supply of water to Jordan, stating that this action helped in strengthening the existing relations between the two countries.

FoEME released its own “Model Water Agreement”

2009-05-05T00:00:00Z

In response to the World Bank’s report on restrictions on the Palestinian water sector, which revealed the extent to which water resources and sustainable development are being held hostage to the conflict, FoEME released its own “Model Water Agreement”. This Model Water Accord constitutes a detailed agreement for cooperation in addressing common Israeli and Palestinian water challenges and in managing shared natural resources and calls for the replacement of the Joint Water Committee with a new body where equivalent powers and responsibilities would lie.

See FoEME press release for more information on this issue, and other press coverage of the issue.

This publication was supported by the Geneva Initiative and Forum 2000.

2009-05-05T00:00:00Z