To tackle climate change and other challenges in the Rmel river basin, stakeholders discussed water management options during a BeWater stakeholder event. Fifty stakeholders participated in the event, which took place on 7 October 2015. Watch the video to get an impression of the event. 

BeWater raises awareness in Tunisian primary schools on water scarcity and the importance of water saving 

As a follow-up to its involvement with youth stakeholders in the Rmel River Basin in the Tunisian Province of Zaghouan, the BeWater partners GWP-Med and INRGREF, in cooperation with the NGO The Lions' Club, are developing a national campaign in Tunisian primary schools to raise awareness on water scarcity and the importance of water saving.

The campaign will take place during the month of February 2016 and is called ÔVI (eau = water, vie = life). It takes place within the framework of the activity La Jeunesse Francophone pour l'eau (Francophone Youth for Water).

The campaign is taking place as a follow-up action to the national training for Tunisian NGOs that are active in water resources management, which was held on 13-14 November 2015.

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The first BeWater Policy Brief highlights the need to develop river basin adaptation plans to deal with climate change and the role of local stakeholders to develop successful adaptation strategies. It is available for download in English, Catalan, French, Arabic, and Slovenian.

In the Mediterranean region, water resources are expected to be severely impacted by climate change. The resulting decrease in water supplies needs to be considered to ensure the sustainable supply and use of high quality water resources in the future. Current water management initiatives give insufficient consideration to climate change at the river basin level.

The BeWater project addresses this gap and is developing adaptation plans to pro-actively respond to water-related global challenges at the river basin level through a dialogue between science and society. The first BeWater Policy Brief highlights the role of local stakeholders to develop successful adaptation strategies, which must be applicable across multiple policy sectors.

In the frame work of the BeWater activities, an awareness campaign was held at Jradou elementary school (Tunisia) on 16 December 2015.

The event was organised by the National Research Institute for Rural Engineering Water and Forestry (INRGREF). It was attended by all the pupils of the school and representatives from the Regional Commissariat of Education, Zaghouan Municipality, Young Leaders Council Association and Zero Waste Association.

The principle of the school Mr. Adel Miled who was assisted with teachers, have facilitated the communication between children and the BeWater team.

BeWater trains Tunisian youth NGOs to address the challenge of sustainable water resources management under climate change constraints. 

As a follow-up to its involvement with youth stakeholders in the Rmel River Basin in the Tunisian Province of Zaghouan, and the consultation workshop held there on July, 31st, with local youth participation, under the thematic “Boundaries and guidelines for a committed and active involvement of youth in sustainable water resources management and the fight against climate change”, the BeWater Project made further steps in the region on that front: BeWater Consortium partner, GWP-Med, along with Consortium partner INRGREF, held a very interesting and successful training for youth NGO members on November, 13th-14th, bringing together 30 youth stakeholders active in water resources management, from different Tunisian regions.

Climate change and other global developments are expected to affect the Rmel river basin. Local citizens are discussing with scientists how to manage water resources in order to adapt to changing future conditions.

Through a series of workshops, scientists from the National Research Institute for Rural Engineering Water and Forestry (INRGREF) are discussing water management strategies to deal with global change for the Rmel river basin with local stakeholders. In a first workshop, the participants identified the main challenges for the management of water resources and suggested options to deal with these challenges. In a second workshop, these options were refined and evaluated. On 7 October, an open consultation event was held in Tunis (Tunisia). This event was attended by about 50 participants including engineers, educators, administrators, sociologists, policy makers and planners who covered various sectors such as agriculture, education, associations, technical directions, irrigation, and development.

Enhancing communication and dissemination of the project results with target audiences is a key priority for the BeWater project, which is focused in promoting stakeholders’ active role in determining appropriate strategies for sustainable water management and adaptation to the impacts of global change in the Mediterranean at river basin level. 

As Youth is undoubtedly a key stakeholder in the Mediterranean South, with the role it has played in the recent sociopolitical developments and its robust demographics, BeWater has decided to invest and promote youth activity in the Rmel river basin in Tunisia’s Zaghouan province, one of the project’s four case study river basins, in order to help enhancing the Tunisian youth’s involvement in water resources management and climate change adaptation.

Climate change and other global developments are expected to affect the Rmel river basin. Local citizens are now working together with scientists to identify the main challenges ahead for the management of water resources, as well as potential solutions to adapt to changing future conditions.

Scientists from the National Research Institute for Rural Engineering Water and Forestry (INRGREF) are involved in the BeWater project and have organised several workshops to discuss water management in the context of global change for the Rmel river basin. Participants of these workshops shared an interest in the basin and included farmers, water user associations, official representatives, teachers, environmental NGOs, members of the tourism and industry sectors and agricultural unions.

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عقدت ورشة العمل الثانية لأصحاب المصلحة لمشروعBeWaterفي ياسمين الحمامات (تونس) في 4 جوان 2015، وقد حضرها 24 مشاركا، 4 ميسرين من Prospex، ممثل عن EFIو مراقب من ECOLOGICوفريق عمل  المعهد الوطني للبحوث في الهندسة الريفية، المياه و الغابات(تونس)INRGREF.  

كانت الأهداف الرئيسية لهذه الورشة:

• مناقشة بعض التحديات المتعلقة بالتصرف في المياه بالحوض المائي "رمل".

• طرح و عرض نتائج ورشة العمل الأولى لأصحاب المصلحة  (2014).

• تحديد المعايير المستخدمة لتقييم خيارات التصرف في المياه المقترحة.

 • مناقشة وتقييم خيارات التصرف في المياه.

In order to engage wider society, BeWater Awareness Campaigns are being held in the four Case Study River Basins. Zaghouan (Tunisia) host the last awareness campaign and FCM workshop, related to the Rmel River Basin, where the following video was produced.

Evaluation of Water Management Options through key Stakeholder participation

Thursday 4 June 2015
Rmel, Tunisia

The second major round of BeWater Stakeholder Workshops will take place in each of the Case Study River Basins between May and July 2015. Key River Basin Stakeholders will take part in the day-long Workshops in order to contribute to the evaluation of the Water Management Options developed over the last months through the participative process launched last year.

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Talk of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps, Gantt Charts and Mental Modelling might have you reaching rapidly for your project dictionary but behind the terminology lies some significant progress in the BeWater project over the recent months.

These and other elements of the project were presented and discussed at the BeWater Steering Committee meeting, which took place in Brussels from 4 – 6 February 2015.

Rmel River Basin has been featured in the digital magazine REVOLVE-WATER.

A description of the physical, environmental and socio-economic characteristics of the river basin is followed by an overview of the work done so far in the BeWater project on developing an adaptation plan for the basin.

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In Rmel the Awareness Campaign was launched on the 16th of December at Zaghouan. 60 participants were introduced to the project through posters, presentations and discussion.

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Stakeholder engagement, Water Management Option design and participative methodology were the hot topics for the BeWater General Meeting held in Nicosia, Cyprus, from 21-23 October 2014.

The main focus of the meeting was on the four Case Study River Basins(CSRBs), with feedback on the BeWater participatory approach and initial stakeholder engagement.