Friday evening 23 October 2015 was a special evening for the people who walk and cycle in the linear park along the Pedieos River in Nicosia. The Cyprus Institute's researchers had turned one of the small plazas along the path into a climate change info point with their colorful BeWater banners. The Cyprus Institute's researchers were at hand to explain the potential impacts of climate change and the need for adaptation.

The Pedieos River is an ephemeral river that only flows during prolonged wet periods and high rainfall events. The river creates a unique green environment in the busy urban area of Nicosia and the Pedieos walking and cycling path has become a popular attraction. A dam in the foothills of the Troodos Mountains protect the downstream areas from excessive floods. However, the combined effects of the ever increasing urbanisation and more intense rainfall events resulting from climate change are rendering the river vulnerable to flooding.

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.

This article in English

S'espera que el canvi climàtic i altres esdeveniments globals afectin la conca del riu Tordera. Els ciutadans locals ja estan treballant en conjunt amb els científics per identificar els principals reptes del futur de la gestió dels recursos hídrics, així com les possibles solucions per adaptar-se a les canviants condicions futures.

Científics del Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF) estan involucrats en el projecte BeWater i han organitzat diversos tallers per discutir la gestió de l'aigua en el context de canvi global de la conca del riu Tordera. Els participants d'aquests tallers comparteixen un interès en la conca. En un primer taller, els participants van identificar els desafiaments relacionats amb la gestió de l'aigua i les opcions per fer front a aquests desafiaments discutits. En un segon taller, aquestes opcions es van perfeccionar i avaluar.

Aquest article en Català

Climate change and other global developments are expected to affect the Tordera 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 Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF) are involved in the BeWater project and have organised several workshops to discuss water management in the context of global change for the Tordera river basin. Participants of these workshops shared an interest in the basin. In a first workshop, the participants identified challenges related to water management and discussed options to deal with these challenges. In a second workshop, these options were refined and evaluated.

Over eight days, 20 organizations from Brazil and Europe had shared good practices for the wide audience. The objective of the event was to contribute to efforts to contain climate change on the following topics: water, energy, solid waste, land use and agriculture, urbanisation and urban mobility, security and climate.

EU ambassador in Brazil, João Gomes Cravinho, said, “Important part of our work is cooperation with our international partners. It is impressive to see the incredible range of climate initiatives and solutions emerging and building up in different parts of the world.” International cooperation is important for us as well due to obvious fact that only working together we will be able to change our habits which are essential to the survival of the planet in the context of climate change.

Članek v slovenščini

Adaptation and mitigation of climate change effects in agro-ecosystems – Towards efficient actions implementation

On November 24th 2015, International workshop on adaptation of climate change effects in agro ecosystems was organised in Ljubljana by Agicultural Institute of Slovenia in the frame of FP7 Cropsustain. His excellency, the French Ambassador in Slovenia and numerous international experts in the field of agriculture and environment took part at the workshop.

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.

Članek v slovenščini

Climate change and other global developments are expected to affect the Vipava 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 Institute for Water of the Republic of Slovenia (IzVRS) are discussing water management strategies to deal with global change for the Vipava 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 12 October, an open consultation event was held in Ajdovščina. This event was attended by 16 stakeholders representing public administration, forestry, nature conservation, industry and agriculture.

Aquest article en català

The international team of BeWater project returns to the Tordera basin to present options for adaptive water management produced jointly by citizens and scientists from 2014 to today.

This Saturday we meet at Can Moragues, Riudarenes between 10.00 and 14.00 for a session open to the basin citizen who are interested in learning and discussing about the proposals resulting from the work done so far in the project.

Citizens and scientists met for the first time in Sant Celoni in May 2014 where they presented scientific results to evaluate current and future impacts of climate change in the basin. Participants shared their perspectives on which are the challenges to be dealt with in the region, what are the goals to which we aspire and suggest proposals to get there. The greatest challenges that have been put on the table are the improvement of water quality, the amount of water available, the health of forest and water ecosystems and the adoption of integrated management strategies.

This article in English

L’equip internacional del projecte BeWater torna a la conca de la Tordera per presentar les propostes de gestió adaptativa de l’aigua elaborades conjuntament per la ciutadania i els científics des del 2014 a avui.

Aquest dissabte ens trobem a Can Moragues a Riudarenes entre les 10.00 i les 14.00 per una sessió oberta als actors de la conca que tinguin interès en conèixer i debatre les propostes que resulten del treball desenvolupat fins ara al projecte.

Els ciutadans i científics es van trobar per primera vegada a Sant Celoni al maig 2014 on es van presentar els resultats científics que permeten avaluar els impactes presents i futurs del canvi global a la conca. Els participants van compartir la seva perspectiva de quins son els reptes al que ha de fer front el territori, quins serien els objectius als que hauríem d’aspirar i dibuixar unes propostes per arribar-hi. Els reptes més importants que s’han posat a la taula eren la millora de qualitat de l’aigua, la quantitat d’aigua disponible, la salut dels ecosistemes forestals i aquàtics i l’adopció de estratègies de gestió integrada.

Climate change and other global developments are expected to affect the Vipava 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 Institute for Water of the Republic of Slovenia (IZVRS) are involved in the BeWater project and have organised several workshops to discuss water management in the context of global change for the Vipava river basin. Participants of these workshops shared an interest in the basin. In a first workshop, the participants identified challenges related to water management and discussed options to deal with these challenges. In a second workshop, these options were refined and evaluated.

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.

It isn't easy to communicate with target audiences in multiple languages during a workshop. The following video shows extracts from a BeWater workshop in Cyprus. Both Greek and English were used simultaneously as the workshop languages to ensure that participants felt comfortable expressing their ideas and contributing to the outcomes. Martin Watson from SW Visions was part of the facilitation team put together by BeWater project partner, PROSPEX.

The BeWater project promotes dialogue and collaboration between science and society for sustainable water management and adaptation to the impacts of global change in the Mediterranean, using an iterative process of mutual learning, participatory techniques and a bottom-up approach.

Karst Waters Management and Protection, 2nd Scientific and Expert Conference with international participation

15 to 16 October 2015

Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina