News and Activities

What has been the secret of successful NCWR applications in Malta and what is the potential for replication across the Mediterranean? Join our upcoming webinars on lessons learned from the experience of the Alter Aqua programme in the Maltese islands.

Through an inclusive multi-stakeholder approach, the AIP WACDEP-G programme aims to actively engage public sector policy and decision makers in its implementation. Targeted capacity building is a core element to ensure active engagement and a sense of ownership by stakeholders.

Covering a geographical area of 20,361 km2 connecting 5 countries and 5 water bodies, the Drin Basin in Southeast Europe sustains unique ecosystems and endemic biodiversity, while supporting the economic activity of over 1.6 million people who call it home. However, four transboundary problems - deterioration of water quality, variability of hydrological regime, biodiversity degradation and disturbance of the natural sediment transport regime - are threatening the basin’s health with a direct impact on both the environment and livelihoods.

A two-day workshop on the Climate-Land-Energy-Water (CLEWs) modelling framework and its use in the Nexus Assessment of the Drina River Basin took place on 8,9 July 2021. The purpose of the workshop was to familiarise participants with the Climate, Land, Energy and Water systems (CLEWs) nexus methodology, used to quantitatively assess the energy-water interlinkages within the Nexus assessment of the Drina River Basin. By providing an overview of general concepts, tools used and hands-on experience on model building, the workshop opened the box of the modelling analysis to the audience and laid the ground for local uptake of the model infrastructure.

The Climate-Land-Energy-Water (CLEWs) framework is a modelling tool for quantitative analysis of the Nexus between the biophysical systems of climate, land (including agriculture), energy and water.

The GWP 2021 Network Meeting of Partners took place online on 1 & 2 December under the Theme “Leading Change and Innovation through our Partners”. GWP-Med was actively involved, presenting examples of success stories from its work around the Mediterranean in several Breakout Sessions.

A historical reservoir of 800,000 litres was restored for rainwater harvesting to service the sustainable development vision of Birgu City, which becomes Malta’s first Water Saving City, marking 10 years of collaboration between GWP-Med, The Coca-Cola Foundation, Malta’s Ministry for Energy, Enterprise and Sustainable Development, the Energy and Water Agency and local stakeholders. Over 10 years, non-conventional water resources applications under the Alter Aqua programme have saved more than 20 million litres of water annually, benefiting 20% of Malta’s population.

GWP-Med is leading the “Pathways to Impact” Work Package in the Horizon 2020 REXUS project, coordinating communication and dissemination activities. The 1st plenary meeting, which took place on 21 and 27 October 2021, brought together more than 60 participants from over 20 institutions, sharing advances on various pieces of the REXUS ‘jigsaw puzzle’ which is coming together to create new blueprint for applying the Water-Energy-Food-Climate Nexus.

The "WATER IS IN OUR HANDS" initiative, by FINISH and GWP-Med, aims to raise awareness on water saving, by showcasing practical ways to use water more efficiently.

An online Workshop on “Gender Equality (GE) for Sustainable Development in Nexus sectors in Drin Riparians” took place on 12 October 2021 with the participation of around 55 representatives from different gender related institutions and nexus related sectors, gender focal points, civil society, academia, women empowerment activists and experts from Albania, Kosovo* and North Macedonia. Its overall purpose was to bring these actors together to discuss challenges and opportunities for promoting gender equality as a driver for sustainable development in Drin Riparians.