Events

The 12th World Congress of the European Water Resources Association (EWRA) on Water Resources and Environment, under the theme "Managing Water-Energy-Land-Food under Climatic, Environmental and Social Instability", will be held in Thessaloniki, Greece, 27 June - 1 July 2023 (EWRA2023).

Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest (UTCB) and University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest (UPB) are organizing  the 14th International Conference on Hydroinformatics − HIC 2022, in Bucharest, Romania, on 4-8 July 2022. The project coordinator has submitted an abstract and will participate at the event to present Sustain-COAST.

The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (DD-day 2022), established by the United Nations in 1994, promotes public awareness of international efforts to fight desertification, which is the loss of soil fertility and the resulting degradation of natural resources caused by human activities (pollution, excessive soil exploitation, overgrazing, deforestation, fire, irrigation with saline water). The Day is a unique moment to remind us that involvement and cooperation among communities at every level are essential to combat soil degradation.

This year’s theme is focused on drought: “Rising up from drought together”. Since 1970, 50% of all disasters and 45% of the associated 650,000 deaths have been caused by extreme climate events and water crises. Tragically, 9 out of 10 deaths happened in developing countries, where drought is the leading cause of the loss of human lives (WMO, 2021). However, also developed countries witnessed a 29% increase in drought-related events from 2000 to today compared with previous decades. More than 2.3 billion people suffer from water-related issues on a global scale. The impact is severe for the weakest categories: women and children are the most exposed. Nevertheless, the consequences of drought on society, ecosystems and the economy are underestimated.

Italy is not exempted from drought damages. Over the last five years, at least three extreme drought events happened, even in the Pianura Padana, where the capacity of the Po is altered by long periods of drought, as well as by the reduction of high-altitude glaciers due to the increase in temperatures, which exceeded climate averages of some decades ago by 2-3°C. The consequences are severe: salinisation of aquifers for tens of kilometres close to rivers’ mouths, with terrible risks in particular for agriculture.

In Sassari, the Department of Agronomic Sciences and the Desertification Research Centre at the University (Viale Italia 39A) will celebrate DD-day 2022 with an international event which will involve Anna Luise, member of the Science Policy Interface of the UN Convention on Desertification and Drought (UNCCD); Marco Orlando, Programme Manager of the PRIMA Programme; the three coordinators of the Projects on Desertification in the Mediterranean recently financed by PRIMA Foundation (MARA-MEDITERRA, REACT4MED e SALAM-MED) and a young representation of the EWA BELT European Project and of the Italian PhD on Sustainable Development and Climate Change.

The event has been organized in the context of “Sanai sa Terra” (“Heal the Earth” in Sardinian language), a Summer School on the interactions between soil, plants and microorganisms in areas contaminated by potentially toxic elements. The first part of the event will be in Italian. It will be dedicated to students, PhD students, researchers, and agronomists. It will cover topics related to the PRIN RIZOBIOREM National Project on recovering degraded and polluted soils. RIZOBIOREM developed low-cost, nature-based soil reconditioning techniques and solutions (Sanai sa Terra) combined with organic soil conditioners, plants and microorganisms.

It is possible to register for the event on the School website: https://sdiquattro.wixsite.com/sanai-sa-terra/registrazione-17giugno. The event will take place in a hybrid format with the possibility to take part remotely via Microsoft Teams at https://bit.ly/DD-day2022.

PROGRAMME 17 June 2022

Location: “Aula Barbieri”, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Sassari – Viale Italia 39A, 07100 Sassari

Session 1 (in Italian) – The RIZOBIOREM Project

9:15     Institutional greetings

9:30     Massimo Fagnano and the RIZOBIOREM team: “Phytostabilization of Polluted Soils.”

10:45   Coffee break

Session 2 (in English) - International Webinar: “Rising Up from Drought Together”

11:15   A. Luise, ISPRA, ISPRA, UNCCD Scientific-technical Correspondent, Science & Policy to combat desertification

11:30   M. L. Tefera – EWA-BELT and the international PhD “Desertification and Land Degradation.”

11:40   C. Ceseracciu – SUSTAIN COAST and the national PhD “Sustainable Development and Climate Change.”

11:50   M. Orlando, PRIMA Foundation: “PRIMA Projects on Land Degradation and Desertification”

12:00   V. Takavakoglou, MARA MEDITERRA

12:15   M. Thrassyvoulos, REACT4MED

12:30   P.P. Roggero, University of Sassari, SALAM MED 

Session 3 (in English) – In memory of Prof. Giorgio Ghiglieri

12:45   M. Iannetta (ENEA), A. Carletti (UNISS), M. Ouessar (IRA): “Rising Up from Drought Together: the Contribution of Prof. Giorgio Ghiglieri”

13:15   Conclusions

Organizing Committee

Stefania Diquattro, UNISS

Pier Paolo Roggero, UNISS

Massimo Fagnano, UNINA

Paola Castaldi, UNISS

Giovanni Garau, UNISS

Nunzio Fiorentino, UNINA

Maria Vittoria Pinna, UNISS

Matteo Garau, UNISS

Mario Deroma, UNISS

Gian Paolo Lauro, UNISS

Caterina Senette, UNISS

Info: Stefania Diquattro: sdiquattro<at>uniss.it

If you want to know more about our two innovative Prima projects, their achievements, and outputs, join us in Chania, Greece from 27 to 30 September 2022.

For more information visit here the conference website: https://www.scoast-medsal.tuc.gr/en/home 

Tentative agenda: 

• Tuesday 27:   opening of the conference and dinner
• Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29: Presentation of projects acheivement and  roadmap  for better groundwater governance
• Friday 30:  Technical visit to Malia case study 

The objective of this important event will be to provide an opportunity to communicate, exchange and project on all major topics in the hydrological sciences within the framework of sessions organized by all IAHS Commissions and Working Groups. In the context of the multiple instabilities that prevail today, the task is immense and yet scientists have a duty to provide elements of answers and solutions to the challenges facing us in the coming years. In this respect, the diversity and quality of the expected participants is the guarantee of a productive and high-level Assembly.

“IAHS 2022” in Montpellier will also be an opportunity to make a first assessment of the Panta Rhei initiative (2013-2022) which deals with changes in hydrology and society. The progress of the UPH initiative, "Unsolved Problems in Hydrology", established in 2017-2019, will be another highlight of this Assembly.

Sustain-COAST will be presented  as an oral abstract in session S21 - Hydrology of Mediterranean and semi-arid regions, room Barthez 1 on Tuesday, 31 May 2022, 10:30.

"Inclusive and resilient groundwater assessment towards sustainable development in the Mediterranean region by Seifeddine Jomaa et al"

The Mediterranean region is experiencing rapid population growth, increasing water demand, and faster climate warming. Groundwater plays a central role in the development of the Mediterranean by ensuring food security, buffering climate changes impacts and maintaining socio-economic stability and ecosystems integrity. However, despite groundwater being recognised as a powerful catalyser against climate- and human-induced effects, its status remains unknown, and its budget is uncertain. Moreover, the lack of appropriate groundwater monitoring programs at a regional scale, data sharing policy, and fragmented water policy and governance have complicated this vital resource's sustainable utilisation and protection.

To this end, an international and multidisciplinary team of scientists with complementary skills have joined efforts through two PRIMA-funded projects (Sustain-COAST and InTheMED) towards better groundwater management and governance in the Mediterranean. In this respect, the Sustain-COAST Living Labs provide the setting to explore innovative governance approaches that could be scaled to increase resilience and adaptation capacity across the Mediterranean. At a regional scale, efforts target detailed water policy examination, pathways exploration towards the reinforcement of in-situ data collection, and groundwater modelling. Examination of water policy of the Mediterranean revealed an unbalanced situation between South Europe, characterised by complete, harmonised and straightforward water policy. Conversely, in North Africa and Middle East, water policy was found complex, not regionalised and fragmented in various initiatives. Results also showed the Mediterranean has become increasingly dependent on cereal importation over local food production, which poses a severe threat to its best diet overall and food security. Results suggested that combining in-situ data and regional groundwater modelling can offer further insights into this data-scarce region. Believing “that no one size fits all”, lessons learned from success stories, and tailored solutions to typical demonstration sites from both shores of the Mediterranean region are of extreme importance.

Acknowledgement: This work was supported by Sustain-COAST and InTheMED projects. Sustain-COAST was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, Germany, Grant 01DH19015) under the EU PRIMA 2018 programme. InTheMED is part of the PRIMA 2019 programme supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 1923.

How to cite: Jomaa, S., Ben-Salem, N., Chávez, R., Reinecke, R., Varouchakis, E., Vasco Silva, J., Ceseracciu, C., Phuoc Lai Nguyen, T., Daloglu Cetinkaya, I., K. Saysel, A., K. Copty, N., Rouhani, A., Oueslati, M., Mino, E., P. Karatzas, G., Roggero, P. P., Rode, M., and Gómez-Hernández, J. J.: Inclusive and resilient groundwater assessment towards sustainable development in the Mediterranean region, IAHS-AISH Scientific Assembly 2022, Montpellier, France, 29 May–3 Jun 2022, IAHS2022-419, 2022.

The decision was not easy to take, but once again in view of the situation related to Covid-19, it was decided to organize the 3rd annual meeting of the project in virtual.

It will take place on 7^th February 2022 from 10:00 to 17:00 (CET). These slots will allow the presentation of the results of the project, by work packages and the discussion of the roadmap for the coming year, which will take into account the recommendations of the Advisory board members.

We will keep you informed about the meeting conclusions.

A training session  on "Sustainable Water Resources Management" will be organised in Malia case study. It aims to design and test innovative governance approaches for coastal water resources in the Mediterranean and to enhance the capacity of local stakeholders in managing sustainably local water resources.

Date : January 31th 2022

Time : From 11.00 am to 14.30 pm

The training session on "Sustainable Water Resources Management" is part of the research project "PRIMA | Sustain-COAST" which aims, among others, to design and test innovative governance approaches for coastal water resources in the Mediterranean and to enhance the capacity of selected local stakeholdersin managing sustainably the local water resources.

Program

Moderator :Prof. Ahmed GHRABI, general director CERTE

08:30 – 09:00 Reception

09:00 – 09:30 Presentation of the participants

09:30- 09:50 Presentation of the framework and objectives of the training session (Hanene AKROUT&Sirine Ben Hamed , CERTE)

9:50 – 10:20 Geochemical approach and modeling for a reasoned management of water resources (Fadwa HAMZAOUI, FST, Projet MEDSAL)

10:20 – 10:50 Local wastewater management - Case of industrial activities (Hanene AKROUT, CERTE)

10:50 – 11:20 Context of water reuse (Thouraya MELLAH, CERTE)

11:20 – 12:20 Discussion and future actions

12:20 – 13:20 Lunch

Speakers

• Hanene AKROUT | Associate professor at the Water Research and Technology Center & National Coordinator of the PRIMA project | Sustain-COAST

• Thouraya MELLAH | Assistant professor in quantitative methods at the Superior School of Digital Economy - Researcher at Wastewater and Environment Laboratory, CERTE| Sustain-COAST
• Fadwa HAMZAOUI | Assistant professor, Faculty of Sciences of Tunis FST El Manar University & National Coordinator of the PRIMA project |MEDSAL Project

The French OZCAR and German TERENO research networks have decided to co-organise an international meeting every two years that will be held alternatively in Germany and in France.

The first OZCAR TERENO International Conference - Advancing Critical Zone science that will take place in Strasbourg from Tuesday Oct. 5, 2021 to Thursday Oct. 7, 2021.

To account for the pandemics, the conference is scheduled in the HYBRID format (both on site and virtual). It will be moved to fully virtual if the sanitary conditions are not satisfactory this autumn.

The conference will be physically held in Strasbourg, at Palais des Congrès Pierre-Pflimlin, Strasbourg Événements, Place de Bordeaux.

The event will offer keynote lectures, oral presentations and poster sessions on scientific research on the Critical Zone, which is the most superficial layer of the planet where all human activities concentrate. The meeting will cover the cutting edge scientific progresses in a variety of  disciplines: hydrology, geophysics, soil sciences, geochemistry, ecology, socio-ecology

The meeting will also help a better integrated process understanding using multidisciplinary Critical Zone observatories highly instrumented field sites where these disciplines interact and produce data and models.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in partnership with the International Association of Hydrologists (IAH) and GEF-IW:LEARN, in coordination with UNECE for SDG 6 indicator 6.5.2 conference component and in contribution to the UN Global Acceleration Framework,  will hold the 2nd International Conference on Transboundary Aquifers (ISARM 2021) in Paris, France on 6-8 December, 2021.

• Sustain-COAST poster  : "Data-driven analysis and regional modelling for the assessment of Transboundary Aquifers in the Mediterranean region"  Ben-Salem, N., Garcia Silva, R.C., Reinecke, R. and Jomaa, S
• Sustain-COAST in a talk "Multidisciplinary joint-force efforts towards science-based management in the Mediterranean region: A particular focus on transboundary aquifers" Seifeddine Jomaa, Robert Reinecke, Nahed Ben-Salem, Rafael Chávez García Silva, Emmanouil Varouchakis, João Vasco Silva, Chiara Ceseracciu, Thi Phuoc Lai Nguyen, Irem Daloglu Cetinkaya, Ali K. Saysel, Nadim K. Copty, George Karatzas, Yiannis Trichakis, Massimiliano Pasqui, Essam Heggy, Sante Maurizi, Pier Paolo Roggero, Michael Rode and J. Jaime Gómez-Hernández

The annual EGU General Assembly is Europe’s largest and most prominent geosciences event. It attracts more than 16,000 scientists, more than half of which are early career, from all over the world.

The meeting’s sessions cover all disciplines in the Earth, planetary and space sciences. Each annual General Assembly typically features more than 16,000 oral, poster and PICOs (interactive presentations that combine the advantages of orals and posters).

Aside from the disciplinary sessions, which cover topics selected by each scientific division (or programme group), the meeting also features many Union-wide sessions. These include Great Debates and Union Symposia, inter- and transdisciplinary sessions, medal lectures, short courses, and Education and Outreach Sessions (such as the Geosciences Information For Teachers workshop, GIFT).

Sustain-COAST will be presented on 26 APRIL 2021 : 

Living Labs towards sustainable groundwater management: case study in Malia, Crete, Greece  

George Karatzas, Anthi-Eirini Vozinaki, Ioannis Trichakis, Ioanna Anyfanti, Christina Stylianoydaki, Emmanouil Varouchakis, Christos Goumas, Pier Paolo Roggero, Thuraya Mellah, Hanene Akrout, and Seifeddine Jomaa

For further information please visit EGU2021 website 

Sustain-COAST project is organizing the first Living- Lab  in Malia demo site in Greece, on 9th July 2020. Different stakeholders from the region will take part at this event. 

On 4 February 2020, the project consortium will organize the 2nd coordination meeting of Sustain-COAST to discuss the project activities and  the progress of the first semester in  Mersin University premises in Turkey. The next day, 5 February 2020, Sustain-COAST partners will have a field Trip in Erdemli region and will meet stakeholders from Turkish study site in Erdemli Municipality.   On Thursday, 6 February 2020, Sustain-COAST partners will continue with the meetings concerning the project’s future planning at Mersin University.