Given the scarcity of water resources in the Southern Mediterranean Region, one of the highest in the world, a new paradigm is required that will consider non‐conventional water resources – mainly recycling of agricultural runoff, re‐use and storage of treated wastewater, and desalination using renewable energy - as an asset to be managed as part of the country’s integrated water resources management framework.
The Steering Committee of the Horizon 2020 Initiative to de-pollute the Mediterranean by 2020 met in Barcelona on 19 April 2012 for its 5th meeting since 2008, bringing together the majority of the participating country representatives and the key regional environmental actors such as the European Commission, the Union for the Mediterranean Secretariat, the Mediterranean Action Plan of UNEP and its Regional Activity Centers, the European Investment Bank, regional associations of local authorities, NGOs, and others.
The Horizon 2020 Capacity Building/Mediterranean Environment Programme in cooperation with Seas At Risk and Waste Free Oceans, within the framework of the European Maritime Day, will hold an event under the title “Reducing marine litter for the sake of the environment... and blue growth?” The event will focus on the economic implications of marine litter and will shed ample light on the ways marine litter affects key sectors that rely on the marine environment.
Mastering the tendering process and processing contracts for sustainable municipal solid waste management was the focus of the sub-regional workshop organized in Beirut on 22-23 March 2012 within the framework of the Horizon 2020 CB/MEP project. It was organised by the Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and Sustainable Resource Management (ACR+).