Managing water around the Mediterranean
Sustainability in terms of land and water resources is an important priority for EU projects. The EU-funded project 'Network for the exchange of methodologies and expertise on sustainable water management and land husbandry in the Mediterranean' (Sowamed) sought to reinforce this priority. The project worked on establishing an exchange network and building capacity in the research community to dramatically improve management of land and water. It also worked on overcoming challenges related to cultivated and inhabited watersheds. Focussing on the Mediterranean basin in particular, Sowamed exploited results from similar initiatives in the past and offered tools to help manage the effects of global change on soil and water resources. The project created a framework to evaluate the various methods for land and water management and conducted training in this respect. Partners developed a comprehensive website to further exchanges and training, targeting particularly the Arab world with an Arabic version of the website. Training in parallel dealt with water management and water projects as well as spatial techniques for modelling and analysis. Sowamed conducted three workshops related to water resources in arid and semi-arid regions. Topics covered included water conservation in hilly regions, irrigation management, water-use planning and land-use planning. Once the impacts of the workshops, training courses, website and project initiatives reach communities around the Mediterranean, affected people may benefit from increased water and better livelihoods.
