Water... drink it, manage it, sustain it
Water resources are being severely challenged as the world population continues to grow, global warming goes unabated and there is an ever-decreasing water supply. With many Mediterranean regions being semi-arid, the requirement for effective and innovative water techniques is critical. SWAM, an EU-funded project, defined as its primary objective the establishment of a common dialogue platform for three key players to set up a joint action plan. The focus of this plan was to discover the means through which these water-tech cluster regions could maximise their capacity for research and technological development (RTD) investment. Such investment can ultimately lead to economic growth, sustainable development and global competitiveness. Greece, Israel and Spain were involved in this joint action plan and achieved several short-term objectives. One key goal was to attain a deeper understanding of the research infrastructure of the regions, as well as the support policy schemes. Another was to establish a common dialogue to maximise coordination between differing research agendas. Of interest were the mentoring/learning exchanges in which these three regions each collaborated with another region. (Cyprus mentored by Israel, Turkey by Spain and Albania by Greece). SWAM had several noteworthy impacts through many of its conferences, seminars and promotional materials. It succeeded in raising awareness, mapping regional competitiveness, developing a web portal and widely disseminating relevant information.
