Despite the important number of research projects in the water management, monitoring of water resources and water related technology, performed at local, regional or Euro-Mediterranean scale, there exist a general perception that water management models a re still constructed from points of view that ignores contributions from all the key stake-holders, specially users and citizens, determinant for the impact on the territory of water schemes and the satisfaction of the water demand, specially from the sustainability point of view. Another general perception in the Mediterranean area is the lack of visibility of the important role that Science and Technology play in the sustainable development of the region.

Parts of these problems are due to communication gaps between political and administrative institutions, scientists, cultural workers, lawyers, economist, end-users and citizens. The Coordinated Action MELIA aims at structuring a dialogue among the key stakeholders concerned and affected by water use and management, such as scientists and professionals, decision makers, policy makers, water providers, citizens. This dialogue aims at creating a Forum where water players can share knowledge, find consensus and propose new perspectives on the emerging needs and appropriate integration of knowledge for water management, in a region of scarce resources such as the entire Mediterranean basin.

The main MELIA targets are:
- Building a knowledgebase for integrated water management planning, based on integrating contributions from the wider spectra of perspectives
- Develop a Mediterranean-wide awareness of the social (cultural and participatory), economic and technological issues related to water management
- Propose participatory mechanisms and prevention tools to avoid conflicts between regions, states and different waters users
- Provides legislative and administrative bodies with criteria and arguments to support sustainable water policies and economy