News

On 27 and 28 February 2023, Sustain-COAST team has organized the last coordination meeting in Tunisia.

On the first day project partners discussed the progress of the project and highlighted the next steps before the end of the project in May 2023.

The second day of the event was dedicated to the demo-site visit. Project partners visited Wadi El Bey River located at about 40 Km at the south of Tunisian capital and the coastal plain of Soliman which is located at the southern end of the Gulf of Tunis, the Soliman wetland is classified as Ramsar site.

At the end of the visit, Sustain-COAST team went to the largest tannery in the region where the partners were able to see the water purification and recycling system operating in the factory.

The Book of abstracts was published following the international conference that took place in Crete, Greece on  27-30 September 2022. 

Here is the link to read and download the book 

The 7th Europe Congress of the International Association for Hydro-environment Engineering and Research (IAHR) took  place in Athens, Greece, from the 7th until the 9th of September 2022.

The 3 PRIMA projects Sustain-COAST, InTheMED  and MEDSAL  had a special session  on "MEDITERRANEAN COASTAL AQUIFERS UNDER CLIMATE CHANGE"

Short description on the session:
Water resources management and water governance, in the Mediterranean (MED) coastal zones is an important and urgent challenge. The development of large and mega-cities increases the pressure on water resources quality and quantity, due to rising population and increase of economic activities, in the MED coastal zones. This situation is being further intensified by the climate change pressures and vulnerability of the MED coastal regions. Climate changes could significantly affect MED coastal aquifers with e.g. seawater intrusion and increased salt concentration in groundwater. The MED coast-lands are experiencing several increasing anthropogenic disturbances and new species production, which is threatening biodiversity compared to other coastal seas.

The objective of the present SPECIAL SESSION is to present the research results of three PRIMA projects which have as their main objective the innovative groundwater management in a changing climate in the MED region.

Specifically, the three projects are the following:

1. Sustain-COAST was designed to explore innovative governance approaches of coastal aquifers among multiple water users and beneficiaries, under the uncertainties posed by the changing climate conditions, in four Mediterranean countries;
2. The InTheMED project is to implement innovative and sustainable management tools and remediation strategies for MED aquifers (inland and coastal) in order to mitigate anthropogenic and climate-change threats by creating new long-lasting spaces of social learning among different interdependent stakeholders, NGOs, and scientific researchers in five field case studies; and
3. The MEDSAL project aims to secure the availability and quality of groundwater reserves in Mediterranean coastal areas, which are amongst the most vulnerable regions in the world to water scarcity and quality degradation. This will be addressed by providing a novel holistic approach, towards the sustainable management of coastal aquifers, which are affected by increased (single or multi-induced) groundwater salinization risk, especially under the variable meteo-climatic conditions of the Mediterranean and the rapidly changing socio-economic context.

The Sustain-COAST and MEDSAL, PRIMA Projects are glad to invite you to the Common International Conference on “Integrated Groundwater Management of Mediterranean Coastal Aquifers”, taking place in Chania, “Grand Arsenal” Hall (Akti Enoseos & Pl. Katechaki) from 27th to 30th September 2022.

PROGRAMME

Download the preliminary programme of the Common International Conference and follow the event page and our Sustain-COAST communication channels for more info and updates!

REGISTRATION: (DEADLINE 20 August)

Online Registration Form for onsite and virtual attendance is available here!

On June 14^th and 15^th, UNISS team from Italy visited the Tunisian demo-site located in Wadi El bey  in the framework of WP4 " Innovative Governance” of Sustain-COAST project. The purpose of this visit was to finalize the semi-structured interviews with relevant local stakeholders following a pre-defined methodology, by achieving the necessary dataset for finalizing a cross case-study paper. The organized semi-structured interviews  addressed actual and potential conflicts on environment and  identified effective knowledge management options in supporting desirable and voluntary behaviors of stakeholders on water issues.

On Monday 27 June (4:30 p.m.), THE REASON: the court of change will be held at the conference room of Le Torri hotel in Arborea (Sardinia). Streaming on bit.ly/YoutubeNRD  

The Rasgioni was a practice of peaceful dispute resolution (in the field of inheritance, trespassing of livestock, etc.) that existed in Gallura until the early 1960s     . Two alligadori (lawyers) represented the interests of each party in front of three rasgiunanti (judges): two appointed by each side and the omu of mezu, the arbiter, chosen by both.

The alligadori were famous in the area for their oratorical skills, which is also why people flocked from far and wide to hear them harangue. Having examined the matter and heard the witnesses, the omu de mezu  invited the parties and the public to the community lunch, after which he pronounced the verdict: dizisa if the request of one of the parties was accepted, arrangiu when a compromise solution was suggested.

 The Rasgioni scheme, already used by the Desertification Research Center of the University of Sassari in the processes of stakeholder engagement, proved to be useful in bringing out the problems in the agro-environmental field and in facilitating the opening of learning spaces (https://rasgioni.mystrikingly.com/) .

 The Rasgioni, scheduled in Arborea on June 27, will focus on the conflict between climate change and sustainable development, and hence not between “parties”, in one of the most important agro-industrial realities in the Mediterranean basin. Inspired by a survey conducted among the most important national and international projects on sustainable development and adaptation to climate change, carried out in the framework of the MITE Sustain adapt project, representatives of the Institutions (e.g. Regional Agriculture Department, Municipality of Arborea, Regional Agencies of the Hydrographic District, Environmental Protection and Laore, Sardinian Water Authority, Land Reclamation Consortium of Oristano, University of Sassari and Cagliari), local production realities (3A, Coop. Producers Arborea, Livegreen, Bonifiche Ferraresi, Cooperative Fishermen Sant'Andrea), environmentalists and citizens will be invited to "reason" about future scenarios. As Emina di mezu, the lawyer Veronica Dini, expert in environmental mediation, Alligadori, Professor Pier Paolo Roggero, Director of the Department of Agriculture Sciences of the University of Sassari, Rasgiunanti the researchers of the PRIMA project Sustain- COAST, engaging in Oristano and Arborea in a summer school on the mediation of environmental conflicts at Consorzio Uno. La Rasgioni is organized in collaboration with Menawara and Medwaycap ENI CBC Med projects.

Sustain-COAST and InTheMED projects funded by the PRIMA program have been presented  at the Scientific Assembly of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS 2022).

The abstracts presented are available here : 

- Abstract 1 

- Abstract 2

The assembly  took place in Montpellier (France) from 29 May to 3 June 2022. During the event, the IAHS celebrated its 100th anniversary, arguing that the Mediterranean region's water, environmental and climatic situation is undergoing unprecedented changes, threatening its societal stability if science-based management and adaptation strategies are not prioritized.

A Training Session on "Sustainable Water Resources Management" in Erdemli case study was held on 12 May 2022.

A total of 57 people, including representatives of public institutions and organizations (Turkish State Hydraulic Works (DSİ), Mersin Water and Sewerage Works (MESKİ)), farmers, university students (from environmental engineering and geological engineering departments) and academicians participated at the training. 

On April 26^th, Sustain-COAST project was present at the kick-off meeting of MEDWAYCAP project organized  in SWM-House (sustainable water management) in Tunis, Tunisia.  MEDWAYCAP  aims to adopt the reuse and management of non-conventional water in the Mediterranean region through the promotion of sustainable strategies and innovative technologies. The meeting was an opportunity to explore possible synergies between the MEDWAYCAP project and Sustain-COAST project  presented by  Dr. Hanene Akrout from CERTE team.

The Sustain-COAST and MEDSAL, PRIMA Projects are glad to release the 1^st Announcement and the Call for Abstracts of the Common International Conference on “Integrated Groundwater Management of Mediterranean Coastal Aquifers”, taking place in Chania, “Grand Arsenal” Hall (Akti Enoseos & Pl. Katechaki) from 27^th to 30^th September 2022. For further information, visit the official website of the Common International Conference

Themes & Topics

• Tools and methods for groundwater monitoring at coastal aquifers (ICT tools, multi-probe sensors, web-GIS applications, integrated telemetric observatories)
• Tools and methods for groundwater salinization and/or overall quality assessment (hydrogeology, hydrogeochemistry, environmental isotopes, monitoring, modelling, artificial intelligence and geostatistics)
• Pollution migration in dependent ecosystems (hydraulically interconnected surface-groundwater bodies)
• Assessment and modelling of coastal aquifer susceptibility to salinization and/or other pollution
• Numerical flow and transport modelling for groundwater assessment and sustainable management of coastal aquifers
• Best practices and innovative technologies for sustainable water management
• Water governance, conflicts and stakeholder analysis

Abstract submission

To download the abstract template and guidelines click here 

Contact 

For further information, please contact us: info.scoastmedsal<at>isc.tuc.gr

On March 16^th and 17^th,  Sustain-COAST project was present at the International exhibition of water-related activities and technologies organized by the agency Art Event and under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Hydraulic Resources and Fisheries and in partnership with the Water Research and Technology Center  (CERTE). The exhibition was an opportunity to expose the different projects, experiences and technologies carried out in the water sector, especially taking into consideration the different climate changes and their impacts on the national and international water resources. Water Expo includes a wide variety of exhibition stands around drinking and waste water, the water industry, its current trends and prospects, as well as the latest technologies in the management and preservation of the sustainability of this vital source. Sustain-COAST project was disseminated during these scientific days which were animated by experts, academics specialists in the field, as well as  actors from the civil society.

By Hanene AKROUT, Thouraya MELLAH, Sirine BEN HAMED

On March 17^th and 18^th, the Sustain-COAST project was presented by CERTE at the 14^th International Congress on GIS and Remote Sensing   Applications organized by the Tunisian Association of Digital Geographic Information (ATIGN). The target of this congress was the  review of recent trends in Geographic and digital information systems and achieving scientific interactions in the field of Geographic information systems. In addition,  in collaboration with our partners in Turkey,  Sustain-COAST study about "Pollution Vulnerability Assessment of Wadi El Bey Catchment (Tunisia) Using Modified AHP-DRASTICLu Model Based on GIS" was disseminated during the congress under the second axis: Water, desertification, climate change, environment, and ocean.

By Hanene AKROUT, Thouraya MELLAH, Sirine BEN HAMED

Last week, the NRD-UNISS team illustrated the Sustain-Coast project to a group of high school students from the IIS Pellegrini in Sassari, who were selected to participate in a Water Hackathon. The hackathon, which is organised within the framework of Expo2020, will take place in Dubai from 20-25 March 2022. 

This was an opportunity for the Sustain-Coast team to reach out to young students and increase their awareness about possible ways to promote sustainable coastal groundwater management across the MED, one of the most water-stressed regions on earth. 

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 took place on 7th February 2022 from 10:00 to 17:00 (CET) with the participation of the Advisory board members of Sustain-COAST project. 

During the 3^rd annual meeting, the partners presented the current status of the project and the achieved milestones during the previous 32 months. They presented the preliminary results of Sustain-COAST in the 3 demo sites.

On December 11^th, the Sustain-COAST project was present at the National Forum of Actors for Adaptation to Climate Change "FNAACC" which took place at the City of Sciences of Tunis with the participation of more than 500 participants. This event was designed as a meeting point and dialogue between national actors of adaptation to climate change to highlight the various initiatives to fight against the effects of climate change and it brought together more than 40 exhibitors from civil society, public institutions, private companies, and municipalities. The forum is conducted within the framework of the project of capacity building and support to the implementation of the national policy of adaptation to climate change in Tunisia.

The Tunisian Water week took place from 8 to 10 December 2021 in Tunis.  Sustain-COAST project was present at the workshop of innovation and transfer conference organized by the Water Research and Technology Center  « CERTE», the technical university of Berlin, change by change German-Arab Transformation Partnership, MESRS and the GIZ. The target of this event  was to create a platform for exchange experiences sharing expertise between German and Tunisian researchers and professionals involved in the field of water.  The event included an enriching debate that has addressed from a scientific and technological perspective different topics such as the treatment and the reuse of treated wastewater, intelligent irrigation system, energy optimization, digitalization in the field of treated wastewater, innovation mechanisms. 256 people participated in the event.  Sustain-COAST project was also presented during the visit of  the German team from the Technical University of Berlin to the Wastewater & Environment Laboratory of CERTE.

On 6th December, a Living Lab event was organised by the University of Sassari in the Sustain-Coast Italian case study. The meeting was hosted in the headquarters of the Oristano Land Reclamation Consortium, and it involved the main competent bodies on water governance in Sardinia. 

The event spurred fruitful discussion and knowledge exchange about potential solutions to reduce nitrate pollution in Arborea. Representatives of the Oristano Land Reclamation Consortium, the Hydrographic District Agency, the Regional Environmental Protection Agency and the Regional Agricultural Department expressed their willingness to carry out interventions that can contribute to the reduction of nitrate pollution and ensure the active involvement of local farmers. 

On November 25^th, The Water Researches and Technologies Center (CERTE) organized in the framework of Workpackage 2 task2.3  a training session for agrifood and tannery industries from the Tunisian demosite.  The event took place in Hotel Belvédère Fourati, Tunis, TUNISIA. The training session on "Sustainable Water Resources Management" was an opportunity to focus on the importance of the implementation of innovative governance approaches for coastal water resources and to enhance the capacity of selected local stakeholders in managing sustainably the local water resources, by explaining examples of treated wastewater reuse in the context of circular economy.

Sustain-COAST  and IntheMED projects prepared two contributions that will be presented  at ISARM2021 2nd International Conference on "Transboundary Aquifers: Challenges and the Way Forward", to be held from the 6th to the 9th December 2021.

Click here to see the book of abstracts.

Between 27-29 September 2021, the Sustain-Coast project team went to Arborea to meet local stakeholders.  

Interviews were carried out with institutional actors, economic actors (local agricultural entrepreneurs) and social actors (head of the local public library). The aim of the interviews was to understand local stakeholders' perceptions about the state and use of groundwater resources, as well as the sustainability of the local agriculture system. To ensure a comprehensive understanding of the local context, diversity was ensured both in terms of gender and age cohort. 

The 1st Review Meeting of Sustain-COAST project took place online yesterday 20-09-2021. The Project Coordinator  The Technical University of Crete-TUC, presented the progress towards the project objectives to the reviewer, the project officer, and the funding agencies. The reviewer provided Sustain-COAST team recommendations and suggestions for the second period of the project.     The Project Officer welcomed the efforts deployed by the Consortium to overcome the impact of Covid-19 on the activities of the project.

On  8-9 July Sustain-COAST team in Greece (Technical University of Crete)  realized 6 interviews with Sustain-COAST stakeholders in Malia demosite. 2 banana farmers, 1 potato farmer and 3 hotels.

A semi-structured interview is a method of research used most often in the social sciences. While a structured interview has a rigorous set of questions which does not allow one to divert, a semi-structured interview is open, allowing new ideas to be brought up during the interview as a result of what the interviewee says. The interviewer in a semi-structured interview generally has a framework of themes to be explored.

 The Semi-structured interviews held with Sustain-COAST stakeholders revealed their concerns, their experience and perception regarding groundwater resources.

The AISSA#under40 conference, organised by the Italian Association of Agricultural Science Societies (AISSA), aims to promote the exchange of experience and the creation of transversal and multi-disciplinary networks among young researchers in the fields of agriculture and forestry. 

The topic of the second edition of the AISSA#under40 conference (1-2 July 2021), which was hosted by the Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Sassari, was the sustainability of agricultural and forestry systems.

Sustain-COAST project has published recently a new public deliverable presenting  the main activities of the WP3 team  in the topic  "cost efficiency and cost-benefits of selected preventive scenarios". Efforts were spent to identify the cost benefit use of water resources and to mitigate groundwater depletion and degradation in each case study of the four Sustain-COAST demonstration sites. The choice of the appropriate mitigation technique in each case study mainly depends on the site conditions. This task is presented as a pilot for each demonstration site and will be updated in part b (D3.3b), considering local data and the final suggestions by all stakeholders in each case study.

To this end, the full cost-benefit methodology is presented, and the optimal options for managed use of groundwater and surface water is presented for each case study. The mapping of those options is a dynamical process and will be adjusted over the course of the project, where key stakeholders can be added at a different stage to enrich the multi-stakeholder partnership process. The provided information will give insights into assessing the sustainability of the current and future groundwater management strategies. This analysis will identify the impact of the adequate mitigation option considering sustainable water resources availability, management, and pollution risks.

You can download the deliverable here.

On June 11th, 2021, the Sustain COAST project was presented during the 3rd Euro-Mediterranean Conference for Environmental Integration (EMCEI 2021) by the participation of Ass. Prof Hanene AKROUT, National coordinator Leader in CERTE-Tunisia who contributed with an oral online communication on “Surface water quality assessment of Wadi El Bey, Tunisia”.

EMCEI 2021 aims to support research and innovation, to promote the exchange of scientific knowledge, and to foster collaboration among Euro-Mediterranean communities and it was a great opportunity to present some of the results of the work carried out in Tunisia within the framework of the Sustain COAST project.

By Hanene AKROUT, Hatem BACCOUCHE

Within the framework of the Sustain-COAST project, the CERTE team represented by the project leader in Tunisia, Ass.Prof Hanene AKROUT supervised in collaboration with Mr Seif Eddine Azzabi, an Iot Expert at the Higher Institute of information and communication technologies, two students, Mr Ayed BOUKADIDA et Mr Mohamed DHIFLI, in their graduation project for the development of an application and a dashboard connected to an intelligent boat for remote monitoring of Wadi El Bey surface water quality using IoT and low technologies (LowTech).

This project consists of designing an on-board system connected to electronic boards and four sensors (temperature, humidity, conductivity, and pH) to collect and send in-situ the ​​measured values by the sensors and transmit it to a mobile application and a dashboard to monitor the water quality of the wadi.

A challenge taken-up thanks to a hard work and an ambitious and strategic vision by the Tunisian Team.

By Hanene AKROUT, Hatem BACCOUCHE

On 20 May 2021,  Sustain-COAST partners organized a meeting  with the project scientific advisory board members (SAB). During the meeting, project partners and SAB members  discussed the project progress and the main challenge faced. The SAB gave their recommendations for the future activities of the project.

List of Sustain-COAST advisory board members

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.

Sustain-COAST project was presented yesterday 26 April during the HS1 "Role of hydrology in policy, society and interdisciplinary collaborations: across disciplines and beyond scientists"

On March 24^th, 2021, Sustain COAST project was presented at the 3rd Atlas Georesources International Congress (AGIC2021) organized by the Laboratory of Georesources (LGR) at the Water Researches and Technologies Center (CERTE, Borj Cedria, Tunisia) in collaboration with the Tunisian Association of Georesources (ATGr) during session 9/Topic 4 : Sustainable and smart solutions for water resources management. More than 100 participants were present at conference.

The AGIC2021 addresses the problems and potential solutions related to water resources sustainability, evaluation of the stock, the quality, and management of water resources in the context of climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressure which fits perfectly in  the theme of Sustain-COAST project.

By Hanene AKROUT, Thouraya Mellah, Hatem BACCOUCHE

On 7 & 8 April, as part of Sustain-COAST project and in coordination and cooperation with the CRDA Nabeul, the CERTE team carried out a well water sampling campaign and a piezometric survey of Grombalia shallow aquifer.

Author of the news: Hanene AKROUT, Thouraya MELLAH, Hatem BACCOUCHE

On 1st April 2021, as part of Sustain-COAST project, the CERTE team carried out a sampling and monitoring campaign of surface water quality in Wadi El bey, the Tunisian demo-site.

Author of the news: Hanene AKROUT, Thouraya MELLAH, Hatem BACCOUCHE

The second online annual meeting took place on 29 September 2020 and hosted by the project coordinator “ Technical University of Crete (TUC) ”. The meeting was held remotely due to the travel restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. During the meeting, partners presented the current status of the project and the achieved tasks during the previous 15 months. They presented the preliminary results of the work achieved in  the 4 demo sites,  Arborea in Italy, Wadi El Bey in Tunisia, Malia in Greece and Erdemli in Turkey. Partners also discussed currents status of WP’s, the problems and delays due to Covid 19, agreed on a list of solutions to solve the first year problems and they planned next steps.

On September 28th 2020, a joint conference of the Sustain-Coast and the Medsal projects took place via zoom. Medsal is a PRIMA project focuses on the sustainable management of coastal aquifers subjected to multiple salinization phenomena, through the combinational use of hydrogeochemistry, physical-based models, environmental isotopes artificial intelligence and advance geostatistics. Sustain-Coast addressing sustainable groundwater management in coastal areas. About 66 participants of the the meeting involving stakeholders, scientists and partners of both projects have attended a highly interesting meeting with excellent presentations about the objectives of each project, WPs, progress to date and projection for coming months.Both projects have exchanged their knowledge and experiences and discussed possibilities of future cooperation.

On 9th of July, 2020 the first Living Lab and stakeholders meeting in Malia study area, Greece took place in the city hall of Malia. In the meeting, organized by the TUC team, 55 users, local authorities, NGOs, official water management organisations and policy makers had the opportunity to meet each other and discuss. During the meeting, the overall scope of the Sustain-COAST project was presented in order to invite the stakeholders to participate in the living labs. Through the activities of the living lab, the stakeholders exposed and classified the issues of their area and they proposed relevant solutions. Several activities were organised including, ice-breaking activities, an interactive web-based questionnaire, and a participatory creation of maps containing the actual situation and future plans. The Greek team is really happy that the Stakeholders showed collaborative spirit and were willing to participate in the project activities and that valuable information came out that can be reclaimed by the scientific team.

See here the meeting video

Sustain-COAST project has published recently a new public deliverable related to the demo-sites  characterization. The deliverable presents the first step for an optimal selection and implementation of the best methodologies, i.e. a sound characterization of the four case study sites. The scientific team in this document collects and analyses all the available data for the proposed sites in Greece, Italy, Tunisia and Turkey and makes an assessment on how the real situation is in each site.

You can download the deliverable here.

On March 11th, 2020, the Water Researches and Technologies Center (CERTE) organized a Doors Open Day for public as part of the celebration of the World Water Day. More than 60 visitors were present:  Academics, students, pupils, trainees, administrators, associations and industrials from Tunisia and other countries. The “Doors open day” was an opportunity for the Tunisian team to present  Sustain-COAST project, its missions, its objectives and the specific issues the project is dealing with. It was also an opportunity to focus on the importance of the implementation of the local sustainable management of water resources through innovative tools of governance and social learnings.

Taking advantage of this day and through Sustain-COAST project, the CERTE team calls on all participants to be inspired and take action to make a difference in favor of environment.

By Hatem Baccouche 

Organised by the project partner, Mersin university,  Sustain-Coast project held its 2nd coordination meeting on 4^th-6^th February 2020 in Turkey. On 5th February  morning a  meeting with mayor of Erdimli Municipality was held,  and in the afternoon a stakeholders meeting with potential actors from the Turkish demosite  was organised at the municipality permises.

During the 2nd  coordination meeting, the partners presented the current status of the project and the achieved milestones during the previous 9 months. They presented the preliminary results of the living lab organised in Tunisia, and defined the next steps for the development of the project.

See here the meeting video.