The Mediterranean library of knowledge
Explore the ENI CBC Med Programme's library of deliverables: a comprehensive digital repository of diverse resources tailored for the Mediterranean region. Discover in-depth studies, innovative strategies, and practical tools spanning tools addressing key environmental, economic, and social issues. The library is your go-to source to find valuable knowledge to inspire new collaborative projects driving fair, sustainable and inclusive development across the Mediterranean.
MEDSt@rts Analysis of the Mediterranean microfinance industry (abstract)
Young entrepreneurs in the Mediterranean region encounter severe credit constraints and gathering enough money to start or scale up their enterprise is often impossible. The objective of MEDSt@rts project is to develop an innovative supporting model to facilitate access to funding for “non-bankable” people. MEDSt@rts partnership, as a preparatory activity to the design of a transnational network of microfinance, carried out an in-depth analysis of the state of the microfinance industry, at a local and national level. The organisations involved were SFIRS Spa in Italy, Chamber of Commerce of Achaia in Greece, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Sfax in Tunisia, LEADERS in Palestine and Chamber of Commerce and Industry of South Lebanon in Lebanon.
Recommendations for the strategy of financial inclusion of micro and small businesses in Lebanon
The MEDSt@rts project started to support young innovative entrepreneurs pitch their new business ideas, and then get the needed business development and access to finance to launch their own businesses. In that regard, the Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture in Sidon and South Lebanon (CCIAS) launched the microfinance and Business Development Services (BDS) forum that engaged Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), BDS providers, bankers and experts in the economic development eco-system, to provide a series of discussions about financial inclusion, business development role, legal and regulatory issues, and the way forward to help MSMEs and youth start-ups succeed as a pre requisite towards the universal sustainability development goals. The document below, which illustrates recommendations for the strategy of financial inclusion of micro and small businesses in Lebanon, contains a summary of the 12 days presentations and discussion that took place among the forum participants.
Informative material: Irrigation and Maintenance (Palestine)
Water scarcity in Mediterranean countries is often the result of inadequate infrastructure and management practices. The MENAWARA project aims to improve access to water through the treatment of wastewater to be reused as complementary irrigation and to strengthen the capacity of all stakeholders operating in the sector. This section contains informative material relating to irrigation practices, specifically in Palestine.
Informative material - Safe reuse of treated waste water in agriculture
This section contains informative material on the safe reuse of treated waste water in agriculture. The reuse offers an important alternative source to release pressure on the freshwater resources and it can be useful to address the issue and crisis of water scarcity in Palestine.
Water Reuse in Agriculture in a Living Lab environment
In a living lab environment, We World - GVC Onlus, NARC and ONAS supported by all relevant stakeholders, tested improved irrigation systems supplied with treated wastewater (TWW) of better quality thanks to the rehabilitation of their Waste Water Treatment Plants to increase the production of lemon, olives, grapes and fodder. In the target areas, a governance model has been built that, thanks to the living lab approach, is impacting the perception of reuse to public officials and population.
Innovative Constructed Wetlands in Carrion de los Céspedes (Andalusia)
In order to increase treated waste water quality to be reused in agriculture, thus tackling more and more frequent periods of drought, in the experimental Waste Water Treatment plant of AMAYA, in Carrion de los Céspedes (Spain) a low-cost treatment train composed by Constructed Wetlands (including different types, working configurations and innovative systems) has been implement. The documents report the technical description of pre and post treatments and the assessment of their efficiency.
Pre and post treatments implemented in the Waste Water Treatment Plants of Tunisia, Palestine and Jordan
One of the aims of the MENAWARA project was to increase treated waste water quality to be used in agriculture, based on Non-Conventional Water supply technologies and practices already existing in the intervention areas and technical and sociopolitical constraints (efficiency of plants, acceptance by local communities and banning of some irrigation techniques by governments). In these documents, pre and post treatments implemented in the Waste Water Treatment Plants in the intervention areas of Tunisia, Palestine and Jordan are described and their efficiency assessed.
Forested Infiltration Area (FIA) System
The FIA technique was identified by NRD-UNISS’ researchers as a Nature Based Solution potentially useful for mitigating the nitrate groundwater pollution in the Arborea plain, in Sardinia (ITALY). Easy to implement even over large spatial scales, the FIA technique also offers a series of supplementary ecosystem services, such as the increase in biodiversity, carbon sequestration and environmental recovery, thus increasing the potentiality of replication of the technique also in contexts outside the Arborea area. The documents details the technical aspects of the Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) system through the FIA technique implemented and related achieved results.
Glossary on water reuse in agriculture
With the aim to facilitate a proper understanding of the terminology used in the frame of water reuse, and contributing to ensuring the proper use of associated terms, a glossary section has been created and included in the MENAWARA interactive platform. Definitions are both in English and in Arabic, while the terms have been translated in Spanish, Italian, French, Greek and Arabic, the languages spoken within the MENAWARA and MEDWAYCAP projects.
It is possible to insert a single word in the string to obtain the related definition and/or its translation. The word can be entered in any of the 6 languages.
Interactive web platform
The interactive web platform has been created to foster the dialogue and establish a network among countries by collecting, and sharing know-how, best practices, experiences and information on Non-Conventional Water sustainable management. The platform provides inputs on operational and policy measures that need to be taken into account in order to advance the use of NCW and efficient water re-use and management, inputs resulting from the awareness acquired during the development of the activities within the MENAWARA living labs and, later, following the discussions during the MEDWAYCAP innovation camps towards an integrated vision of the water governance at domestic and agricultural level. It consists of 6 sections: Best Practices on NCW, Legislation, Glossary, MENAWARA target countries and Governance.
Living Labs approach
Using Treated Waste Water as an input for agricultural production requires some adaptations both in the agricultural practices, the irrigation techniques, and the governance bodies. Moreover, social acceptability would limit its use. In this framework, Living Labs are an appropriate learning space that would open to the adoption of the technical innovation through a social innovation. This documents reports the "living lab approach" used by the MENAWARA project which has been adapted in each target country according to its own context and needs. 3 momentum phases have been identified to lay the foundations for a sustainable learning space.
Water Reuse: Terms and definitions
Appropriate water reuse should be based on the state-of-the-art technology, standards, legislation, and sound knowledge, but also in the use of correct terminology between all users and stakeholders. Several different terms are used to describe forms of water and wastewater and their sub-sequent treatment and reuse, that are used interchangeably to define water reuse globally. This has created confusion among different stakeholders and between different countries. To facilitate communication among different disciplines associated with wastewater, water reclamation and reuse practices, it is important to establish a broad understanding of the terminology used in the field.
In this sense, the aim of this document is to provide an overview of commonly used terms and definitions relating to water reuse, contributing to ensuring the proper use of associated terms.