During the 9th Europe for Environment Ministerial Conference last October 2022, Med4Waste hosted an insightful side-event that brought together key actors of the Mediterranean region to discuss the Mediterranean transition towards a new Waste Management Governance. Co-organised with the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the Cyprus Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth, the event aimed at strengthening knowledge sharing and stimulating debate around themes relevant to the circular economy and the waste management transformation in the Mediterranean, as well as showcasing successful and inspiring actions to promote adaptive waste management plans, policies and other management actions.

The event was opened by Prof. Michael Scoullos, Chairperson of MIO-ECSDE and Alessandra Sensi, Head of the Environment, Green and Blue Economy department at the Secretariat of the UfM, who moderated the event, and stressed that waste management is a complex and multidimensional challenge. UfM is trying to systematize all waste management knowledge in the Mediterranean through relevant projects and their outputs such as Med4Waste that will feed into the new 2030GreenerMed Agenda. 

Project partners of Med4Waste project, as well as two Med4Waste capitalised projects, namely MED-InA and DECOST, presented their experiences in developing a Zero Waste approach through waste prevention, reuse, recycling and the development of local activities and decentralized community composting, respectively. Josep Canals-Molina, Secretary-General of MedCities explained the key role of municipalities in waste prevention and engagement of citizens to change current consumption and production patterns. 

A panel discussion was held to explore the future of Mediterranean Waste Management Governance, where the participants exchanged their views on new governance models for integrated and efficient municipal waste management. Representatives of the UNEP/MAP, ENI CBC MED, ACR+ and sustainability expert, Mr Kyriakos Parpounas shared their experiences on making circularity a pragmatic and viable approach for the region. 

Overall, the event contributed to extending the policy dialogue and capitalisation activities of Med4Waste to other countries not directly involved in the project, as well as looking into how the outcomes of the project can be mainstreamed across the Mediterranean region.  

The outcomes of the discussions held will guide the next steps of Med4Waste on mainstreaming policy recommendations for integrated waste management plans with a more effectively engaged private sector. To that end, the event directly supported the implementation of the Union for the Mediterranean’s (UfM) 2030GreenerMed Agenda, the Barcelona Convention Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development, and relevant EU and national priorities.