The NAWAMED project attended the third international symposium on Climate Change and Water organised from 31 May to 2 June 2022 at the University of Tours (France). The MiDi (Environments & Diversity) network and its partners propose « to focus on the different forms of impacts of climate change via its effect on water » and to underling « findings and responses to climate extremes such as droughts, floods, heat waves and sudden and intense rainfall ».

The Centre for Water Research and Technologies - CERTE, participated to this symposium with the aim to tie the valorisation of non-conventional water (NCW) to the climate change research community in order to benefit from the scientific dynamic and financial opportunities made available for climate change adaptation at Med and global level. 

The occasion was good thus to introduce nature-based solutions (NBS) for NCW treatment as a technological interface with various benefits on adaptation to Climate Change and to present the potential of NCW for adaptation to water stress and finally to clearly position the NAWAMED project on this climate change/water interface community. 

“Rethinking NCW technologies and valorisation under climate change”, the message delivered by CERTE during the initiative to the participants, more than one hundred. 

In addition to an introduction of the NAWAMED project to the participants through the distribution of flyers and discussion of the objectives, a focus on the living green wall (LGW) was achieved through the use of a poster to present the technology. Soon installed in Tunisia thanks to the NAWAMED project. The poster presented preliminary results conducted at CERTE in order to adapt design parameters of LGW to the Tunisian context for the implementation of the green wall pilot plant at Sustainable Water Management House – SWM HOUSE to treat grey water. The concept, the proposed technology and the potential recovery of the treated grey water were highly appreciated by the participants and experts. Indeed, the latter presented or exposed results on NBS for ecosystem management, modelling at global and/or local level, risk management in relation to drought or flooding as well as the involvement and transfer of action or adaptation solutions to the population and end-users.

The conference was an opportunity to get to know other EU-funded projects (ANYWHERE, Beaware, AQUA3S, CATCH, NEXOGENESIS, Nexus-net) as well as an introduction to the Water4All calls and to initiate a reflection on synergies with NAWAMED's activities such as the international conference to be organised in Tunisia.