4th MELIA Workshop: "Benchmarking Exercise & Recommendations on the Application of the Water Framework Directive"

The project "MELIA" aims at evaluating the methods for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the Mediterranean countries, using the regulations of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) to harmonize water policies in the Mediterranean basin.

The objectives  of the MELIA are to:

·    build a knowledge base for planning IWRM, based on the integration of the widest possible contributions;

·    develop awareness on social, cultural, economic and technical issues related to water management at the Mediterranean scale;

·    propose participation mechanisms and prevention tools to avoid competition for the allocation of the resource between the regions and the various water users;

·    support sustainable water policies by provide the institutions with criteria accepted by a various stakeholders of the participating countries;

·    provide indicators to implement benchmarking of IWRM in the Mediterranean region;

·    facilitate the development of a common language to contribute to water-related negotiations.

These objectives  are achieved by creating a common knowledge base and encouraging dialogue among partners through interactive site and through organizing thematic workshops. The 4^th workshop will be devoted to benchmarking exercise and recommendations on the application of the water framework directive.

The Water Framework Directive (2000/60/E) is the most substantial piece of water legislation ever produced by the European Commission, and will provide the major driver for achieving sustainable management of water in the Member States and non-EU countries implementing it for many years to come. It requires that all inland and coastal waters within defined river basin districts must reach at least good status by 2015 and defines how this should be achieved through the establishment of environmental objectives and ecological targets for surface waters. The result will be a healthy water environment achieved by taking due account of environmental, economic and social considerations.

The Directive is relevant to achieving and maintaining a clean and well-managed water environment, including lakes, reservoirs, rivers, wetlands, groundwater and estuaries and coastal waters - all typical components of a river basin. It will have an impact, to a greater or lesser extent, on a wide range of people and activities such as water consumers and recreational users, agriculture, industry and business activities.

Objectives of the workshop

The structure of the Workshop, to be presented at the beginning of the Workshop by the Work Package co-leader (P44-REMOC), will consist in a number of Key-Note lectures on the above bullet topics, and a few oral presentations on comparative studies on some national strategies and the Water Framework Directive. Participants will be divided into work groups on each topic, to further develop their areas of interest. Also, a discussion on the results of the three work groups will be carried out before the official closing of the Workshop.

Joint Activity with GEWAMED

Parallel to this workshop, the international conference of GEWAMED project entitled; "Integration of Gender Dimensions in Water Management"  will be organized. The opening session will be between GEWAMED conference and MELIA project which coincide also with celebration of the World Water Day.