Final Report Summary - BEWATER (Making society an active participant in water adaptation to global change)
Executive Summary:
The BeWater project, supported by the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme, offered a unique opportunity to contribute to adaptation policy design and practices with experience-based knowledge. Four research institutes located in the cardinal points of the Mediterranean region partnered with expert organisations and members of the local communities to elaborate local adaptive water management plans. Innovative approaches were developed within the project to facilitate a truly science-society collaborative process to increase societal resilience to climate variability and change at the river basin scale.
Global change and socio-economic developments are affecting the availability of and access to fresh water for drinking, agriculture, ecosystems and industrial activities. These evolving conditions are posing challenges for the optimisation of freshwater supply and demand and highlight an urgent need to adapt current water management strategies and practices towards more integrated approaches. Threats such as water scarcity are particularly acute in the Mediterranean region, where the degree of pressure from human activities on natural resources is already high. As a response, the BeWater project provided innovative tools to facilitate the adaptation of river basins to global change via an active engagement of the local societies.
The BeWater approach developed within the project focused on creating a shared definition of what challenges needed to be targeted in the basin and then developing, assessing and prioritising a range of potential water management options to address these points along with pathways for their implementation. Four Mediterranean basins were part of the project, namely Pedieos (Cyprus), Vipava (Slovenia), Rmel (Tunisia) and Tordera (Catalonia, Spain). While each basin experienced the process slightly differently, all shared the common aim of introducing adaptation principles into water management at the river basin scale with stakeholder participation all along the process.
Adaptive management poses challenging questions that need to be tackled through methods and practices that have a solid theoretical framework but are still to be integrated into ordinary management procedures and policy design. Knowledge sharing and mutual learning between scientists, experts, decision-makers and local society have provided the needed basis for a truly participatory approach, offering a solid ground for capacity building, awareness raising and the development of concrete proposals in the form of adaptation plans for the four river basins. The process of co-production has proven to be able to deliver results with a high degree of social acceptance, political relevance and technical interest to tackle the uncertainties and complex nature of global change.
Throughout the design of the adaptation plans, common aspects and needs were observed, as well as barriers and facilitators of their future implementation. These lessons learned are synthesized in a handbook, which outlines the different steps undertaken, provides guidelines on policy and practical considerations from the process. The BeWater project may be considered as a strong reference for developing a participatory approach when designing river basin adaptation plans in other river basins, in Mediterranean countries and beyond.
Remarkably, in all river basin’s where the BeWater project was developed, interest of stakeholders and policy makers already delivered results even beyond the project’s objectives, with different proposals being taken up into current plans and programs or being developed through specific funding, such as the EU LIFE + program.
Project Context and Objectives:
Future climate change projections for the Euro-Mediterranean region foresee an increase in water scarcity and droughts, entailing substantial socioeconomic losses and environmental impacts. In this context, sustainable water management strategies, leading to increased resilience of the social-ecological system of a river basin, are needed urgently. In order to maximise their effectiveness, local communities must engage with such strategies and play an active role in their development.
Within this framework, the overall aim of BeWater project was to promote an iterative dialogue and mutual learning collaboration processes between science and society to establish, using a multidisciplinary, bottom-up and participatory approach, plans for sustainable water management and global change adaptation in four Mediterranean River Basins. The specific aim was to contribute to increasing the resilience of social and ecological systems linked to each river basin and to allow a proactive response to emerging global changes and related challenges.
By actively engaging with local communities, BeWater involved society in discussions on current water uses and their related problems, raising public awareness of the importance of sustainable water management, with particular focus on the expected global change impacts at River Basin scale.
In four Case Study River Basins across the Mediterranean, newly developed methodologies integrating physical, ecological, social and management processes were used to develop Water Management Options. These Management Options were discussed with local communities who participated in drawing up locally-relevant Adaptation Plans, which may be scaled up to develop guidelines of national and international relevance.
This was achieved through the following seven specific objectives:
1. To launch an innovative process of societal transition towards a more sustainable, resilient and adaptive river basin management.
2. To develop an innovative, stakeholder-driven method.
3. To promote the transfer of BeWater results into policy.
4. To promote mutual and multi-directional learning among the project partners, entities and actors within and between the river basins and with the broader society.
5. To raise awareness and promote a bottom-up approach within the scientific community for planning and implementation processes.
6. To enhance social participation and build societal resilience.
7. To explore and assess opportunities for Research & Innovation (R&I) collaboration between organisations, universities, SMEs and civil society actors to boost innovation in the water sector.
BeWater aimed at truly fostering mutual learning shared processes and joint responsibility to face global change water related challenges among partners, within local societies and among the 4 Mediterranean Case Study River Basins.
Helping society to become co-responsible with policy-making actors and institutions of the design and implementation of policies goes beyond merely informing and consulting, being an opportunity for better responding to society needs.
The BeWater project is completed and the process was intense and fruitful, allowing to deliver the expected results.
The processes undertaken to advance towards this participatory adaptive water management planning were concreted in:
• Creating a knowledge basis: information was gathered on each basin’s characteristics and dynamics, obtained through a) archives behold by the scientific partners on the basin’s current and future state, b) interviews gathering insights from policy makers, implementers, experts and key actors, as well as c) specific studies compiling best practices on adaptive water management planning and experiences developing water management options.
• Engaging stakeholders: several hundreds of local actors participated in 16 professionally facilitated workshops, four per Case Study River Basin. The first workshop achieved to effectively integrate all relevant stakeholders’ views into future water management challenges and pave the way to develop water management options. The second workshop allowed presenting the 102 options developed and evaluating them in accordance with specific criteria, while the third workshop contributed drafting the River Basin Adaptation Plans, integrating implementation oriented information and enhancing willingness of stakeholders to further pursue its objectives. The forth workshop allowed to finalise the river basin adaptation plans and validate all the results with local stakeholders, as well as exploring their willingness and availability to further pursue the realisation of the suggested options. The creation of favourable implementation conditions of the BeWater results was further pursued by final local policy events in each case study, addressing a broad set of policy makers and implementers in order to explore concrete opportunities for uptake and dissemination of the project’s findings.
• Co-producing Adaptive Water Management Plans: different methodologies were applied to reach specific intermediate results, such as Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping to allow the development of a reference model of the basin’s dynamics, Multi-Criteria Analysis to allow a prioritization of the proposals and the design of implementation pathways in order to envision the best timing and relation between options to enhance their effectiveness. All these methods included active participation of local actors and promoted an integrated view both on challenges and possible solutions.
• Developing a handbook to share lessons learned retrieved during the development of all four local adaptation plans, resulting in clear guidelines which outline the different considerations and steps involved in designing an adaptation plan at river basin level. It’s strong focus on the performance of the participatory BeWater approach and concise synthesis of the BeWater methodology, makes this guide a very useful reference for any entity that needs to develop an adaptation plan in the Mediterranean and beyond.
• Sharing knowledge and managing the project’s development: 4 internal Consortium participated sessions, with the involvement of partners, Advisory Board members and key stakeholders from the 4 Case Studies, to internally frame and report the implementation of the BeWater approach and to coordinate and fine-tune the development of the tasks developed.
• Raising Awareness: in the 4 river basin communities a very intense and meaningful interaction with citizens from the local societies allowed to reach a broad target audience. Diverse material (posters, mobile exhibitions) produced in English and the 4 local languages, Arabic, Greek, Slovenian and Catalan, were used for activities at schools, municipalities, natural park facilities, cultural centres...
• Disseminating the project’s main messages and results both through local media, that broadcasted information related to the project in numerous ways (radio, TV, written press, online and social media), and in relevant fora, such as conferences, master courses and specific events.
• Building the role of Youth as a Stakeholder in the Tunisian Case Study. Different events have taken place, accomplishing the objective of sharing the BeWater experience with young professionals, youth representatives and socio-environmental associations from the Rmel basin.
• EU and AU review and comparative analysis of water sector policies and cross-cutting Policy Sectors analysis on water and climate.
• Disseminating the final outcomes at European level by means of a specific event in Brussels, targeting policy makers and experts.
• Concertation workshop to share lessons learnt from water projects of international cooperation and foster synchronisation with funding agencies to enhance climate change research.
• International River Basin Adaptation Conference to share experiences and identify best-practices with the scientific community, practitioners and experts.
The final outcomes of BeWater are classified at three geographical levels:
- At local level
• The identification of the key problems and needs at local level through an open and transparent participatory process.
• Establish the basis for a long-lasting partnership between civil society, scientists, and public administrations (including institutional administration, local government and policy makers and implementers) through workshops, interviews and networks.
• A set of concrete water management options for each river basin system that takes into account the effects of global change.
• An adaptation plan for each river basin system developed through a participatory process. The plan, addressed to the river basin authorities, outlined actions that improve resilience and adaptation to global change scenarios.
• A significant and tangible increase of the river basin systems resilience, measured through indicators.
• Recommendations for the uptake of the adaptation plan into existing legislation, its implementation and via contributions to future policy actions.
• Increase of civil society sense of empowerment, having an active role in policy planning at the level they represent.
- At national level:
• Presentation of the adaptation plan at national policy level in Spain, Slovenia, Cyprus and Tunisia.
• Active engagement in policy advising and communication at a national level by identifying windows of opportunity with relevant policy makers.
• Support the implementation of the Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Waters and the Water Joint Programming Initiative at national level by identifying options at this level.
- At European level:
• Development of a framework for sustainable and effective cooperation between science and society for resilient and adaptive management of water resources at the river basin level.
• Development and availability of a process that can be adapted and applied in other Mediterranean river basins: outscaling and transferability of the process of transition.
BeWater is recognized and valued by stakeholders and citizens all over the 4 Case Study River Basins in the Mediterranean as providing a real opportunity for knowledge co-production between researchers, experts and public authorities and participatory governance has proven to be very enriching for local water governance providing a platform for the dialogue and collaboration. The River Basin Adaptation Plans include a series of water management options which were closely analysed by key stakeholders, and therefore count on a high degree of social acceptance and the political willingness of those public administrations who participated to transform these ideas into reality in each of the basins. In fact, in each basin different options were mainstreamed into relevant plans and programs, being some already implemented.
The BeWater results may feed in other processes related to the development of environmental policies, resource management and sectoral development, and therefore strongly contribute to strengthening the inclusion of stakeholders and citizens in decision making processes and to the transition to more resilient territories. Furthermore, the successful project implementation in these 4 socio-ecological diverse realities and the guidance based on lessons learned that have been developed also prove that BeWater approach can be outscaled and transferred to other Mediterranean river basins and beyond. Two specific articles were produced in order to further facilitate the acknowledgement of the projects’ approach and results for a broad audience.
Project Results:
WP1
Management within BeWater consortium was undertaken by the Project Coordinator, CREAF, and the main objectives accomplished by this WP were:
• To coordinate and monitor all project activities and tasks
• To ensure an efficient technical, administrative and financial management of the project
• To organise the all General project meetings
• To organize the all Steering Committee meetings
• To complete and submit the first, second and third periodic reports
• To complete and submit the final report
• To organise the Final Conference
• To manage communication between the project and the European Commission
• To implement the Quality assurance and risk management plan for the project
Main foreground results accomplished might be summarized as follows:
• The Project Steering Committee supported the Coordinator in fulfilling obligations towards the Commission and effectively shared the overall responsibility for deciding management issues. Management of the specific components of the project Work Packages were taken up by the WP leaders, who fostered smooth coordination with task leaders within their WP allowing the integration of the activities and work from the different tasks. The challenging objectives of the project demanded a tremendous amount of interactions and contacts among project partners and all the efforts of interaction and interrelation between partners and WPs have proved to be enriching and very productive in achieving the objectives.
• Relation with EC developed smoothly as up-to-date information flow and constructive comunications took place with the EC Project Officer appointed to the project, including physical meetings.
• The Project Coordinator played an important role fostering and developing contacts with other projects and initiatives trough knowledge tansfer and information exchange as well as the organisation of common activities. The accomplishment of these tasks ensured an effective networking with other projects of interest to a mutual benefit for all partners, not only during the project duration but also beyond its termination.
WP2
This WP addressed the project objectives to develop an innovative, stakeholder-driven method and to promote mutual and multi-directional learning among the project partners, entities and actors within and between the river basins and with the broader society by creating adequate knowledge-sharing channels and tools for communication among partners, with the Advisory Board and with related projects and initiatives. Moreover, the WP defined and compiled all principles, methodologies, concepts and protocols that frame the BeWater approach.
Specific objectives for WP2 during the project were:
• To create and update the communication interface with the information and documents produced.
• To organise and conduct the 1st, 2nd and 3rd consortium workshop for building the BeWater common approach.
• To periodically contact and meet the AB members to get their feedback on the project’s development.
• To pursue and carry out contacts with ongoing related projects and initiatives.
• To guarantee the quality of the project outcomes.
Main foreground results accomplished might be summarized as follows:
• For ensuring efficient distribution of information on BeWater, a comprehensive and continuously updated database accessible to all project partners was implemented. The database stored the contacts, the knowledge and information acquired through the project. This database was hosted on an already-existing data platform, the AquaKnow Data Platform http://www.aquaknow.net. BeWater project Consortium had available a private space on the Platform for sharing project information and data including a calendar where activities were announced. Additionally, the Platform is a gateway to a global network of water sector experts and practitioners which will enable interaction and cooperation with sector actors and facilitate cross-fertilisation of ideas and experiences during and after the project duration. BeWater activities and press releases are visible to the whole AquaKnow Community of over 1500 members. The Aquaknow Data Platform complemented the project’s internal communication interface, the BeWater Extranet, which was a repository for shared files, project deliverables, forms and templates and official project documentation.
• As part of the internal communication objectives, the BeWater Advisory Board (AB) was periodically contacted and engaged in BeWater. The AB was composed by a Scientific Advisor, a Policy implementation Advisor and a Policy Advisor. During all project meetings including the Final Conference, one or two BeWater Advisors were present.
• BeWater successfully built a common approach all along the project life, promoting dialogue and discussion among partners, members of the Advisory Board and stakeholders very actively within the participated sessions held during the Consortium Workshops but also to a great extent through the numerous face-to-face and internet meetings that took place among project partners and between the project coordinator and the AB members.
• The project allowed to a) create a common language, approach, methodology and framework for the Project development, b) ensure cross-river basin knowledge transfer and exchange BeWater experience between key stakeholders and c) foster the engagement of key stakeholders in the uptake process of the project results.
• Multiple contacts and interactions took place during the project with diverse projects and initiatives by most consortium partners interacting with ongoing projects in bilateral meetings, BeWater activities or directly participating in some of the other project’s meetings.
WP 3
This WP addressed directly the project objectives to launch an innovative process of societal transition towards a more sustainable, resilient and adaptive river basin management, to develop an innovative, stakeholder-driven method; to promote mutual and multi-directional learning among the project partners, entities and actors within and between the river basins and with the broader society; to raise awareness and promote a bottom-up approach within the scientific community for planning and implementation processes and to enhance social participation and build societal resilience at River Basin level.
Specific objectives for WP3 during the project were:
• To launch a sensitization campaign to raise social awareness and to encourage capacity building, empowerment and social formation in water management challenges and adaptation.
• To set up, update, operate and provide guidance with the stakeholder databases for each river basin by using a versatile and user-friendly stakeholder management tool.
• To review the state of the art on water impacts and vulnerabilities to global change and water adaptation in the selected case study river basins (CSRBs) and to enroll civil society in the identification of challenges, problems, needs and constraints at local and regional levels, and therefore also facilitate the exchange of information and knowledge between science and society.
• To ensure the proper transfer and integration of stakeholder input into the development and evaluation of cognitive maps, narratives and water management options for the river basins.
• To organise relevant information in the Aquaknow tool, as part of activities on compilation of information.
• To ensure the proper management and coordination of all WP3 partners, as well as the cross-work package coordination with WP4 and WP5.
Main foreground results accomplished might be summarized as follows:
• This work package developed an awareness campaign targeting the wider public in the local, river basin communities on the current water management challenges and the need for adaptation at river basin level. Different material was produced and activities carried out achieving to encourage capacity building, strengthen public awareness on the urgency and relevance of tackling the effects of global change, as well as enhancing community empowerment towards adaptive water management and societal participation in decision making processes.
• A good understanding of the four river basin characteristics was obtained through the identification and compilation of information, as well as the generation and management of qualitative and quantitative datasets from Case Study River Basins.
• Aquaknow, a management platform that integrates a dynamic virtual space for facilitating communication between different users, allowed to improve the communication and exchange of information among the international community on water issues.
• Specific challenges, needs and constraints regarding water management in each of the four distinct river basins were successfully identified by engaging a selection of relevant local and regional stakeholders. This was achieved through three separate rounds of engagement activities: a) stakeholder workshops, b) stakeholder interviews to clarify and enrich the workshop outcomes (which served for both WP3 as well as WP4) and c) engagement activities focused on gathering stakeholder input and feedback on intermediate results.
• Beyond the technical achievement of the actions planned, the evaluation forms distributed at the end of each workshop showed that participants confirmed the quality of the activities was satisfactory, as 85% or more of the participants rated the workshops as “good” and “very good”, and over 90% of participants were “highly satisfied” or “satisfied” with how the workshops included their views and opinions.
• A set of realistic options for future water management under the effects of global change was successfully formulated with stakeholder participation. Furthermore, a socio-economic and environmental evaluation of these options was carried out using a set of descriptors and the assessment of their impacts.
• Stakeholders were adequately informed on the progress registered in the BeWater project, their feedback and insights with respect to the abovementioned water management options satisfyingly included, and participated actively in evaluating these options through an on-the-spot multi-criteria analysis.
• In each of the CSRB, apart from the main workshops with the presence of international project partners, a number of participatory events were also organised locally. Throughout the project, the Case Study Leaders also conducted individual consultation interviews with stakeholders and organized focused meetings and seminars, in order to elicit additional information and based on manifest stakeholder interest. Feedback received from local actors allowed achieving the validation of the BeWater results and consolidating the sustainability of the project outcomes.
WP4
This WP addressed directly the project objectives to launch an innovative process of societal transition towards a more sustainable, resilient and adaptive river basin management, to develop an innovative, stakeholder-driven method; to promote the transfer of BeWater results into policy; to promote mutual and multi-directional learning among the project partners, entities and actors within and between the river basins and with the broader society; to raise awareness and promote a bottom-up approach within the scientific community for planning and implementation processes and to enhance social participation and build societal resilience at River Basin level.
Specific objectives for WP4 during the project were:
• To design adaptation plans for the implementation of adaptation strategies in the case-study river basins (CSRBs) based on the results of the participatory process.
• To compile the adaptation measures and activities developed in WP3 with a prioritization, cost-efectiveness analysis and evaluation in each CSRB as part of the adaptation plans.
• To validate the plans by the key stakeholders in a participatory seminar.
• To scale up the adaptation plan design by providing a synthesis of the CSRB adaptation plans and a handbook for designing participatory adaptation plans.
• To communicate recommendations on adaptation plans to political decision makers at local and international scale.
Main foreground results accomplished might be summarized as follows:
• A compilation of best practice examples and experiences of adaptation plans was successfully obtained, involving a literature review of River Basin Adaptation Plans (RBAPs) on the local, regional and international level allowing to identify good practices for river basin adaptation planning.
• The research delivered examples of RBAPs identified from around the world, an in depth analysis of which fed into the design of the structure of and contents to be included in the RBAPs promoted by BeWater.
• Relevant policies and policy instruments were identified that could support the implementation of the options (e.g. development programs, European regional and structural programs and national and local policies) as well as relevant policy actors and stakeholders, who’s willingness and possible involvement in implementing options were successfully assessed.
• All RBAPs included a first part presenting an introduction to the river basin, information on the current and future state of the basin, the participatory development of the plan, an overview of the developed water management options followed by bundles of these adaptation actions, and recommendations for the basins policy actors. The second part of the plans presented more detailed information on each of the water management options.
• The organization of a one-day workshop involving the stakeholders that had participated in the process in each river basin ensured the validity of the adaptation plans and successfully accomplished to: (1) identify potential synergies and conflicts between the water management options, (2) identify pathways for addressing the river basin challenges and (3) optimize the policy implementation of the river basin adaptation plans.
• A handbook for drafting adaptation plans was developed. Its aims were to share lessons learned during the development of all four local adaptation plans, resulting in clear guidelines which outline the different considerations and steps involved in designing a river basin level adaptation plan. The document has a strong focus on how the participatory BeWater approach worked in practice and provides a concise synthesis of the BeWater methodology.
The guidelines provided are intended to serve as a source of information for anyone interested in adaptive river basin management, and particularly for (i) professionals involved in river basin management planning who are looking to gain inspiration for their work (e.g. working for river basin organizations, environmental agencies, rivers trusts, NGOs, etc.), and (ii) decision-makers, project coordinators and other groups or individuals wishing to increase the participatory involvement of stakeholders, such as in specific decision-making processes
• Considerations of policy and practical relevance on the experience of the process, were included to foster a strong transferability of the case study results to be applied in other river basins in the Mediterranean countries and beyond when designing river basin adaptation plans.The contents were presented in a visually appealing and approachable way being the final layout of professional quality.
• The handbook was printed in collaboration with WP5 and has since been distributed and presented at the local policy forums, Brussels policy event, Final Conference and other relevant events. These activities support the aim to scale up the development of further river basin adaptation plans across the Mediterranean and beyond and share the lessons learnt during the development of all four local adaptation plans.
• Experiences accumulated throughout BeWater, particularly regarding the development and dissemination of the River Basin Adaptation Plans across the four CSRBs, were successfully gathered, including recommendations, activities and new elements that contributed to strengthen policy and institutional frameworks to tackle global change impacts at the local, regional, national and international levels into policy recommendations.
• In order to reach specific target audiences more effectively, the policy recommendations were formatted into 6 individual policy briefs (one per chapter). In collaboration with WP5, each brief was formatted using the BeWater policy brief template to create a visually appealing and digestible 2-4 page document which can be easily read by EU, national or local authorities and other targeted readership. The Tordera brief was also translated into Catalan.
• Engaging policy makers in the design of the adaptation plans facilitated the uptake of the plans and dissemination of the other key outputs. Through a local policy forum in each river basin the implementation of the adaptation plan into water/river basin policy was fostered.
• Furthermore, the lessons learnt for application in other river basins across Europe and beyond was also promoted through a specific policy workshop organised in Brussels, entitled ‘Implementing COP22 agreements: river basin adaptation planning through stakeholder engagement’. Following the event, the key messages and targeted European recommendations were summarized in a consolidated document and distributed to participants and speakers, as well as published on the BeWater website to reach a wider audience.
WP5
This WP addresses the project objectives to promote the transfer of BeWater results into policy; to promote mutual and multi-directional learning among the project partners, entities and actors within and between the river basins and with the broader society and to raise awareness and promote a bottom-up approach within the scientific community for planning and implementation processes, as well as general project dissemination and communication.
Specific objectives for WP5 during the project were:
• To create the corporate image and dissemination platforms (web, newsletter, social media), in order to establish a solid basis for sharing information, and maintain these platforms active during the project duration.
• To coordinate the elaboration of key messages to provide material for disseminating the project in local regions and in local languages, as well as at European level.
• To collate, distil and present outcomes and results from the work with stakeholders in the four case study river basins.
• To achieve broad and specific dissemination through targeted events for stakeholders and policy makers in the four case study river basins and scaling up to regional and national level in the countries
Main foreground results accomplished might be summarized as follows:
• A Communication Strategy was successfully developed. Guidelines for communications and quality control and a corporate design (logo, templates, newsletter) ensured dissemination and outreach materials had a uniform and recognizable image.
• Homogeneity across BeWater related-publications was ensured through the provision of templates for Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents to Consortium partners, as well as a Deliverable template and a Style Guide to project documentation, which was satisfyingly used for all BeWater publications.
• Following internal processes of reflection with Consortium members, key messages on the main project themes and concepts were successfully used by all Consortium partners. Additionally, guidelines for media engagement in the four Case Study River Basins were developed in collaboration with the Awareness Campaign, successfully enhancing visibility in local media al through the project.
• The BeWater newsletter was also designed and a coherent communication infrastructure and social media presence successfully developed. The project website and social media (Facebook, Twitter) were fully integrated with the project’s branding and proved to deliver the desired visibility.
• A Communications Steering Committee (CSC) was established, composed of WP5 task leaders and WP leader and proved to be very useful to follow up on specific elements for discussion on project communication and dissemination activities and new ideas.
• The BeWater web portal (http:// bewaterproject.eu) achieved offering a central platform for the communication and dissemination of the BeWater project activities and results to project partners, stakeholders and the wider public. It also facilitated the sharing of information and ideas between the four case study river basins in the project. The intuitive navigation based on the three-click principle (all information can be accessed in a maximum navigation of three clicks) to enable quick and easy access to all information, has proven efficient and effective. Moreover, a strategy was delivered to ensure key documents remain available at the BeWater website (e.g. adaptation plans, handbook).
• Thanks to a range of synergies with and beyond BeWater partners, it was possible to deliver a positive Outscaling Campaign, delivering the BeWater achieved outputs and results to other stakeholders and public beyond the boundaries of the study catchments, who the project wanted to reach, increasing, that way, the project’s impact.
• The outscaling campaign achieved the organisation and co-organisation by BeWater of seven events as well as contributions in more than 30 international and regional events, reaching directly and indirectly more than 1500 stakeholder organisations, and a much greater number of their representatives as well as individuals.
• A series of activities targeting youth in the Rmel river basin and the Zaghouan region were successfully developed in collaboration with Global Water Partnership’s (GWP). For example, the initiative “Youth for Water and Climate”, contributed to strengthen the Tunisian youth’s role in advocacy and decision-making on water resources management and climate change adaptation. Young water experts were also successfully engaged in national consultations on the youth’s role in the management of water resources under climate change stress, which resulted to a youth-led White Paper “Un Paris pour l’eau” [A Paris for Water] that was presented to decision-makers at COP21.
• The project successfully developed a rich dissemination package including -inter alia - a biannual Newsletter, a generic BeWater Leaflet, a BeWater approach and results brochure, a project video, scientific and non-scientific articles and policy briefs.
• BeWater publicity campaigns took place in the CSRBs in order to present and disseminate the results of the project and the adaptation plans developed. The campaigns targeted the local community, through poster, mobile exhibitions, talks, lectures and forums, which all were positively received. Furthermore the campaign targeted relevant policy makers through different successful initiatives, as an example, the Cyprus Institute research team presented the Pedieos River Basin Adaptation Plan to the Environment Committee of the Cyprus Parliament, on 15 February 2017.
• The BeWater project maintained and increased its presence in social media during the project lifetime, which allowed reaching beyond the parameters of the project partners and stakeholders to a much wider audience. BeWater had remarkable interested followers on Twitter and Facebook, with the number of followers steadily rising since BeWater first joined the social media platform including audience located at all CSRB countries as well as some followers from other countries in Europe and North Africa.
• A highly successful River Basin Adaptation Conference was held on 7 and 8 March in Nova Gorica, Slovenia. The Conference was an interactive event comprising of plenary presentation sessions, workshop-style parallel work sessions, and an interactive panel discussion attended by around 70 participants. The conference speakers included invited leading experts in climatology, water management and participatory techniques.
WP 6
This WP addressed BeWater project objective to promote the transfer of BeWater results into Policy. The aim was understanding EU strategic priorities and policy developments at local, national, European, Mediterranean and AU levels.
Specific objectives for WP6 during the project were:
• To analyse the EU strategic priorities for river basin management in the face of global and climate change as they are presented in EU policy tools such as Directives and Communications, including an overview of other EU and Mediterranean related initiatives, African Union Declarations and other relevant policy developments.
• To provide a comparative analysis of local water policies and other sector policies which address global and climate change at the river basin scale.
• To provide a comparative analysis of National scale water sector policy instruments and other policy sectors which address global and climate change at both the national and regional (sub-national) scale.
• To identify both challenges and ‘windows of opportunity’ in the policy landscape at the National and Regional Policy instrument levels.
• To provide a real-time analysis of specific policy instruments in both the EU-based and the AU-based (Tunisia) CSRB Partner Countries
Main foreground results accomplished might be summarized as follows:
• WP6 delivered a broad policy analysis in the field of water and climate change, building up the information progressively.
• The WP provided a general overview of existing policies in the water sector and other sectors relevant to climate and global change, downscaling from EU/AU level up to national and regional level. The analysis of different policy sectors showed that sectors studied do not address climate, climate change, or adaptation in the same way or to the same degree.
• The development of the planned tasks delivered a comprehensive comparative analysis of the policy framework of all four CSRBs, and provided a specific Policy Analysis Tool to allow the analysis of these identified policies under specific criteria included in a specific Guidance Note. A Pilot application of the Policy Analysis Tool was successfully implemented in each CSRB Partner country.
• More in depth analysis accomplished by the WP, such as the effects of a certain policy, implementation and best practices, and finally the potential sustainability of the Policy Instrument itself, counted on the support of a team of researchers from the University of Palermo (UNIPA).
WP7
This WP addressed the project objectives to promote the transfer of BeWater results into policy and explore opportunities to R&I collaboration between various organisations.
WP7 specific objectives for the project were:
• To perform a Study of national funding agencies action in international cooperation projects,
• To organise a Concertation Workshop.
• To create a roadmap for the synchronisation of research funding to influence future cooperation.
Main foreground results accomplished might be summarized as follows:
• WP7 achieved to gather the information required to create a “Study on national support mechanisms to international water management research”, elaborated to identify key factors and organisations which influence the performance of research organisations from the target countries in international research.
• A Concertation Workshop with ongoing projects and national funding agencies was successfully organised, reaching a dual purpose: a) to bring together and enhance dialogue between the coordinators of international cooperation projects and the owners of funding programs (national and regional agencies); and b) to stimulate the national and regional funding agencies from the target countries to share experiences and practices in order to facilitate the emergence of common positions and encourage the synchronization of support instruments for international cooperation in climate change research. As a result, at the end of the two-day workshop, representatives of the funding agencies developed a summary of key challenges and conclusions to be dealt with at policy level.
• WP7 offered the opportunity to debate about future cooperation and the need to encourage policy makers to translate their commitment into concrete action to advance the status of international R&D cooperation, such as joint calls for ERA-NET initiatives in Horizon 2020.
• The positions of the funding agencies invited to the Concertation workshop were determined and analysed by EFB and summarised in a guideline on the synthesis of the major programs of interest. This document allowed to identify the main obstacles; set out the current trends in target countries and in Europe; and propose ways to better synchronise the policy dialogue in support of international research cooperation, so that the use of current or future instruments to support cooperation can be optimised.
WP8
This WP addressed the evaluation of the project’s methodology and implementation by carrying out an in-depth evaluation and an internal observer task. As “internal observer”, information was provided on the implementation of the WP tasks at a specific given time relative to its respective targets and outcomes (monitoring task). The “in depth evaluation” (evaluation task) instead provided evidence of how WP and project’s objectives and outcomes were achieved.
Specific objectives for WP8 during the project were:
• To make a reflexive analysis of the project implementation process through an internal observer survey and carry out the mid term and final evaluation.
• To facilitate an identify points of cooperation between the work packages.
• To ensure that all partners have a global and joint understating of the project methodology and the on-going activities.
• To perform a critical review of the dialogues and links between science and society as well as the participatory process
• To provide recommendations regarding the Monitoring and Evaluation process in research projects, in general, and specifically with the BeWater project.
Main foreground results accomplished might be summarized as follows:
• The evaluations carried out within WP8 were satisfactorily developed, and provided an opportunity for improving the project implementation at different stages. The evaluation methodology for monitoring and evaluation criteria, relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency to assess the progress toward the objectives of BeWater was developed involving the partners.
• This WP successfully monitored the different project WPs through a Monitoring and Evaluation survey of the different allowing the WP leaders and partners involved to provide assessment of the stage and quality of the tasks’ implementation. Furthermore, structured and semi-structured interviews were useful to complement missing information and enrich the perspectives gathered, including CSRBs’ stakeholders and advisory board members.
• This WP achieved assessing the outputs of the project to its objectives in accordance to selected evaluation criteria, measuring the impacts and the sustainability of results; and analysing the participatory process and the links between Science and Civil Society.
• Sharing results of the evaluation with BeWater partners fostered the acknowledgement of opportunities for improvement and confirmation of successful results.
Potential Impact:
Impacts of the project
BeWater achieved all its objectives and went even beyond the initial aims, thanks to a successful mutual and multi-directional learning among the project partners, entities and actors within and between the river basins and with the broader society, which provided a strong support to all activities undertaken and created a favorable environment for the project to deliver relevant impacts.
Many project impacts can be considered to have medium and long term effects and so some time is needed for them to be developed after the end of the project. Nevertheless, BeWater can be considered fully successful in impacting local societies in the following terms:
• BeWater contributed towards key challenges facing European society. It is clear that the focus of the project on adaptation to Global Change using an innovative participatory process and linking to policy at several levels has the potential to influence these key challenges. The process put in motion was successful, with good quality outputs that have the potential of being used.
• BeWater contributed incorporating Science in Society issues in the system of research and innovation. Certainly, at the local level some incipient changes are already perceived, with partners and key stakeholders empowered and capacities improved at the river basin, and also within the project partners and their research networks.
• BeWater contributed to transnational cooperation. Certainly, Case Study Leaders and key stakeholders have developed interesting international collaborations, and at project level, specific dissemination activities fostered international actors to acknowledge the potential of the project’s approach to enhance collaborative processes.
• BeWater contributed to the inclusion of youth in decision making processes. All case study river basins have put efforts in engaging youth in the project’s activities, but the Tunisian case successfully developed specific actions oriented at integrating young professionals as stakeholders into decision making processes.
• BeWater confirmed participation in decision-making is of high interest to society. According to local actors, the absence of stakeholder participation in policy design has often delayed the development of crucial resource management policies. The experience gained with the project clearly indicates the participatory process had a strong impact on stakeholder willingness to pursue the implementation of the solutions proposed in the frame of their activities and responsibilities.
Impacts at the case study river basins
Coherently with the project’s structure and goals, most impacts are obtained at river basin level. In each case study river basin, the project has delivered impacts on local socio-political environment thanks to the intense stakeholder and policy maker’s engagement process. The project also had impact on local economies, contributing to optimize public investments to reduce people’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, as well as in terms of environmental impacts, given the increased awareness and knowledge on the impacts of climate change and the implementation of some of the proposed measures through specific projects. Concrete impacts at CSRB level might be summarized as follows:
Tordera
• High synergy with current River Basin Management Plan for the Catalan River Basin District: 20 measures from the 33 included in the adaptation plan are taken into consideration for implementation (2016-2021).
• High synergy with the Montseny Natural Park and Biosphere Reserve LIFE Tritó project: 10 measures from the BeWater project were taken into account for forest and water management to go hand in hand restoring ecosystem functionality in the Tordera headwaters.
• The experience based knowledge generated by the BeWater project is taken into account in the revision of the Catalan Strategy for Climate Change as a best practice to rise citizens’ awareness on efficient natural resource use and provide scientific information on the risks of climate change.
• Different concrete proposals raised by BeWater process in the basin are mainstreamed into Municipal Action Plans for Adaptation (e.g.St. Celoni municipality), also pursuing increased collaboration between neighboring areas.
• Stakeholders that participated in the co-creation of the adaptation plan are pursuing the integration of the outcomes in their activities and express ownership of the plan, delivering a pro-active and fertile environment for the implementation at different scales and locations in the basin, like for example restoration of riparian vegetation or awareness raising activities.
• Different project proposals, both at European level – such as H2020 program- and at national level – such as those assigned by the Foundation for Biodiversity from the Spanish Government – are developed to implement prioritised measures, such as the creation of an Integrated Plan for the Tordera Delta.
Pedieos
• The cooperation of stakeholders from governmental and non-governmental organizations and from different sectors (water, agriculture, forestry, environment, urban planning, and education) facilitated the development of a broad and diverse set of adaptation options.
• The presentation of the adaptation plan to the Committee of Environment of the Cyprus Parliament strengthened the political base for the implementation of key adaptation options.
• Selected adaptation options, e.g. green roofs for reducing flooding in urban areas in a semi-arid climate, are under pilot testing and demonstration.
• The active science-society interaction during the project’s lifetime and the dissemination of the adaptation options through various activities, e.g. educational and environmental fairs and events, as well as citizen surveys, increased climate change awareness of the general public, including that of the younger generation, thus establishing popular support for climate change adaptation.
• The active participation of stakeholders in BeWater meetings and workshops has facilitated the exchange of knowledge and cooperation. Formal and informal communication channels have been created (e.g. steering committees) within governmental departments but also between governmental departments and municipalities to implement integrated strategies for water management and climate change adaptation.
Rmel
• Due to the high synergy between the options belonging to bundle 1 related to the water and soil conservation and the national strategy adopted by the DG/ACTA Farmland Conservation and management Department. The latter department has committed to support the implementation of some of these options.
• The decision makers appreciate the final outcomes of the project and consider the project as a successful model to get inspired from for the future projects. BeWater is now considered as a stepping stone to establish a significant collaboration between science and society.
• The knowledge gathered through the BeWater are being included as a reference into specific professional education programs such as master classes..
• According to the CRDA, many measures concerning forest resources will be implemented via the African Development Bank funding devoted to Zaghouan.
• The regional environmental department is now considering four specific options to be part of their future development plan. This department is now coping with local NGOs to continue raising awareness programs based on BeWater approach and outputs.
Vipava
• BeWater participative process for the first time gathered stakeholders from different sectors and include them in the development of the RBAP from the start. RBAP is therefore plan with high input from stakeholders and is now accepted as their plan.
• The BeWater project became a well-known brand for the promotion of the inclusion of adaptation into policy design amongst stakeholders, residents of Vipava RB and representatives of authorities.
• Some WMOs were implemented before BeWater project ended. One of those is the Council for Vipava River which was established by the end of 2015 and is totally in line with WMO 1 Establish an inter-municipal expert working group for the Vipava river basin.
• The Life ViVaCCAdapt project started in the middle of year 2016. The project is in some parts follow up of project BeWater. Especially in the part where project will establish new shelterbelts for wind protection what is implementation of WMO 20 Preservation of existing and introduction of new shelterbelts.
• Two new proposals for projects are being prepared in Vipava RB which refer to the results of BeWater projects. One by the Ministry for Environment and Spatial Planning which is called VISFRIM and it is a cross border project with Italy aiming to improve flood risk protection. The second is coordinated by the Council for Vipava River called GREVISIN aiming to establish green infrastructure along Vipava River.
Main dissemination activities.
At project level an effective networking with other projects of interest ensured mutual benefit for all partners, not only during the project duration but also beyond its termination. The project coordinator took part in the following meetings and international conferences in order to a) support and increase the collaboration with ongoing projects and initiatives and b) disseminate the BeWater outcomes and results:
• Public Engagement in H2020 Workshop (Brussels 06-07/11/2013): the event offered the opportunity for all the MMLs funded by Science in Society to connect and share experience and to collectively evaluate the MML instrument, exploring in a participatory way how it might evolve to better respond to key societal challenges.
• Involvement in the “Community of Practice” online networking activities between the ASSET consortium and other European Projects adopting the MML Methodology.
• Interview and collaboration with SATORI project: participation in the empirical study about good practice in evaluation and reflection of civil society engagement in MMLs.
• Conference “Science with and for Society” (SWAFS) (Madrid 08/11/2013): In the framework of the European Network of National Contact Points for “Science in society” conference which discussed the current situation of society engagement in science and innovation and the support of Horizon 2020 in the areas of science communication, responsible research and innovation, science education, open access, gender policies, etc
• WaterDiss2.0 Final Workshop (Barcelona 2-3/12/2013): the event offered the opportunity to exchange ideas, tools and methods of having better research dissemination strategies in the water sector.
• Kick-off Meeting of FP4BATIW (Barcelona 21-22/10/2013): this INCO R2I project event offered the opportunity to foster partnerships for the implementation of best available technologies for water treatment & management in the Mediterranean.
• EIP Water Conference and ESS Side Event (Barcelona 04-05/11/2014): the event offered the opportunity to participate in discussions on connecting water innovation demand and supply, learning about the activities of 25 EIP Water Action Groups and identifying opportunities for collaboration.
• SIS-RRI Conference (Rome 19-20-21/11/2014): the event offered the opportunity to enhance interactions with the society and the science community and to engage with high-level speakers on issues revolving around 6 key areas: public engagement, gender equality, science education, ethics, open science and governance.
• MedSpring meeting: Projects Dialogue to enhance the Water-Energy-Food Nexus (Barcelona 21- 22/01/2015): BeWater participated at a “Brain Storming“session on three Questions identified as common issues of all projects dealing with the three sides of the NEXUS. 25 Projects were present in the Meeting, 6 deal with Water, 7 with Energy, 5 with Food and 7 with Structural aspects of the EU-MPC cooperation. The debates were very rich and several suggestions were proposed during the 3 thematic discussions and in the general debate. General Conclusions and recommendations were agreed during the Final Debate.
• Kick-off Meeting of WaterInnEu (Barcelona 26-27/03/2015): the event offered the opportunity to aknowledge this H2020 project, aiming to create a virtual marketplace to enhance the exploitation of EU funded ICT models, tools, protocols and policy briefs related to water, to establish suitable conditions for new market opportunities based on these offerings and create synergies between research and companies in this field.
• Citizen Science Days (Barcelona 11/06/2014 and 16/04/2015) meetings participation and inclusion of BeWater in the Citizen Science Catalogue (presentation in Barcelona 06/05/2015). Participation in the citizen science COST Action CA15212 Citizen Science to promote creativity, scientific literacy, and innovation throughout Europe.
Contacts and collaboration with the citizen science community enhanced mutual learning and framed the co-production process it promoted in the citizen science fora.
• Contacts with two of the Mediterranean partners of BASE project: Dept. of Agricultural Economics and Social Sciences Technical University of Madrid (UPM) and Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3). Contacts allowed mutual learning and information transfer, as well as setting the base for further collaborations and capitalization of results.
• BeWater was present at the PRIMA initiative meeting in Malta, allowing direct contact and fruitful networking with ongoing and planned projects in the ERANET program framework.
• European Climate Change Adaptation (ECCA) Conference (Copenhagen 12-14/05/2015): the sessions where BeWater assisted covered a broad range of issues related to climate change adaptation. BeWater was presented in a session tackling Governance of Drought Adaptation in Europe. Exchange of experiences and possible synergies were enhanced by the interactions among participants.
• Networking Meeting with WaterInnEu (Barcelona 01/06/2015) to strengthen mutual interests and activities: H2020 project to create a virtual marketplace to enhance the exploitation of EU funded ICT models, tools, protocols and policy briefs related to water, to establish suitable conditions for new market opportunities based on these offerings and create synergies between research and companies in this area.
• MedSpring EMEG (Euro-Mediterranean Expert Group) meeting (Malta 30/09/2015 to 02/10/2015) on Euro-Mediterranean Projects Dialogue to enhance the Water-Energy-Food Nexus. BeWater established relevant contacts and generated synergies with projects and initiatives tackling WEF Nexus.
• Adaptation Futures Conference (Rotterdam 10-13/05/2016): BeWater presented in the session ‘Fresh water availability and access: guidelines and methodologies’, and had the opportunity to disseminate BeWater tools and methodologies as well as to promote cooperation with other projects and initiatives.
• Water Innovation Europe Conference (Brussels 21-23/06/2016): the event offered the opportunity for networking and promotion of collaborations with projects and initiatives related to the conference themes ‘Water for a sustainable society’ and Water-energy-food nexus.
• FP4BATIW final conference (Barcelona 13-14/07/2016): the event, entitled ‘National, regional and international water treatment strategies from a circular economy perspective’ offered an important opportunity for networking and brokerage. BeWater participated in a parallel session, presenting its key messages in a very rich roundtable debate.
• Iberian Congress on water management and planning (Valencia 7-9/09/2016). Water, cities and ecosystem health were at the core of the discussions and interactions with projects and organistions promoting a change towards a more sustainable water management and a new water culture. BeWater presented its main features and inspured fruitful debates.
• Collaboration with UPC, RISES-AM FP7 project, Responses to coastal climate change: Innovative Strategies for high End Scenarios Adaptation and Mitigation. This fruitful contact lead to project proposal development and futurepro-active building of synergies in terms of freshwater and marine adaptation.
• BeWater Project was invited to contribute to ACE WATER 2: a scientific meeting (Accra, Ghana between 31/10 and 04/11/2016) allowed BeWater to contribute defining the scientific products with Centres of Excellence that will be implemented during the next years of the ACEWATER 2 project.
• NET-SCARCE International Conference “Experiences in Mediterranean river basin adaptation to global change” (Barcelona, Spain on 15 and 16/11/2016): BeWater was presented during the conference plenary and contributed to frame innovative approaches for adaptation in the Mediterranean in a multi-disciplinary environment.
• An overview on the BeWater approach for participative and bottom-up management of river basin was presented during EFIMED Week 2016, held in Calabria Region (Italy) from the 7th to the 9th of November, especially highlighting insights and results obtained in the Rmel Case Study River Basin, part of a round table focused on innovative and participatory approaches.
• On November 17th 2017, BeWater Project participated to the COP22 climate conference hold in Marrakesch, Morocco, through two events:
o ‘From planning to action in the Water and Agriculture Sectors: Development and implementation of National Adaptation Plans’ Session in COP22 side event organised by GWP and Tunisia Government including INRGREF
o «Accompagner des collectifs d’acteurs locaux dans l’adaptation au changement climatique sur un territoire : retours d’expériences, outils innovants et perspectives d’avenir» Session in COP22 side event organised by IRSTEA
The events offered the opportunity to reach a broad audience and fostered strong networking actions in the field of water governance for adaptation in the Mediterranean region.
• Interreg POCTEFA ECAdapt project kick-off meeting (Perpignan 24/11/2016): BeWater was presented as an example for participatory adaptation to climate change in the Mediterranean.
• A unique opportunity to link up to other research organizations, including Latin America, a specific presentation entitled ‘BeWater: La sociedad se adapta al cambio global’ in the universities of Managua (08/12/2016) and Estelí (14/12/2016), Nicaragua.
• Mediterranean Forest Week (Agadir, Morocco 20-24/03/2017): organised by the consortium partner EFI this event offered the opportunity to present an overview of the innovative BeWater participatory approach and share specific testimony from a case study river basin perspective in terms of lessons learned and views for the future.
• 11th GENERAL ASSEMBLY of the Mediterranean Network of Basin Organisations MENBO (St. Julians, Malta, 22- 24/03/2017): this event , co-organised by BeWater, offered a unique opportunity to amplify the network of relations with policy makers and implementers, experts and practicioners of Mediterranean river basins and share relevant information. BeWater was presented in a specific session, providing a general overview of the project, as well as the experience based knowledge and lessons learned from Vipava, Pedieos and Tordera CSRBs.
• BeWater was able to improve its presence on the Climate Adapt project website and so enhance communication and sharing opportunities with other interested parties around Europe.
At case study river basin level, a broad range of activities were developed with the purpose to disseminate and promote the acknowledgement of the projects outcomes and results. Given the high number of records, we remit to the detailed list included in this report. In general terms, these dissemination actions included talks, seminars, master classes, events, conferences, media, workshops and interactive sessions, as well as a mobile exposition. The comprehensive participatory strategies adopted by the BeWater project in the case study river basins have proven sound and effective, delivering key messages, inviting for debate and jointly developing experience based knowledge with scientific information as a key reference for reducing the vulnerability to the impacts of global change. The communication channels opened with local actors, stakeholders and general public in the four case studies opened a window of opportunity for further consolidating the participatory approach, enhancing capacity building and foster a pro-active attitude of society towards adaptation and participation.
Exploitation of results
The BeWater Project has been working with local communities towards the collaborative development of adaptive water management approaches at the river basin scale in the Mediterranean region. More specifically, the project developed a River Basin Adaptation Plan in each of the four case studies: Tordera (Spain), Pedieos (Cyprus), Rmel (Tunisia) and Vipava (Slovenia).
A specific interactive approach was developed and this same procedure was applied to all four basins, allowing confirming the validity of the approach even if important differences in environmental, socio-economic and political conditions exist.
The BeWater process engaged policy makers from the beginning and put a special effort producing clear messages and proposals as a contribution to current adaptation policy development at local, regional, national and European/African Union levels.
The BeWater experience clearly indicates public engagement effectively delivers results through the creation of a common view on the goals to be reached and by developing solutions underpinned by a high degree of societal acceptance.
The main products resulting the project implementation are described as follows:
• Four River Basin Adaptation Plans (http://bewaterproject.eu/final-results/adaptation-plans) developed for each river basin, including a total of 102 concrete options. These are being actively used by local actors, promoting the implementation of the proposals included in these plans and as a reference for new policy development at different administrative levels.
• A BeWater handbook (http://bewaterproject.eu/final-results/handbook). The handbook provides local actors and relevant entities with the necessary information to guide a participatory development of a River Basin Adaptation Plan. The handbook begins with more general information on the context of the BeWater project and highlights the importance of adaptation, the state of the art in river basin planning, society’s role in the process and finally the need for resilient social-ecological systems;
• BeWater policy briefs (http://bewaterproject.eu/final-results/policy-briefs). BeWater delivers recommendations aiming to strengthen policy and institutional frameworks in tackling global change impacts within water management and adaptation planning. These recommendations target the decision-makers from the local to European level and draw on the lessons learned and experiences made throughout the duration of the BeWater project across the four case study river basins;
• BeWater infographic video (http://bewaterproject.eu/final-results/infographic-video). A infographic shares a recipe for participation from science and society in river basin adaptation planning and makes the BeWater project results accessible to a wide public and ensures a swift communication of key messages.
List of Websites:
Further information on the project can be obtained from the project’s website (http://www.bewaterproject.eu/) or by contacting the Project Coordinator: Anabel Sánchez +34 93 5814675 (a.sanchez@creaf.uab.cat).
The BeWater project, supported by the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme, offered a unique opportunity to contribute to adaptation policy design and practices with experience-based knowledge. Four research institutes located in the cardinal points of the Mediterranean region partnered with expert organisations and members of the local communities to elaborate local adaptive water management plans. Innovative approaches were developed within the project to facilitate a truly science-society collaborative process to increase societal resilience to climate variability and change at the river basin scale.
Global change and socio-economic developments are affecting the availability of and access to fresh water for drinking, agriculture, ecosystems and industrial activities. These evolving conditions are posing challenges for the optimisation of freshwater supply and demand and highlight an urgent need to adapt current water management strategies and practices towards more integrated approaches. Threats such as water scarcity are particularly acute in the Mediterranean region, where the degree of pressure from human activities on natural resources is already high. As a response, the BeWater project provided innovative tools to facilitate the adaptation of river basins to global change via an active engagement of the local societies.
The BeWater approach developed within the project focused on creating a shared definition of what challenges needed to be targeted in the basin and then developing, assessing and prioritising a range of potential water management options to address these points along with pathways for their implementation. Four Mediterranean basins were part of the project, namely Pedieos (Cyprus), Vipava (Slovenia), Rmel (Tunisia) and Tordera (Catalonia, Spain). While each basin experienced the process slightly differently, all shared the common aim of introducing adaptation principles into water management at the river basin scale with stakeholder participation all along the process.
Adaptive management poses challenging questions that need to be tackled through methods and practices that have a solid theoretical framework but are still to be integrated into ordinary management procedures and policy design. Knowledge sharing and mutual learning between scientists, experts, decision-makers and local society have provided the needed basis for a truly participatory approach, offering a solid ground for capacity building, awareness raising and the development of concrete proposals in the form of adaptation plans for the four river basins. The process of co-production has proven to be able to deliver results with a high degree of social acceptance, political relevance and technical interest to tackle the uncertainties and complex nature of global change.
Throughout the design of the adaptation plans, common aspects and needs were observed, as well as barriers and facilitators of their future implementation. These lessons learned are synthesized in a handbook, which outlines the different steps undertaken, provides guidelines on policy and practical considerations from the process. The BeWater project may be considered as a strong reference for developing a participatory approach when designing river basin adaptation plans in other river basins, in Mediterranean countries and beyond.
Remarkably, in all river basin’s where the BeWater project was developed, interest of stakeholders and policy makers already delivered results even beyond the project’s objectives, with different proposals being taken up into current plans and programs or being developed through specific funding, such as the EU LIFE + program.
Project Context and Objectives:
Future climate change projections for the Euro-Mediterranean region foresee an increase in water scarcity and droughts, entailing substantial socioeconomic losses and environmental impacts. In this context, sustainable water management strategies, leading to increased resilience of the social-ecological system of a river basin, are needed urgently. In order to maximise their effectiveness, local communities must engage with such strategies and play an active role in their development.
Within this framework, the overall aim of BeWater project was to promote an iterative dialogue and mutual learning collaboration processes between science and society to establish, using a multidisciplinary, bottom-up and participatory approach, plans for sustainable water management and global change adaptation in four Mediterranean River Basins. The specific aim was to contribute to increasing the resilience of social and ecological systems linked to each river basin and to allow a proactive response to emerging global changes and related challenges.
By actively engaging with local communities, BeWater involved society in discussions on current water uses and their related problems, raising public awareness of the importance of sustainable water management, with particular focus on the expected global change impacts at River Basin scale.
In four Case Study River Basins across the Mediterranean, newly developed methodologies integrating physical, ecological, social and management processes were used to develop Water Management Options. These Management Options were discussed with local communities who participated in drawing up locally-relevant Adaptation Plans, which may be scaled up to develop guidelines of national and international relevance.
This was achieved through the following seven specific objectives:
1. To launch an innovative process of societal transition towards a more sustainable, resilient and adaptive river basin management.
2. To develop an innovative, stakeholder-driven method.
3. To promote the transfer of BeWater results into policy.
4. To promote mutual and multi-directional learning among the project partners, entities and actors within and between the river basins and with the broader society.
5. To raise awareness and promote a bottom-up approach within the scientific community for planning and implementation processes.
6. To enhance social participation and build societal resilience.
7. To explore and assess opportunities for Research & Innovation (R&I) collaboration between organisations, universities, SMEs and civil society actors to boost innovation in the water sector.
BeWater aimed at truly fostering mutual learning shared processes and joint responsibility to face global change water related challenges among partners, within local societies and among the 4 Mediterranean Case Study River Basins.
Helping society to become co-responsible with policy-making actors and institutions of the design and implementation of policies goes beyond merely informing and consulting, being an opportunity for better responding to society needs.
The BeWater project is completed and the process was intense and fruitful, allowing to deliver the expected results.
The processes undertaken to advance towards this participatory adaptive water management planning were concreted in:
• Creating a knowledge basis: information was gathered on each basin’s characteristics and dynamics, obtained through a) archives behold by the scientific partners on the basin’s current and future state, b) interviews gathering insights from policy makers, implementers, experts and key actors, as well as c) specific studies compiling best practices on adaptive water management planning and experiences developing water management options.
• Engaging stakeholders: several hundreds of local actors participated in 16 professionally facilitated workshops, four per Case Study River Basin. The first workshop achieved to effectively integrate all relevant stakeholders’ views into future water management challenges and pave the way to develop water management options. The second workshop allowed presenting the 102 options developed and evaluating them in accordance with specific criteria, while the third workshop contributed drafting the River Basin Adaptation Plans, integrating implementation oriented information and enhancing willingness of stakeholders to further pursue its objectives. The forth workshop allowed to finalise the river basin adaptation plans and validate all the results with local stakeholders, as well as exploring their willingness and availability to further pursue the realisation of the suggested options. The creation of favourable implementation conditions of the BeWater results was further pursued by final local policy events in each case study, addressing a broad set of policy makers and implementers in order to explore concrete opportunities for uptake and dissemination of the project’s findings.
• Co-producing Adaptive Water Management Plans: different methodologies were applied to reach specific intermediate results, such as Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping to allow the development of a reference model of the basin’s dynamics, Multi-Criteria Analysis to allow a prioritization of the proposals and the design of implementation pathways in order to envision the best timing and relation between options to enhance their effectiveness. All these methods included active participation of local actors and promoted an integrated view both on challenges and possible solutions.
• Developing a handbook to share lessons learned retrieved during the development of all four local adaptation plans, resulting in clear guidelines which outline the different considerations and steps involved in designing an adaptation plan at river basin level. It’s strong focus on the performance of the participatory BeWater approach and concise synthesis of the BeWater methodology, makes this guide a very useful reference for any entity that needs to develop an adaptation plan in the Mediterranean and beyond.
• Sharing knowledge and managing the project’s development: 4 internal Consortium participated sessions, with the involvement of partners, Advisory Board members and key stakeholders from the 4 Case Studies, to internally frame and report the implementation of the BeWater approach and to coordinate and fine-tune the development of the tasks developed.
• Raising Awareness: in the 4 river basin communities a very intense and meaningful interaction with citizens from the local societies allowed to reach a broad target audience. Diverse material (posters, mobile exhibitions) produced in English and the 4 local languages, Arabic, Greek, Slovenian and Catalan, were used for activities at schools, municipalities, natural park facilities, cultural centres...
• Disseminating the project’s main messages and results both through local media, that broadcasted information related to the project in numerous ways (radio, TV, written press, online and social media), and in relevant fora, such as conferences, master courses and specific events.
• Building the role of Youth as a Stakeholder in the Tunisian Case Study. Different events have taken place, accomplishing the objective of sharing the BeWater experience with young professionals, youth representatives and socio-environmental associations from the Rmel basin.
• EU and AU review and comparative analysis of water sector policies and cross-cutting Policy Sectors analysis on water and climate.
• Disseminating the final outcomes at European level by means of a specific event in Brussels, targeting policy makers and experts.
• Concertation workshop to share lessons learnt from water projects of international cooperation and foster synchronisation with funding agencies to enhance climate change research.
• International River Basin Adaptation Conference to share experiences and identify best-practices with the scientific community, practitioners and experts.
The final outcomes of BeWater are classified at three geographical levels:
- At local level
• The identification of the key problems and needs at local level through an open and transparent participatory process.
• Establish the basis for a long-lasting partnership between civil society, scientists, and public administrations (including institutional administration, local government and policy makers and implementers) through workshops, interviews and networks.
• A set of concrete water management options for each river basin system that takes into account the effects of global change.
• An adaptation plan for each river basin system developed through a participatory process. The plan, addressed to the river basin authorities, outlined actions that improve resilience and adaptation to global change scenarios.
• A significant and tangible increase of the river basin systems resilience, measured through indicators.
• Recommendations for the uptake of the adaptation plan into existing legislation, its implementation and via contributions to future policy actions.
• Increase of civil society sense of empowerment, having an active role in policy planning at the level they represent.
- At national level:
• Presentation of the adaptation plan at national policy level in Spain, Slovenia, Cyprus and Tunisia.
• Active engagement in policy advising and communication at a national level by identifying windows of opportunity with relevant policy makers.
• Support the implementation of the Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Waters and the Water Joint Programming Initiative at national level by identifying options at this level.
- At European level:
• Development of a framework for sustainable and effective cooperation between science and society for resilient and adaptive management of water resources at the river basin level.
• Development and availability of a process that can be adapted and applied in other Mediterranean river basins: outscaling and transferability of the process of transition.
BeWater is recognized and valued by stakeholders and citizens all over the 4 Case Study River Basins in the Mediterranean as providing a real opportunity for knowledge co-production between researchers, experts and public authorities and participatory governance has proven to be very enriching for local water governance providing a platform for the dialogue and collaboration. The River Basin Adaptation Plans include a series of water management options which were closely analysed by key stakeholders, and therefore count on a high degree of social acceptance and the political willingness of those public administrations who participated to transform these ideas into reality in each of the basins. In fact, in each basin different options were mainstreamed into relevant plans and programs, being some already implemented.
The BeWater results may feed in other processes related to the development of environmental policies, resource management and sectoral development, and therefore strongly contribute to strengthening the inclusion of stakeholders and citizens in decision making processes and to the transition to more resilient territories. Furthermore, the successful project implementation in these 4 socio-ecological diverse realities and the guidance based on lessons learned that have been developed also prove that BeWater approach can be outscaled and transferred to other Mediterranean river basins and beyond. Two specific articles were produced in order to further facilitate the acknowledgement of the projects’ approach and results for a broad audience.
Project Results:
WP1
Management within BeWater consortium was undertaken by the Project Coordinator, CREAF, and the main objectives accomplished by this WP were:
• To coordinate and monitor all project activities and tasks
• To ensure an efficient technical, administrative and financial management of the project
• To organise the all General project meetings
• To organize the all Steering Committee meetings
• To complete and submit the first, second and third periodic reports
• To complete and submit the final report
• To organise the Final Conference
• To manage communication between the project and the European Commission
• To implement the Quality assurance and risk management plan for the project
Main foreground results accomplished might be summarized as follows:
• The Project Steering Committee supported the Coordinator in fulfilling obligations towards the Commission and effectively shared the overall responsibility for deciding management issues. Management of the specific components of the project Work Packages were taken up by the WP leaders, who fostered smooth coordination with task leaders within their WP allowing the integration of the activities and work from the different tasks. The challenging objectives of the project demanded a tremendous amount of interactions and contacts among project partners and all the efforts of interaction and interrelation between partners and WPs have proved to be enriching and very productive in achieving the objectives.
• Relation with EC developed smoothly as up-to-date information flow and constructive comunications took place with the EC Project Officer appointed to the project, including physical meetings.
• The Project Coordinator played an important role fostering and developing contacts with other projects and initiatives trough knowledge tansfer and information exchange as well as the organisation of common activities. The accomplishment of these tasks ensured an effective networking with other projects of interest to a mutual benefit for all partners, not only during the project duration but also beyond its termination.
WP2
This WP addressed the project objectives to develop an innovative, stakeholder-driven method and to promote mutual and multi-directional learning among the project partners, entities and actors within and between the river basins and with the broader society by creating adequate knowledge-sharing channels and tools for communication among partners, with the Advisory Board and with related projects and initiatives. Moreover, the WP defined and compiled all principles, methodologies, concepts and protocols that frame the BeWater approach.
Specific objectives for WP2 during the project were:
• To create and update the communication interface with the information and documents produced.
• To organise and conduct the 1st, 2nd and 3rd consortium workshop for building the BeWater common approach.
• To periodically contact and meet the AB members to get their feedback on the project’s development.
• To pursue and carry out contacts with ongoing related projects and initiatives.
• To guarantee the quality of the project outcomes.
Main foreground results accomplished might be summarized as follows:
• For ensuring efficient distribution of information on BeWater, a comprehensive and continuously updated database accessible to all project partners was implemented. The database stored the contacts, the knowledge and information acquired through the project. This database was hosted on an already-existing data platform, the AquaKnow Data Platform http://www.aquaknow.net. BeWater project Consortium had available a private space on the Platform for sharing project information and data including a calendar where activities were announced. Additionally, the Platform is a gateway to a global network of water sector experts and practitioners which will enable interaction and cooperation with sector actors and facilitate cross-fertilisation of ideas and experiences during and after the project duration. BeWater activities and press releases are visible to the whole AquaKnow Community of over 1500 members. The Aquaknow Data Platform complemented the project’s internal communication interface, the BeWater Extranet, which was a repository for shared files, project deliverables, forms and templates and official project documentation.
• As part of the internal communication objectives, the BeWater Advisory Board (AB) was periodically contacted and engaged in BeWater. The AB was composed by a Scientific Advisor, a Policy implementation Advisor and a Policy Advisor. During all project meetings including the Final Conference, one or two BeWater Advisors were present.
• BeWater successfully built a common approach all along the project life, promoting dialogue and discussion among partners, members of the Advisory Board and stakeholders very actively within the participated sessions held during the Consortium Workshops but also to a great extent through the numerous face-to-face and internet meetings that took place among project partners and between the project coordinator and the AB members.
• The project allowed to a) create a common language, approach, methodology and framework for the Project development, b) ensure cross-river basin knowledge transfer and exchange BeWater experience between key stakeholders and c) foster the engagement of key stakeholders in the uptake process of the project results.
• Multiple contacts and interactions took place during the project with diverse projects and initiatives by most consortium partners interacting with ongoing projects in bilateral meetings, BeWater activities or directly participating in some of the other project’s meetings.
WP 3
This WP addressed directly the project objectives to launch an innovative process of societal transition towards a more sustainable, resilient and adaptive river basin management, to develop an innovative, stakeholder-driven method; to promote mutual and multi-directional learning among the project partners, entities and actors within and between the river basins and with the broader society; to raise awareness and promote a bottom-up approach within the scientific community for planning and implementation processes and to enhance social participation and build societal resilience at River Basin level.
Specific objectives for WP3 during the project were:
• To launch a sensitization campaign to raise social awareness and to encourage capacity building, empowerment and social formation in water management challenges and adaptation.
• To set up, update, operate and provide guidance with the stakeholder databases for each river basin by using a versatile and user-friendly stakeholder management tool.
• To review the state of the art on water impacts and vulnerabilities to global change and water adaptation in the selected case study river basins (CSRBs) and to enroll civil society in the identification of challenges, problems, needs and constraints at local and regional levels, and therefore also facilitate the exchange of information and knowledge between science and society.
• To ensure the proper transfer and integration of stakeholder input into the development and evaluation of cognitive maps, narratives and water management options for the river basins.
• To organise relevant information in the Aquaknow tool, as part of activities on compilation of information.
• To ensure the proper management and coordination of all WP3 partners, as well as the cross-work package coordination with WP4 and WP5.
Main foreground results accomplished might be summarized as follows:
• This work package developed an awareness campaign targeting the wider public in the local, river basin communities on the current water management challenges and the need for adaptation at river basin level. Different material was produced and activities carried out achieving to encourage capacity building, strengthen public awareness on the urgency and relevance of tackling the effects of global change, as well as enhancing community empowerment towards adaptive water management and societal participation in decision making processes.
• A good understanding of the four river basin characteristics was obtained through the identification and compilation of information, as well as the generation and management of qualitative and quantitative datasets from Case Study River Basins.
• Aquaknow, a management platform that integrates a dynamic virtual space for facilitating communication between different users, allowed to improve the communication and exchange of information among the international community on water issues.
• Specific challenges, needs and constraints regarding water management in each of the four distinct river basins were successfully identified by engaging a selection of relevant local and regional stakeholders. This was achieved through three separate rounds of engagement activities: a) stakeholder workshops, b) stakeholder interviews to clarify and enrich the workshop outcomes (which served for both WP3 as well as WP4) and c) engagement activities focused on gathering stakeholder input and feedback on intermediate results.
• Beyond the technical achievement of the actions planned, the evaluation forms distributed at the end of each workshop showed that participants confirmed the quality of the activities was satisfactory, as 85% or more of the participants rated the workshops as “good” and “very good”, and over 90% of participants were “highly satisfied” or “satisfied” with how the workshops included their views and opinions.
• A set of realistic options for future water management under the effects of global change was successfully formulated with stakeholder participation. Furthermore, a socio-economic and environmental evaluation of these options was carried out using a set of descriptors and the assessment of their impacts.
• Stakeholders were adequately informed on the progress registered in the BeWater project, their feedback and insights with respect to the abovementioned water management options satisfyingly included, and participated actively in evaluating these options through an on-the-spot multi-criteria analysis.
• In each of the CSRB, apart from the main workshops with the presence of international project partners, a number of participatory events were also organised locally. Throughout the project, the Case Study Leaders also conducted individual consultation interviews with stakeholders and organized focused meetings and seminars, in order to elicit additional information and based on manifest stakeholder interest. Feedback received from local actors allowed achieving the validation of the BeWater results and consolidating the sustainability of the project outcomes.
WP4
This WP addressed directly the project objectives to launch an innovative process of societal transition towards a more sustainable, resilient and adaptive river basin management, to develop an innovative, stakeholder-driven method; to promote the transfer of BeWater results into policy; to promote mutual and multi-directional learning among the project partners, entities and actors within and between the river basins and with the broader society; to raise awareness and promote a bottom-up approach within the scientific community for planning and implementation processes and to enhance social participation and build societal resilience at River Basin level.
Specific objectives for WP4 during the project were:
• To design adaptation plans for the implementation of adaptation strategies in the case-study river basins (CSRBs) based on the results of the participatory process.
• To compile the adaptation measures and activities developed in WP3 with a prioritization, cost-efectiveness analysis and evaluation in each CSRB as part of the adaptation plans.
• To validate the plans by the key stakeholders in a participatory seminar.
• To scale up the adaptation plan design by providing a synthesis of the CSRB adaptation plans and a handbook for designing participatory adaptation plans.
• To communicate recommendations on adaptation plans to political decision makers at local and international scale.
Main foreground results accomplished might be summarized as follows:
• A compilation of best practice examples and experiences of adaptation plans was successfully obtained, involving a literature review of River Basin Adaptation Plans (RBAPs) on the local, regional and international level allowing to identify good practices for river basin adaptation planning.
• The research delivered examples of RBAPs identified from around the world, an in depth analysis of which fed into the design of the structure of and contents to be included in the RBAPs promoted by BeWater.
• Relevant policies and policy instruments were identified that could support the implementation of the options (e.g. development programs, European regional and structural programs and national and local policies) as well as relevant policy actors and stakeholders, who’s willingness and possible involvement in implementing options were successfully assessed.
• All RBAPs included a first part presenting an introduction to the river basin, information on the current and future state of the basin, the participatory development of the plan, an overview of the developed water management options followed by bundles of these adaptation actions, and recommendations for the basins policy actors. The second part of the plans presented more detailed information on each of the water management options.
• The organization of a one-day workshop involving the stakeholders that had participated in the process in each river basin ensured the validity of the adaptation plans and successfully accomplished to: (1) identify potential synergies and conflicts between the water management options, (2) identify pathways for addressing the river basin challenges and (3) optimize the policy implementation of the river basin adaptation plans.
• A handbook for drafting adaptation plans was developed. Its aims were to share lessons learned during the development of all four local adaptation plans, resulting in clear guidelines which outline the different considerations and steps involved in designing a river basin level adaptation plan. The document has a strong focus on how the participatory BeWater approach worked in practice and provides a concise synthesis of the BeWater methodology.
The guidelines provided are intended to serve as a source of information for anyone interested in adaptive river basin management, and particularly for (i) professionals involved in river basin management planning who are looking to gain inspiration for their work (e.g. working for river basin organizations, environmental agencies, rivers trusts, NGOs, etc.), and (ii) decision-makers, project coordinators and other groups or individuals wishing to increase the participatory involvement of stakeholders, such as in specific decision-making processes
• Considerations of policy and practical relevance on the experience of the process, were included to foster a strong transferability of the case study results to be applied in other river basins in the Mediterranean countries and beyond when designing river basin adaptation plans.The contents were presented in a visually appealing and approachable way being the final layout of professional quality.
• The handbook was printed in collaboration with WP5 and has since been distributed and presented at the local policy forums, Brussels policy event, Final Conference and other relevant events. These activities support the aim to scale up the development of further river basin adaptation plans across the Mediterranean and beyond and share the lessons learnt during the development of all four local adaptation plans.
• Experiences accumulated throughout BeWater, particularly regarding the development and dissemination of the River Basin Adaptation Plans across the four CSRBs, were successfully gathered, including recommendations, activities and new elements that contributed to strengthen policy and institutional frameworks to tackle global change impacts at the local, regional, national and international levels into policy recommendations.
• In order to reach specific target audiences more effectively, the policy recommendations were formatted into 6 individual policy briefs (one per chapter). In collaboration with WP5, each brief was formatted using the BeWater policy brief template to create a visually appealing and digestible 2-4 page document which can be easily read by EU, national or local authorities and other targeted readership. The Tordera brief was also translated into Catalan.
• Engaging policy makers in the design of the adaptation plans facilitated the uptake of the plans and dissemination of the other key outputs. Through a local policy forum in each river basin the implementation of the adaptation plan into water/river basin policy was fostered.
• Furthermore, the lessons learnt for application in other river basins across Europe and beyond was also promoted through a specific policy workshop organised in Brussels, entitled ‘Implementing COP22 agreements: river basin adaptation planning through stakeholder engagement’. Following the event, the key messages and targeted European recommendations were summarized in a consolidated document and distributed to participants and speakers, as well as published on the BeWater website to reach a wider audience.
WP5
This WP addresses the project objectives to promote the transfer of BeWater results into policy; to promote mutual and multi-directional learning among the project partners, entities and actors within and between the river basins and with the broader society and to raise awareness and promote a bottom-up approach within the scientific community for planning and implementation processes, as well as general project dissemination and communication.
Specific objectives for WP5 during the project were:
• To create the corporate image and dissemination platforms (web, newsletter, social media), in order to establish a solid basis for sharing information, and maintain these platforms active during the project duration.
• To coordinate the elaboration of key messages to provide material for disseminating the project in local regions and in local languages, as well as at European level.
• To collate, distil and present outcomes and results from the work with stakeholders in the four case study river basins.
• To achieve broad and specific dissemination through targeted events for stakeholders and policy makers in the four case study river basins and scaling up to regional and national level in the countries
Main foreground results accomplished might be summarized as follows:
• A Communication Strategy was successfully developed. Guidelines for communications and quality control and a corporate design (logo, templates, newsletter) ensured dissemination and outreach materials had a uniform and recognizable image.
• Homogeneity across BeWater related-publications was ensured through the provision of templates for Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents to Consortium partners, as well as a Deliverable template and a Style Guide to project documentation, which was satisfyingly used for all BeWater publications.
• Following internal processes of reflection with Consortium members, key messages on the main project themes and concepts were successfully used by all Consortium partners. Additionally, guidelines for media engagement in the four Case Study River Basins were developed in collaboration with the Awareness Campaign, successfully enhancing visibility in local media al through the project.
• The BeWater newsletter was also designed and a coherent communication infrastructure and social media presence successfully developed. The project website and social media (Facebook, Twitter) were fully integrated with the project’s branding and proved to deliver the desired visibility.
• A Communications Steering Committee (CSC) was established, composed of WP5 task leaders and WP leader and proved to be very useful to follow up on specific elements for discussion on project communication and dissemination activities and new ideas.
• The BeWater web portal (http:// bewaterproject.eu) achieved offering a central platform for the communication and dissemination of the BeWater project activities and results to project partners, stakeholders and the wider public. It also facilitated the sharing of information and ideas between the four case study river basins in the project. The intuitive navigation based on the three-click principle (all information can be accessed in a maximum navigation of three clicks) to enable quick and easy access to all information, has proven efficient and effective. Moreover, a strategy was delivered to ensure key documents remain available at the BeWater website (e.g. adaptation plans, handbook).
• Thanks to a range of synergies with and beyond BeWater partners, it was possible to deliver a positive Outscaling Campaign, delivering the BeWater achieved outputs and results to other stakeholders and public beyond the boundaries of the study catchments, who the project wanted to reach, increasing, that way, the project’s impact.
• The outscaling campaign achieved the organisation and co-organisation by BeWater of seven events as well as contributions in more than 30 international and regional events, reaching directly and indirectly more than 1500 stakeholder organisations, and a much greater number of their representatives as well as individuals.
• A series of activities targeting youth in the Rmel river basin and the Zaghouan region were successfully developed in collaboration with Global Water Partnership’s (GWP). For example, the initiative “Youth for Water and Climate”, contributed to strengthen the Tunisian youth’s role in advocacy and decision-making on water resources management and climate change adaptation. Young water experts were also successfully engaged in national consultations on the youth’s role in the management of water resources under climate change stress, which resulted to a youth-led White Paper “Un Paris pour l’eau” [A Paris for Water] that was presented to decision-makers at COP21.
• The project successfully developed a rich dissemination package including -inter alia - a biannual Newsletter, a generic BeWater Leaflet, a BeWater approach and results brochure, a project video, scientific and non-scientific articles and policy briefs.
• BeWater publicity campaigns took place in the CSRBs in order to present and disseminate the results of the project and the adaptation plans developed. The campaigns targeted the local community, through poster, mobile exhibitions, talks, lectures and forums, which all were positively received. Furthermore the campaign targeted relevant policy makers through different successful initiatives, as an example, the Cyprus Institute research team presented the Pedieos River Basin Adaptation Plan to the Environment Committee of the Cyprus Parliament, on 15 February 2017.
• The BeWater project maintained and increased its presence in social media during the project lifetime, which allowed reaching beyond the parameters of the project partners and stakeholders to a much wider audience. BeWater had remarkable interested followers on Twitter and Facebook, with the number of followers steadily rising since BeWater first joined the social media platform including audience located at all CSRB countries as well as some followers from other countries in Europe and North Africa.
• A highly successful River Basin Adaptation Conference was held on 7 and 8 March in Nova Gorica, Slovenia. The Conference was an interactive event comprising of plenary presentation sessions, workshop-style parallel work sessions, and an interactive panel discussion attended by around 70 participants. The conference speakers included invited leading experts in climatology, water management and participatory techniques.
WP 6
This WP addressed BeWater project objective to promote the transfer of BeWater results into Policy. The aim was understanding EU strategic priorities and policy developments at local, national, European, Mediterranean and AU levels.
Specific objectives for WP6 during the project were:
• To analyse the EU strategic priorities for river basin management in the face of global and climate change as they are presented in EU policy tools such as Directives and Communications, including an overview of other EU and Mediterranean related initiatives, African Union Declarations and other relevant policy developments.
• To provide a comparative analysis of local water policies and other sector policies which address global and climate change at the river basin scale.
• To provide a comparative analysis of National scale water sector policy instruments and other policy sectors which address global and climate change at both the national and regional (sub-national) scale.
• To identify both challenges and ‘windows of opportunity’ in the policy landscape at the National and Regional Policy instrument levels.
• To provide a real-time analysis of specific policy instruments in both the EU-based and the AU-based (Tunisia) CSRB Partner Countries
Main foreground results accomplished might be summarized as follows:
• WP6 delivered a broad policy analysis in the field of water and climate change, building up the information progressively.
• The WP provided a general overview of existing policies in the water sector and other sectors relevant to climate and global change, downscaling from EU/AU level up to national and regional level. The analysis of different policy sectors showed that sectors studied do not address climate, climate change, or adaptation in the same way or to the same degree.
• The development of the planned tasks delivered a comprehensive comparative analysis of the policy framework of all four CSRBs, and provided a specific Policy Analysis Tool to allow the analysis of these identified policies under specific criteria included in a specific Guidance Note. A Pilot application of the Policy Analysis Tool was successfully implemented in each CSRB Partner country.
• More in depth analysis accomplished by the WP, such as the effects of a certain policy, implementation and best practices, and finally the potential sustainability of the Policy Instrument itself, counted on the support of a team of researchers from the University of Palermo (UNIPA).
WP7
This WP addressed the project objectives to promote the transfer of BeWater results into policy and explore opportunities to R&I collaboration between various organisations.
WP7 specific objectives for the project were:
• To perform a Study of national funding agencies action in international cooperation projects,
• To organise a Concertation Workshop.
• To create a roadmap for the synchronisation of research funding to influence future cooperation.
Main foreground results accomplished might be summarized as follows:
• WP7 achieved to gather the information required to create a “Study on national support mechanisms to international water management research”, elaborated to identify key factors and organisations which influence the performance of research organisations from the target countries in international research.
• A Concertation Workshop with ongoing projects and national funding agencies was successfully organised, reaching a dual purpose: a) to bring together and enhance dialogue between the coordinators of international cooperation projects and the owners of funding programs (national and regional agencies); and b) to stimulate the national and regional funding agencies from the target countries to share experiences and practices in order to facilitate the emergence of common positions and encourage the synchronization of support instruments for international cooperation in climate change research. As a result, at the end of the two-day workshop, representatives of the funding agencies developed a summary of key challenges and conclusions to be dealt with at policy level.
• WP7 offered the opportunity to debate about future cooperation and the need to encourage policy makers to translate their commitment into concrete action to advance the status of international R&D cooperation, such as joint calls for ERA-NET initiatives in Horizon 2020.
• The positions of the funding agencies invited to the Concertation workshop were determined and analysed by EFB and summarised in a guideline on the synthesis of the major programs of interest. This document allowed to identify the main obstacles; set out the current trends in target countries and in Europe; and propose ways to better synchronise the policy dialogue in support of international research cooperation, so that the use of current or future instruments to support cooperation can be optimised.
WP8
This WP addressed the evaluation of the project’s methodology and implementation by carrying out an in-depth evaluation and an internal observer task. As “internal observer”, information was provided on the implementation of the WP tasks at a specific given time relative to its respective targets and outcomes (monitoring task). The “in depth evaluation” (evaluation task) instead provided evidence of how WP and project’s objectives and outcomes were achieved.
Specific objectives for WP8 during the project were:
• To make a reflexive analysis of the project implementation process through an internal observer survey and carry out the mid term and final evaluation.
• To facilitate an identify points of cooperation between the work packages.
• To ensure that all partners have a global and joint understating of the project methodology and the on-going activities.
• To perform a critical review of the dialogues and links between science and society as well as the participatory process
• To provide recommendations regarding the Monitoring and Evaluation process in research projects, in general, and specifically with the BeWater project.
Main foreground results accomplished might be summarized as follows:
• The evaluations carried out within WP8 were satisfactorily developed, and provided an opportunity for improving the project implementation at different stages. The evaluation methodology for monitoring and evaluation criteria, relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency to assess the progress toward the objectives of BeWater was developed involving the partners.
• This WP successfully monitored the different project WPs through a Monitoring and Evaluation survey of the different allowing the WP leaders and partners involved to provide assessment of the stage and quality of the tasks’ implementation. Furthermore, structured and semi-structured interviews were useful to complement missing information and enrich the perspectives gathered, including CSRBs’ stakeholders and advisory board members.
• This WP achieved assessing the outputs of the project to its objectives in accordance to selected evaluation criteria, measuring the impacts and the sustainability of results; and analysing the participatory process and the links between Science and Civil Society.
• Sharing results of the evaluation with BeWater partners fostered the acknowledgement of opportunities for improvement and confirmation of successful results.
Potential Impact:
Impacts of the project
BeWater achieved all its objectives and went even beyond the initial aims, thanks to a successful mutual and multi-directional learning among the project partners, entities and actors within and between the river basins and with the broader society, which provided a strong support to all activities undertaken and created a favorable environment for the project to deliver relevant impacts.
Many project impacts can be considered to have medium and long term effects and so some time is needed for them to be developed after the end of the project. Nevertheless, BeWater can be considered fully successful in impacting local societies in the following terms:
• BeWater contributed towards key challenges facing European society. It is clear that the focus of the project on adaptation to Global Change using an innovative participatory process and linking to policy at several levels has the potential to influence these key challenges. The process put in motion was successful, with good quality outputs that have the potential of being used.
• BeWater contributed incorporating Science in Society issues in the system of research and innovation. Certainly, at the local level some incipient changes are already perceived, with partners and key stakeholders empowered and capacities improved at the river basin, and also within the project partners and their research networks.
• BeWater contributed to transnational cooperation. Certainly, Case Study Leaders and key stakeholders have developed interesting international collaborations, and at project level, specific dissemination activities fostered international actors to acknowledge the potential of the project’s approach to enhance collaborative processes.
• BeWater contributed to the inclusion of youth in decision making processes. All case study river basins have put efforts in engaging youth in the project’s activities, but the Tunisian case successfully developed specific actions oriented at integrating young professionals as stakeholders into decision making processes.
• BeWater confirmed participation in decision-making is of high interest to society. According to local actors, the absence of stakeholder participation in policy design has often delayed the development of crucial resource management policies. The experience gained with the project clearly indicates the participatory process had a strong impact on stakeholder willingness to pursue the implementation of the solutions proposed in the frame of their activities and responsibilities.
Impacts at the case study river basins
Coherently with the project’s structure and goals, most impacts are obtained at river basin level. In each case study river basin, the project has delivered impacts on local socio-political environment thanks to the intense stakeholder and policy maker’s engagement process. The project also had impact on local economies, contributing to optimize public investments to reduce people’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, as well as in terms of environmental impacts, given the increased awareness and knowledge on the impacts of climate change and the implementation of some of the proposed measures through specific projects. Concrete impacts at CSRB level might be summarized as follows:
Tordera
• High synergy with current River Basin Management Plan for the Catalan River Basin District: 20 measures from the 33 included in the adaptation plan are taken into consideration for implementation (2016-2021).
• High synergy with the Montseny Natural Park and Biosphere Reserve LIFE Tritó project: 10 measures from the BeWater project were taken into account for forest and water management to go hand in hand restoring ecosystem functionality in the Tordera headwaters.
• The experience based knowledge generated by the BeWater project is taken into account in the revision of the Catalan Strategy for Climate Change as a best practice to rise citizens’ awareness on efficient natural resource use and provide scientific information on the risks of climate change.
• Different concrete proposals raised by BeWater process in the basin are mainstreamed into Municipal Action Plans for Adaptation (e.g.St. Celoni municipality), also pursuing increased collaboration between neighboring areas.
• Stakeholders that participated in the co-creation of the adaptation plan are pursuing the integration of the outcomes in their activities and express ownership of the plan, delivering a pro-active and fertile environment for the implementation at different scales and locations in the basin, like for example restoration of riparian vegetation or awareness raising activities.
• Different project proposals, both at European level – such as H2020 program- and at national level – such as those assigned by the Foundation for Biodiversity from the Spanish Government – are developed to implement prioritised measures, such as the creation of an Integrated Plan for the Tordera Delta.
Pedieos
• The cooperation of stakeholders from governmental and non-governmental organizations and from different sectors (water, agriculture, forestry, environment, urban planning, and education) facilitated the development of a broad and diverse set of adaptation options.
• The presentation of the adaptation plan to the Committee of Environment of the Cyprus Parliament strengthened the political base for the implementation of key adaptation options.
• Selected adaptation options, e.g. green roofs for reducing flooding in urban areas in a semi-arid climate, are under pilot testing and demonstration.
• The active science-society interaction during the project’s lifetime and the dissemination of the adaptation options through various activities, e.g. educational and environmental fairs and events, as well as citizen surveys, increased climate change awareness of the general public, including that of the younger generation, thus establishing popular support for climate change adaptation.
• The active participation of stakeholders in BeWater meetings and workshops has facilitated the exchange of knowledge and cooperation. Formal and informal communication channels have been created (e.g. steering committees) within governmental departments but also between governmental departments and municipalities to implement integrated strategies for water management and climate change adaptation.
Rmel
• Due to the high synergy between the options belonging to bundle 1 related to the water and soil conservation and the national strategy adopted by the DG/ACTA Farmland Conservation and management Department. The latter department has committed to support the implementation of some of these options.
• The decision makers appreciate the final outcomes of the project and consider the project as a successful model to get inspired from for the future projects. BeWater is now considered as a stepping stone to establish a significant collaboration between science and society.
• The knowledge gathered through the BeWater are being included as a reference into specific professional education programs such as master classes..
• According to the CRDA, many measures concerning forest resources will be implemented via the African Development Bank funding devoted to Zaghouan.
• The regional environmental department is now considering four specific options to be part of their future development plan. This department is now coping with local NGOs to continue raising awareness programs based on BeWater approach and outputs.
Vipava
• BeWater participative process for the first time gathered stakeholders from different sectors and include them in the development of the RBAP from the start. RBAP is therefore plan with high input from stakeholders and is now accepted as their plan.
• The BeWater project became a well-known brand for the promotion of the inclusion of adaptation into policy design amongst stakeholders, residents of Vipava RB and representatives of authorities.
• Some WMOs were implemented before BeWater project ended. One of those is the Council for Vipava River which was established by the end of 2015 and is totally in line with WMO 1 Establish an inter-municipal expert working group for the Vipava river basin.
• The Life ViVaCCAdapt project started in the middle of year 2016. The project is in some parts follow up of project BeWater. Especially in the part where project will establish new shelterbelts for wind protection what is implementation of WMO 20 Preservation of existing and introduction of new shelterbelts.
• Two new proposals for projects are being prepared in Vipava RB which refer to the results of BeWater projects. One by the Ministry for Environment and Spatial Planning which is called VISFRIM and it is a cross border project with Italy aiming to improve flood risk protection. The second is coordinated by the Council for Vipava River called GREVISIN aiming to establish green infrastructure along Vipava River.
Main dissemination activities.
At project level an effective networking with other projects of interest ensured mutual benefit for all partners, not only during the project duration but also beyond its termination. The project coordinator took part in the following meetings and international conferences in order to a) support and increase the collaboration with ongoing projects and initiatives and b) disseminate the BeWater outcomes and results:
• Public Engagement in H2020 Workshop (Brussels 06-07/11/2013): the event offered the opportunity for all the MMLs funded by Science in Society to connect and share experience and to collectively evaluate the MML instrument, exploring in a participatory way how it might evolve to better respond to key societal challenges.
• Involvement in the “Community of Practice” online networking activities between the ASSET consortium and other European Projects adopting the MML Methodology.
• Interview and collaboration with SATORI project: participation in the empirical study about good practice in evaluation and reflection of civil society engagement in MMLs.
• Conference “Science with and for Society” (SWAFS) (Madrid 08/11/2013): In the framework of the European Network of National Contact Points for “Science in society” conference which discussed the current situation of society engagement in science and innovation and the support of Horizon 2020 in the areas of science communication, responsible research and innovation, science education, open access, gender policies, etc
• WaterDiss2.0 Final Workshop (Barcelona 2-3/12/2013): the event offered the opportunity to exchange ideas, tools and methods of having better research dissemination strategies in the water sector.
• Kick-off Meeting of FP4BATIW (Barcelona 21-22/10/2013): this INCO R2I project event offered the opportunity to foster partnerships for the implementation of best available technologies for water treatment & management in the Mediterranean.
• EIP Water Conference and ESS Side Event (Barcelona 04-05/11/2014): the event offered the opportunity to participate in discussions on connecting water innovation demand and supply, learning about the activities of 25 EIP Water Action Groups and identifying opportunities for collaboration.
• SIS-RRI Conference (Rome 19-20-21/11/2014): the event offered the opportunity to enhance interactions with the society and the science community and to engage with high-level speakers on issues revolving around 6 key areas: public engagement, gender equality, science education, ethics, open science and governance.
• MedSpring meeting: Projects Dialogue to enhance the Water-Energy-Food Nexus (Barcelona 21- 22/01/2015): BeWater participated at a “Brain Storming“session on three Questions identified as common issues of all projects dealing with the three sides of the NEXUS. 25 Projects were present in the Meeting, 6 deal with Water, 7 with Energy, 5 with Food and 7 with Structural aspects of the EU-MPC cooperation. The debates were very rich and several suggestions were proposed during the 3 thematic discussions and in the general debate. General Conclusions and recommendations were agreed during the Final Debate.
• Kick-off Meeting of WaterInnEu (Barcelona 26-27/03/2015): the event offered the opportunity to aknowledge this H2020 project, aiming to create a virtual marketplace to enhance the exploitation of EU funded ICT models, tools, protocols and policy briefs related to water, to establish suitable conditions for new market opportunities based on these offerings and create synergies between research and companies in this field.
• Citizen Science Days (Barcelona 11/06/2014 and 16/04/2015) meetings participation and inclusion of BeWater in the Citizen Science Catalogue (presentation in Barcelona 06/05/2015). Participation in the citizen science COST Action CA15212 Citizen Science to promote creativity, scientific literacy, and innovation throughout Europe.
Contacts and collaboration with the citizen science community enhanced mutual learning and framed the co-production process it promoted in the citizen science fora.
• Contacts with two of the Mediterranean partners of BASE project: Dept. of Agricultural Economics and Social Sciences Technical University of Madrid (UPM) and Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3). Contacts allowed mutual learning and information transfer, as well as setting the base for further collaborations and capitalization of results.
• BeWater was present at the PRIMA initiative meeting in Malta, allowing direct contact and fruitful networking with ongoing and planned projects in the ERANET program framework.
• European Climate Change Adaptation (ECCA) Conference (Copenhagen 12-14/05/2015): the sessions where BeWater assisted covered a broad range of issues related to climate change adaptation. BeWater was presented in a session tackling Governance of Drought Adaptation in Europe. Exchange of experiences and possible synergies were enhanced by the interactions among participants.
• Networking Meeting with WaterInnEu (Barcelona 01/06/2015) to strengthen mutual interests and activities: H2020 project to create a virtual marketplace to enhance the exploitation of EU funded ICT models, tools, protocols and policy briefs related to water, to establish suitable conditions for new market opportunities based on these offerings and create synergies between research and companies in this area.
• MedSpring EMEG (Euro-Mediterranean Expert Group) meeting (Malta 30/09/2015 to 02/10/2015) on Euro-Mediterranean Projects Dialogue to enhance the Water-Energy-Food Nexus. BeWater established relevant contacts and generated synergies with projects and initiatives tackling WEF Nexus.
• Adaptation Futures Conference (Rotterdam 10-13/05/2016): BeWater presented in the session ‘Fresh water availability and access: guidelines and methodologies’, and had the opportunity to disseminate BeWater tools and methodologies as well as to promote cooperation with other projects and initiatives.
• Water Innovation Europe Conference (Brussels 21-23/06/2016): the event offered the opportunity for networking and promotion of collaborations with projects and initiatives related to the conference themes ‘Water for a sustainable society’ and Water-energy-food nexus.
• FP4BATIW final conference (Barcelona 13-14/07/2016): the event, entitled ‘National, regional and international water treatment strategies from a circular economy perspective’ offered an important opportunity for networking and brokerage. BeWater participated in a parallel session, presenting its key messages in a very rich roundtable debate.
• Iberian Congress on water management and planning (Valencia 7-9/09/2016). Water, cities and ecosystem health were at the core of the discussions and interactions with projects and organistions promoting a change towards a more sustainable water management and a new water culture. BeWater presented its main features and inspured fruitful debates.
• Collaboration with UPC, RISES-AM FP7 project, Responses to coastal climate change: Innovative Strategies for high End Scenarios Adaptation and Mitigation. This fruitful contact lead to project proposal development and futurepro-active building of synergies in terms of freshwater and marine adaptation.
• BeWater Project was invited to contribute to ACE WATER 2: a scientific meeting (Accra, Ghana between 31/10 and 04/11/2016) allowed BeWater to contribute defining the scientific products with Centres of Excellence that will be implemented during the next years of the ACEWATER 2 project.
• NET-SCARCE International Conference “Experiences in Mediterranean river basin adaptation to global change” (Barcelona, Spain on 15 and 16/11/2016): BeWater was presented during the conference plenary and contributed to frame innovative approaches for adaptation in the Mediterranean in a multi-disciplinary environment.
• An overview on the BeWater approach for participative and bottom-up management of river basin was presented during EFIMED Week 2016, held in Calabria Region (Italy) from the 7th to the 9th of November, especially highlighting insights and results obtained in the Rmel Case Study River Basin, part of a round table focused on innovative and participatory approaches.
• On November 17th 2017, BeWater Project participated to the COP22 climate conference hold in Marrakesch, Morocco, through two events:
o ‘From planning to action in the Water and Agriculture Sectors: Development and implementation of National Adaptation Plans’ Session in COP22 side event organised by GWP and Tunisia Government including INRGREF
o «Accompagner des collectifs d’acteurs locaux dans l’adaptation au changement climatique sur un territoire : retours d’expériences, outils innovants et perspectives d’avenir» Session in COP22 side event organised by IRSTEA
The events offered the opportunity to reach a broad audience and fostered strong networking actions in the field of water governance for adaptation in the Mediterranean region.
• Interreg POCTEFA ECAdapt project kick-off meeting (Perpignan 24/11/2016): BeWater was presented as an example for participatory adaptation to climate change in the Mediterranean.
• A unique opportunity to link up to other research organizations, including Latin America, a specific presentation entitled ‘BeWater: La sociedad se adapta al cambio global’ in the universities of Managua (08/12/2016) and Estelí (14/12/2016), Nicaragua.
• Mediterranean Forest Week (Agadir, Morocco 20-24/03/2017): organised by the consortium partner EFI this event offered the opportunity to present an overview of the innovative BeWater participatory approach and share specific testimony from a case study river basin perspective in terms of lessons learned and views for the future.
• 11th GENERAL ASSEMBLY of the Mediterranean Network of Basin Organisations MENBO (St. Julians, Malta, 22- 24/03/2017): this event , co-organised by BeWater, offered a unique opportunity to amplify the network of relations with policy makers and implementers, experts and practicioners of Mediterranean river basins and share relevant information. BeWater was presented in a specific session, providing a general overview of the project, as well as the experience based knowledge and lessons learned from Vipava, Pedieos and Tordera CSRBs.
• BeWater was able to improve its presence on the Climate Adapt project website and so enhance communication and sharing opportunities with other interested parties around Europe.
At case study river basin level, a broad range of activities were developed with the purpose to disseminate and promote the acknowledgement of the projects outcomes and results. Given the high number of records, we remit to the detailed list included in this report. In general terms, these dissemination actions included talks, seminars, master classes, events, conferences, media, workshops and interactive sessions, as well as a mobile exposition. The comprehensive participatory strategies adopted by the BeWater project in the case study river basins have proven sound and effective, delivering key messages, inviting for debate and jointly developing experience based knowledge with scientific information as a key reference for reducing the vulnerability to the impacts of global change. The communication channels opened with local actors, stakeholders and general public in the four case studies opened a window of opportunity for further consolidating the participatory approach, enhancing capacity building and foster a pro-active attitude of society towards adaptation and participation.
Exploitation of results
The BeWater Project has been working with local communities towards the collaborative development of adaptive water management approaches at the river basin scale in the Mediterranean region. More specifically, the project developed a River Basin Adaptation Plan in each of the four case studies: Tordera (Spain), Pedieos (Cyprus), Rmel (Tunisia) and Vipava (Slovenia).
A specific interactive approach was developed and this same procedure was applied to all four basins, allowing confirming the validity of the approach even if important differences in environmental, socio-economic and political conditions exist.
The BeWater process engaged policy makers from the beginning and put a special effort producing clear messages and proposals as a contribution to current adaptation policy development at local, regional, national and European/African Union levels.
The BeWater experience clearly indicates public engagement effectively delivers results through the creation of a common view on the goals to be reached and by developing solutions underpinned by a high degree of societal acceptance.
The main products resulting the project implementation are described as follows:
• Four River Basin Adaptation Plans (http://bewaterproject.eu/final-results/adaptation-plans) developed for each river basin, including a total of 102 concrete options. These are being actively used by local actors, promoting the implementation of the proposals included in these plans and as a reference for new policy development at different administrative levels.
• A BeWater handbook (http://bewaterproject.eu/final-results/handbook). The handbook provides local actors and relevant entities with the necessary information to guide a participatory development of a River Basin Adaptation Plan. The handbook begins with more general information on the context of the BeWater project and highlights the importance of adaptation, the state of the art in river basin planning, society’s role in the process and finally the need for resilient social-ecological systems;
• BeWater policy briefs (http://bewaterproject.eu/final-results/policy-briefs). BeWater delivers recommendations aiming to strengthen policy and institutional frameworks in tackling global change impacts within water management and adaptation planning. These recommendations target the decision-makers from the local to European level and draw on the lessons learned and experiences made throughout the duration of the BeWater project across the four case study river basins;
• BeWater infographic video (http://bewaterproject.eu/final-results/infographic-video). A infographic shares a recipe for participation from science and society in river basin adaptation planning and makes the BeWater project results accessible to a wide public and ensures a swift communication of key messages.
List of Websites:
Further information on the project can be obtained from the project’s website (http://www.bewaterproject.eu/) or by contacting the Project Coordinator: Anabel Sánchez +34 93 5814675 (a.sanchez@creaf.uab.cat).
