Un atelier de formation d’une journée, suivi d’un voyage d’étude de trois jours en Sicile, en Italie, du 27 au 30 juillet 2015, ont réuni 22 représentants des institutions nationales compétentes et des ONG pertinentes d’Algérie, d’Égypte, d’Israël, de Jordanie, du Liban, du Maroc, de Palestine et de Tunisie.
Le programme de ces atelier et voyage d’étude s’était voulu très exhaustif, et couvrait l’ensemble des questions de conception, de construction, d’exploitation et de gestion des STN, dans une perspective théorique autant que pratique, à l’appui de conférences, de présentations et de visites de terrain qui ont emmené les participants à la découverte de différents sites et systèmes de traitement des eaux usées.
Les participants déjà rodés à ces questions ont eu ainsi l’occasion de rafraîchir leurs connaissances théoriques et d’actualiser leurs acquis de terrain, tandis que les participants sans ou très peu d’expérience préalable ont pu se familiariser avec ces savoirs et techniques. Les visites des différents sites accueillant des STN ont constitué des temps forts pour les participants, qui ont pu prendre toute la mesure, en direct, du potentiel de ces technologies naturelles, tout particulièrement adaptées au milieu rural.
L’atelier et le voyage d’étude ont été particulièrement appréciés en tant qu’outil de développement et de renforcement des capacités : en effet, ils ont permis aux participants d’assister en direct aux opérations d’exploitation et de gestion des SNT, et de partager et échanger connaissances et savoir-faire avec des exploitants qui ont une expérience déjà longue de ces systèmes, dans une région, la Sicile, aux caractéristiques environnementales et climatiques très semblables à celles de leurs pays respectifs.
Cette double activité a été organisée en collaboration avec l’Université de Catane, en Italie.
Pour télécharger les matériels pédagogiques et documents distribués, cliquer ici

• A National Workshop to present the Palestinian National Master Plan (28th of April). More than 100 participants attended the workshop representing relevant ministries, the water authority, municipalities and local councils, and many other stakeholders. The workshop has been organized under the patronage of the head of the Palestinian Water Authority H.E. Mazen Ghonim and at the presence of the Governors of Jericho and Tubas with the aim of presenting and discussing the National Palestinian Master Plan developed by the project.
• Regional Conference on “Planning for our shared future: Public release of Regional NGO Master Plan for Sustainable Development in the Jordan Valley” (9-10 June 2015, Dead Sea – Jordan). During this Conference organized under the patronage of H.E. Dr. Hazim al Nasser, the Jordanian Minister of Water, the project presented the first ever Integrated Regional NGO Master Plan for Sustainable Development in the Jordan Valley. The conference marked the conclusion of the project and brought together a considerable number of high-level government officials from Jordan, Palestine and Israel, international diplomatic representatives, international development agency representatives, and basin experts to discuss the advancement of the program from planning to implementation. To read about the Conference and download the Master Plan click here

Al Nobariya - Egypt

• Advancement of the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) upgrade in Nobariya (Egypt). During the months April-June the WWTP upgrade has been almost completed. The remaining activities relate to the connection of the water flow to the Constructed Wetland that was already built by the project in 2014. These are expected to be concluded by the end of July 2015. Moreover, the commissioning, start-up of system operations and the monitoring of the water flow are also planned shortly.
• Preparation of the irrigation field in Nobariya (Egypt). The preliminary drawings of the lab-scale field construction have been prepared in June as a preparatory step for the implementation of the water use and irrigation component of the project.
• Finalization of numerical modeling related to artificial aquifer recharge activities through the preparation of a set of simulated artificial aquifer recharge scenarios. The model of the simulation of injection of freshwater from the Constructed Wetland and/or the upgraded WWTP into the confined fine sand aquifer (that was detected by the in situ drilling and geophysical surveys previously carried out by the project) has allowed to perform some preliminary evaluations about the effectiveness of the aquifer recharge to: 1) store freshwater; 2) use the confined fine sand aquifer for improving the quality of the injected treated wastewater; 3) reuse the groundwater for agricultural purposes; 4) use the aquifer recharge to contrast the aquifer salinization. The final evaluation and delivery of the study is expected in fall/winter following discussions and meetings with relevant stakeholders.

Korba - Tunisia

• Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade. The tender procedures for baffles and sand filters have been unified and after negotiations with the eligible companies that provided an offer the contract has been signed and the works have been initiated on June 1st as informed by the Office National de l’Assainissement (ONAS). It is estimated that they will last until the end of the year (December 2015).

• Active participation and contribution to the Workshop on “Climate change, water scarcity and sustainable use of resources in agriculture” (1st of July 2015, EXPO Milano 2015).
• Training course (follow up) on “Climate change adaptation for water, food and environment security” (15-17 September 2015, Cairo – Egypt).
• Active participation and contribution to the International Conference on “Modern technologies, strategies and tools for sustainable irrigation management and governance in Mediterranean agriculture” (IrriMed 2015) (23-25 September 2015, CIHEAM – Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari). For more information about the conference click here.
• Closing national Workshop-Seminar on the “Adaptation to climate change of Mediterranean Agricultural Systems” (29 September – 1 October 2015, Tunisia).
• Training course on “Water use and productivity of Mediterranean agricultural systems” (6-8 October 2015, Settat – Morocco).
• Closing national Workshop-Seminar on the “Adaptation to climate change of Mediterranean Agricultural Systems” (8-10 December, Marrakesh – Morocco).
• Closing International Workshop-Seminar on the “Adaptation to climate change of Mediterranean Agricultural Systems”, 15-17 December 2015, Cairo, Egypt.