Despite the fact that all water community agreed that there is no water to waste under climate change pression, and access to water and sanitation is one of the sustainable development goals (SDG6) to be achieved in 2030, the Non-Conventional Water (NCW) is still not considered as a resource. 

Several NCW systems are developed in the Mediterranean area and beyond in order to tackle different water challenges in different settlements/contexts. However, it is necessary to capitalize them to increase their impact and to embed them in the current systems (institutional, legal, economic, etc.).

In the frame of the MEDWAYCAP project, a Non Conventional Water Inventory platform has been developed to contribute to mitigating the local water crisis, the common challenge in the Mediterranean, by promoting innovative solutions and effective practices related to non-conventional water resources management. 

The platform, a web business intelligence solution, aims at informing and disseminating the implemented innovative solutions and practices in the Med region and beyond. The collected data have been analysed and classified using different criteria in order to be easily shared and communicated to target groups. It includes analysis of related issues, as performances, innovation, durability, socio-economic impact, SDGs, and other.

For more information: MEDWAYCAP NCW Best practices Inventory  



La Rasgioni - a dialogical tool

The methodology is based on a public practice of conflict mediation used until a few decades ago in Gallura (NE Sardinia, Italy), named La Rasgioni (The Reason).

In order to engage stakeholders and promote social learning, the traditional form of conflict resolution has been used to translate the complexity of water-related conflicts in a modern key by adopting theatrical technicques. 

The Rasgioni has been implemented in the framework of the Menawara project by the University of Sassari (NRD-UNISS).



Forested Infiltration System

The Forested Infiltration Area (FIA) system aims at mitigating the groundwater nitrate contamination for the shallow sandy aquifer in the Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) of Arborea (Italy). 

It has been is implemented in the framework of the MENAWARA project by the Desertification Research Center of University of Sassari.





Living lab

Living Labs are real-world test environments that address certain areas (thematic as well as spatial) and target groups for enabling joint developments of tools and services. Besides development processes, also awareness towards certain topics can be raised among different participant groups. Living Labs aim at pooling knowledge from as many (willing) participants as possible for generating best possible solutions respectively innovations.

The core element of every Living Lab is the network formed of public and private stakeholders who jointly develop and test new technological developments within the framework of an open innovation process (Wiederwald et al. 2017).

The living labs are implemented in the framework of the MENAWARA project by CIHEAM BARI