CIHEAM at the Euro-Mediterranean Water Forum 2026: advancing cooperation for water resilience
From 29 September to 2 October 2026, CIHEAM took part in the Euro-Mediterranean Water Forum in Rome, which brought together policy-makers, experts, researchers, businesses and representatives of civil society to discuss the growing challenges relating to water security in the Mediterranean. In a region particularly vulnerable to climate change, where the increasing scarcity of resources is exacerbating tensions between agricultural, urban, industrial and environmental uses, the Forum aimed to strengthen dialogue and collective action around solutions tailored to the realities of the Mediterranean region.
CIHEAM’s strong involvement throughout the Forum
The CIHEAM General Secretariat and its Institutes were actively involved throughout the week in a number of sessions focusing in particular on water scarcity, governance, investment, innovation, the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus, the One Water and One Health approaches, as well as training and regional cooperation.
At the heart of this initiative, CIHEAM Bari played a major role in the preparation and organisation of the Forum. As leader of ONE WATER II project, the Institute has been a strategic partner in the preparatory process. Moreover, he organised, hosted and facilitated several events dedicated to regional dialogue, investment and cooperation in the water sector. These include ‘One Water II: Turning Regional Dialogue into Collective Action’, ‘The Rome Initiative on Water: From Vision to Investment’, networking sessions on investment in the water sector in the Balkans and the Maghreb, as well as high-level discussions on the Western Balkans’ alignment with European water policies.
Experts from CIHEAM Bari also contributed to discussions on water scarcity and unconventional resources, technological innovation to enhance regional resilience, intergenerational dialogue, and Mediterranean cooperation in research and training. Their participation reflects the expertise developed by the Institute at the interface between water, agriculture, investment, innovation and capacity-building.
On 1 October, this engagement continued, notably with the high-level panel “One Health, One Water”, chaired by the Secretary-General of CIHEAM, Teodoro Miano, ahead of the session organised by the General Secretariat on water security in the Mediterranean.
From regional experiences to Mediterranean action
On the same day, from 4.30 pm to 6.00 pm, CIHEAM organised the session “Water Security in the Mediterranean: Connecting Knowledge, Skills and Regional Cooperation”. Drawing on concrete experiences in Morocco, Spain and Tunisia, the discussion will address, without shying away from their limitations, the responses to the overexploitation of groundwater, the reuse of treated wastewater and unconventional resources, innovations in agricultural water management, as well as the conditions enabling their adaptation to different Mediterranean contexts.
The session also focused on skills, training and support for transitions, as well as on moving from national experiences towards enhanced regional cooperation. The perspective of the Union for the Mediterranean, in particular, enabled a link to be made with the guidelines emerging from the UfM ministerial meeting on water held in Rome on the eve of the Forum.
