A well-attended Symposium on coping with droughts in the agricultural sector in the Mediterranean Region, organized by IRMCo, took place at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), during 5 and 6 December 2024.

The Symposium was held in honor of the late Emeritus Prof. Dr. Nilgun B. Harmancioglu, Honoured Faculty Member of Dokuz Eylül University, Former Founder and Director of Water Resources Research Center SUMER, and Honored Member of the European Water Resources Association (EWRA).

A prime motivation for the Symposium was to showcase the achievements-to-date of both the Mara-Mediterra and the UNIMED research and innovation projects. Yet, the event also created the opportunity for IRMCo, who are Work Package Leaders in both projects, to take a look back at 30 years of EU funded environmental research projects, driven by the aspirations and expectations of local communities in Malta, Europe, the MENA region and beyond. In her welcome address, Ms Anna Spiteri, Managing Director of IRMCo, read out the communication she received from Her Excellency, Myriam Spiteri Debono, the President of Malta, who “fondly remembered her discussion [with Anna] in the mid-nineties and [Anna’s] dedication to advancing the ‘gender’ portfolio in politics. In her communication, the President conveyed “her warmest congratulations on IRMCo’s significant accomplishments and her best wishes for a successful and inspiring event”.

Eleanna Pana, the Mara-Mediterra Project Manager from the Soil and Water Research Institute (SWRI) in Thessaloniki, Greece then presented the achievements-to-date of the ‘Safeguarding the livelihood of rural communities and the environment in the Mediterranean through Nature-based Solutions’ research project, with case study findings from Algeria, Egypt, Greece, Lebanon, and Turkey.

Filiz Barbaros from the Dokuz Eylül University in Izmir, Türkiye (DEU) presented the achievements-to-date of the ‘Unified framework to cope with droughts under MEDiterranean climate change conditions’ project. This foremost included a look back at the strong synergy between the UNIMED and Mara-Mediterra project, including through the sharing of monthly rainfall data by the partners in Algeria, France, Greece, Italy, and Lebanon. Filiz then presented the results obtained from an analysis of drought events based on the Standard Precipitation Index for 18 rainfall station locations around the Mediterranean Region, covering the 60-year period from 1960 until 2020. UNIMED is funded by Xjenza Malta and the Scientific Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK) through the Xjenza Malta (formerly MCST)-TÜBITAK 2022 Joint Call for R&I projects. This initiative is part of the PRIMA Programme supported by the European Union.

Further insights gleaned from both projects were presented on the second day of the Symposium. The Mara-Mediterra Project Coordinator, Dr. Vasileios Takavakoglou from SWRI, Greece, shared the Mara-Mediterra experience in identifying the challenges and opportunities in the uptake of Nature-based Solutions in Algeria, Egypt, Greece, Lebanon, and Turkey. The DEU DESUM Teamleader in Mara-Mediterra, Dr. Cem Polat Cetinkaya, presented how the stakeholder conflict in the recently dried-up Lake Marmara can be resolved through a dynamic water allocation approach, which ensures the ecological restoration of the Lake while satisfying urban and agricultural water demand in the area. The Malta Principal Investigator in UNIMED, Eng. Dirk De Ketelaere, IRMCo, presented the outcomes of a drought analysis using the Standard Precipitation Index approach at the 12- and 24-month time scales covering a 180-year period of rainfall observations in Malta since 1843 till present day. Dr. Mert Can Günaçtı, DEU DESUM, Türkiye, presented the development in UNIMED of a Survivability to Droughts Index, which was the topic of his recently awarded PhD degree. The index is made up of four underlying indices, i.e. perception, vulnerability, adaptability and recoverability. The novelty of the index is derived from the fact that it integrates economic, environmental and social indicators.

Further insights into the uptake of Nature-based Solutions in the Maltese agricultural sector and their benefits from an environmental and socioeconomic perspective, were provided by two invited speakers. Dr. Mario V Balzan, Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Applied Sciences, MCAST, presented research insights on the impact of nature-based solutions on biodiversity and agroecosystem services. Dr. Byron Baron from the Research Academic Centre for Molecular Medicine and Biobanking at the University of Malta spoke on the viability of implementing sustainable agricultural practices in the Maltese context towards a healthier lifestyle.

On both days, the presentations were followed by a panel discussion. The first panel discussion invited to reflect, among other, how the outcomes of EU funded research projects could be curated and kept alive beyond the end of the project duration. While acknowledging the challenges, the panelists drew the attention to the fact that EU funded research projects enable the engagement of also young researches to gain most valuable first-hand experience and vastly improve their skills. The panelists included Dr. Vasileios Takavakoglou, Mara-Mediterra Project Coordinator, SWRI, Greece, Dr. Cem P. Cetinkaya UNIMED Scientific Coordinator, Deputy Coordinator of Technology Transfer Office of DEU, Türkiye, and Dr. Ali Gul, Deputy Director DEU DESUM, Türkiye. The session was moderated by Eng. Dirk De Ketelaere, Senior Researcher at IRMCo. The second panel discussion focused primarily on how to drive the uptake of Nature-based Solutions in Malta. While acknowledging that a new generation of young farmers have taken farming with nature to heart, raising greater awareness among society about a healthier diet could be a strong leverage point to sustain their livelihood. The panelists included Dr. Annalisa Cartabia, Senior Executive, Multilaterals – Internationalisation, Xjenza Malta, Christopher Ciantar, Project Coordinator – SYNECO, and Dr. Justin Zahra, Senior Director EU Agriculture Program, Environmental Defense Fund Europe. The second panel discussion was moderated by Anna Spiteri, Managing Director, IRMCo.

The final agenda of the symposium and the extended abstracts of the presentations can be downloaded from this link.