Mara-Mediterra’s fifth progress meeting was hosted by DEU DESUM in Izmir, Turkey during 24 and 25 September 2024. The meeting was foremost dedicated towards putting everything in place as will be required to organize the third and final series of roundtables in Mara-Mediterra in the near future. Snippets from the meeting can be accessed through this link.
On the first day of the meeting, Anna Spiteri (IRMCo) who leads the research activities entitled ‘Guiding the Living Labs’, moderated the session on how to draw up final action plans for the hotspots of land and water degradation, i.e. the 5 case studies in Mara-Mediterra. She encouraged to build on the outcomes of the second roundtable in which the participants in the respective hotspots had been invited to bring their own inputs to the action plans. Furthermore, she invited to focus on the implementation of the agro-ecological practices which the respective Living Labs had been testing, validating and embracing. Practices which took the preference of the participants in the participatory GIS session organized during the second series of roundtables were therefore recommended to be implemented across the area of interest in the final action plans. She also invited to consider in which areas the implementation of the eco-engineering solutions developed in Mara-Mediterra, such as aquaponic wetlands and micro-ecosystem based afforestation could bring added value. As evidenced in the clip, the outcomes reached by the end of the first day exceeded everyone’s expectations!
On the second day of the meeting, the project coordinator, Dr. Vasileios Takavakoglou (SWRI) who leads the research activities ‘Policy Recommendations and Action Plans’, explained the purpose of task at hand, i.e. to arrive at specific recommendations which would facilitate the implementation of the NbSs included in the final action plans. This exercise was urged to build on the outcomes of the value-attitude-perception survey addressed to farmers which had been organized earlier on in the project and which had pointed to the nature of the obstacles and challenges pertaining to the uptake and wider implementation of NbSs. The clip brings into evidence the multitude of recommendations that were formulated to address each of the identified obstacles and challenges in the respective hotspots. It is especially noteworthy that many of the recommendations were inspired by the feedback that was obtained during the second series of roundtables. Dr. Vasileios Takavakoglou concluded the session with the reflection that while the meeting had by now achieved its goal of drawing up final action plans and associated policy recommendations, funding would be required to ensure their implementation. The latter challenge was tackled in yet another highly interactive session which focused on local investment opportunities. This final session of the meeting was moderated by Tarek Habib (TENSOR), who leads the research activities pertaining to ‘Exploitation Plans and Investment Opportunities’.
The joint dinner which followed the meeting proved the ideal occasion to celebrate the award of a PhD to one of Mara-Mediterra’s researcher, Dr. Mert Can Günaçtı (DEU DESUM). DEU DESUM’s teamleader, Dr. Cem Polat Cetinkaya, had a further surprise in store on how to end the meeting in style. Watch the clip to find out more!
The Mara-Mediterra partnership wishes to thank the director of DEU DESUM, Dr. Neval Baycan, and her entire team: Dr. Cem Polat Cetinkaya, Dr. Ali Gul, Dr. Filiz Barbaros, Dr. Mert Can Günaçtı, Dr. Hulya Boyacioglu, Dr. Gulay Onusluel Gul and Ms Sefa Nur Yeşilyurt, for their warm hospitality extended during the meeting.
