From July 23 to 26, 2025, Living Planet Morocco represented the OurMED project at the Ifrane International Festival, one of Morocco's major cultural and environmental events. This was an opportunity to raise awareness among a wide audience about nature conservation, sustainable water management, and ecosystem protection.

Throughout the festival, Living Planet Morocco ran a booth on water and natural resource conservation in the Ifrane region and the Sebou basin. The exhibition, which attracted locals, young people, international visitors, institutions, NGOs, academics, and businesses, highlighted OurMED's actions through educational and interactive materials presenting nature-based solutions, community engagement, and scientific approaches to protecting water and biodiversity.

On July 26, as part of the scientific seminar “Forests and Water Resources: A Vital Balance to Preserve,” a presentation was given on sustainable water management in apple orchards in mountainous areas, based on the experience of Dayet Aoua. The presentation highlighted innovative techniques for optimizing water use, strengthening climate resilience, and preserving water sources.

This participation strengthened OurMED's local visibility, promoted dialogue with many stakeholders, and confirmed its commitment to nature-based solutions and science-based policies.

The OurMED project was represented at the international conference of the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), held from 24 to 28 June 2025 in Palermo, Italy, under the theme “New challenges in understanding and managing water-related risks in a changing environment.”

Since the end of May 2025, Albufera Lagoon has been undergoing a brownification event, a phenomenon characterized by a noticeable darkening of surface waters. This change, clearly captured by recent Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, shows elevated NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) values, which are closely linked to increased chlorophyll concentrations in surface waters. The timing of this event aligns with a period of rising temperatures and prolonged lack of precipitation, raising concerns among environmental scientists and local stakeholders.

Within the framework of OurMED project, a specialized training workshop on “Classification of Insects as Bioindicators of Water System Health in the Mujib Basin” was held at the headquarters of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN). The event brought together researchers and research assistants from the University of Jordan and the RSCN, with the aim of strengthening their practical skills and scientific knowledge in the field of aquatic biodiversity monitoring.

The two-day training focused on the use of freshwater insect species as biological indicators for assessing the ecological health of freshwater systems. 

Experts emphasized the growing importance of bioindicators in environmental research and conservation, especially in fragile ecosystems like the Mujib Basin, a key area for biodiversity and freshwater resources in Jordan.

This collaborative initiative reflects a shared commitment between academia and conservation institutions to promote evidence-based approaches to water management and to empower young researchers with the tools needed to support sustainable environmental practices.

The second Annual Meeting of the OurMED Project took place on May 13–14, 2025, in the historic city of Naples, Italy. Hosted at the prestigious Historical Library of the Faculty of Engineering (UNINA), the event brought together over 40 participants, including project partners and advisory board members.

Over the course of two days, participants shared the progress achieved across all eight Work Packages (WPs), addressing key scientific and operational challenges related to water management, nature-based solutions (NbS), governance, data integration, digital twin development, and stakeholder engagement.

On April 24, 2025, the second Living Lab workshop (M3.2) took place in the heart of Konya, bringing together 18 participants from a wide range of local and regional institutions. This workshop focused on a participatory scenario-building exercise aimed at supporting the ongoing modeling efforts within the OurMED project.