Rapid population growth, urbanization and increased anthropogenic pressures in the Mediterranean region are threatening water quantity, quality, and related ecosystem services. Known as a climate change hotspot, the region is increasingly experiencing intensifying droughts, diminished river flows, and drier soils making water management even more challenging. This situation calls for a transition to equitable, multisectoral and integrative water management that addresses, simultaneously, the needs of all users that consider water bodies’ capacities to achieve sustainability. 

As part of the  OurMED project activities, we are launching a MED Regional Scale Living Lab that we call Sustain MED with series of regional stakeholder workshops on best strategies and practices to collectively achieve sustainable water management. The first workshop will be organized on the 8^th of October 2024 followed by a second workshop that is planned for spring 2026. In both workshops, we seek the views and perspectives of leading stakeholders dealing with sustainable water resources management in the Mediterranean region. Also, we aim to review policy frameworks and produce a joint policy brief that charts the best practices towards water security and equitable distribution among different sectors.  

1^st Sustain MED Stakeholder Workshop on water resources management in the Mediterranean region will be held in Istanbul on the 8^th of October 2024 back-to-back with the Sustain Istanbul 2024 Conference that will be organized from 9 to 11 of October, 2024.

During the morning session of the workshop, we will elaborate on the threats, challenges, and impacts related to water resources management that the MED is facing. The afternoon session of the workshop will be dedicated to examining the solutions and management options that the MED community can jointly implement. In particular, four themes will be further discussed in the workshop: 

• Sustainable water storage and distribution in the Mediterranean: A multisectoral approach thinking, 
• River Basin Digital Twin as an innovative and timely decision-making tool,
• Natural-based Solutions for water management and ecosystem protection,
• Participatory approach in water management and social learning.

Participant	Institution
Nur Eda Demir	PRIMA, Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area
Catherine Numa	IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature
Congduc Pham	University of Pau, France
Pier Paolo Roggero	University of Sassari, Italy
Fadi Comair	Cyprus Institute, Cyprus
Raquel Marijuan Cuevas	CARTIF, Spain
Elena López-Gunn	ICATALIST, Spain
Salvatore Manfreda	University of Naples Federico II, Italy

Dr. Seifeddine Jomaa, Project Coordinator: seifeddine.jomaa@ufz.de
Mrs Maroua Oueslati, Communication Manager: m.oueslati@semide.org