International recognition of the Non Conventional Water Resources Program in the Mediterranean

GWP-Med’s Non Conventional Water Resources (NCWR) Program in the Mediterranean, has been selected among 9 Global Finalists of  the World Water Showcase Challenge organized by the 7th World Water Forum (7WWF). MIO-ECSDE/MEdIES provides the Education for Sustainable Development component (activities and materials reached out to more than 11,000 students and 2,000 teachers). On Wednesday 15 April, at 11:20-13:20 at Room B101 in Daegu Inter-burgo EXCO, in Daegu, Korea, and during a live session, the best showcase among the 9 finalists will be selected on site by the Jury and will be awarded the prizes in a special ceremony.

GWP-Med submitted the NCWR Program to the 7WWF (Korea, 12-17 April 2015), the largest water event in world, as a best practice that can be replicated around the world. It is a multi-country program involving activities in Greece, Malta, Cyprus and Italy, designed and implemented by GWP-Med, in partnership with the Coca-Cola system, local authorities and institutional partners in the countries. It is primarily supported by the Coca-Cola Foundation. The Program aims at mobilizing non conventional water resources, such as rain-, storm- and grey- water in water scarce islands and areas to enhance the local water budget and contribute to local water security and sustainable development. It started in Greece in 2009 as the “Rainwater Harvesting Program” under Mission Water Environmental Program and has expanded since 2011 in the Maltese Islands, 2013 in Cyprus and 2015 in Italy, as the “Non Conventional Water Resources Program”, promoting also other alternative water resources beyond rainwater. Program partners in the countries are: Mission Water Program in Greece; Ministry for Gozo and ecoGozo Project; The Sustainable Energy and Water Conservation Unit in the Ministry for Energy & Water in Malta; the local authorities in the project islands; the Cyprus Pedagogical Institute; the Coca-Cola System in the countries and the local bottlers, Coca-Cola Tria Epsilon, General Soft Drinks and Lanitis Bros; and the educational partners, MIO-ECSDE & MEdIES and Nature Trust Malta.