WaterMellon: جهود تعاونية عبر البحر الأبيض المتوسط
هذا المشروع هو مجهود تعاونى بين دول حوض البحر المتوسط حيث يضم تحالف 10 دول خبراء. يشمل هذا التحالف المتعدد الأطراف متخصصين في إنتاج المحاصيل، وتقنيات حصاد المياه، وسلاسل القيمة للمنتجات الزراعية ذات القيمة العالية، والأدوات الرقمية. معًا، تسهم 20 منظمة شريكة بمعرفة ومهارات مكملة لمواجهة التحديات الزراعية والمائية في المنطقة بطريقة شمولية.
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تعاونيات المزارعين: كوبس الزراعية (CoopsAgroES)
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مستشارو المزارعين: أجريما(AGRIMA)
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معاهد بحثية: مركز الطاقة الجديدة والمتجددة باليونان (CRES) ومركز البحوث الزراعية والتحليل الإقتصادى بإيطاليا (CREA) والمعهد الوطنى للبحث الزراعى بتونس (INRAT) ومدينة الأبحاث العلمية والتطبيقات التكنولوجية بمصر (SRTA) وجامعة فريدريك بقبرص (FREDERICK) ومركز تعزيز المخلفات بالبرتغال (CVR) ومجلس البحوث الزراعية والتحليل الإقتصادى بإيطاليا (CER)
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جامعات: جامعة الأم للحياة بولونيا إيطاليا (UNIBO) وجامعة كاتانيا بإيطاليا (UNICT) والجامعة الزراعية باليونان (AUA) وجامعة سكيكدا بالجزائر (SKIKDA) وجامعة نوفا بالبرتغال (NOVA)
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منظمات غير حكومية (NGOs): معهد التعاون الجامعى لبنان (ICU) وشركة هاكا للبذور (HACA) ومركز تنمية منطقة تنسيفت بالمغرب (CDRT)
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صناعات صغيرة ومتوسطة (SMEs)
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هيئات بحثية دولية: المركز الدولى للبحوث الزراعية فى المناطق الجافة (ICARDA)
CREA is the leading Italian research organization dedicated to the agri-food supply chains. CREA operates as a legal entity under public law, and are supervised by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests (Masaf). CREA scientific activity covers agricultural crops, livestock, fishery, forestry, agro-industry, food science – and socioeconomics. CREA have full scientific, statutory, organizational, administrative and financial autonomy.
It has more than 2000 employers and 800 researchers, organized in 12 Research Centres. In the Watermellon project CREA is involved with 3 Research Centres:
1) Cereal and Industrial Crops (CREA-CI);
2) Engineering and Agro-Food Processing (CREA-IT);
3) Agricultural Policies and Bioeconomy (CREA-PB).
These three research centres have a multi-disciplinary expertise and high reputation for delivering high quality research in cereal crops, agricultural policy and irrigation systems design.
The involved team carries out research on conservative and precision agriculture, cropping systems in arid and semi-arid environments of the Mediterranean area, the design of water harvesting systems, the social and economic farmers development.
CREA-CI is responsible of Activity 1 of Task 3.1; a Novel Cropping System in Southern Italy, in a long-term experiment on conservation agriculture and subirrigation, with quinoa crop in rotation with durum wheat will be realized. Large experience in previous projects on irrigation, conservation agriculture and quinoa and durum wheat crops.
CREA-IT performs research activities focused on water harvesting systems leading the Work Package 2 and runs a rotation trial in Monterotondo with Sorghum and Quinoa irrigated by the Flexible Water Harvesting System (FWHS). Long-term expertise on harvesting, handling and storage of biomass, novel cropping systems & bioeconomy value chains. Work-package leader of water harvesting systems (WP2) & developer of one of them (FWHS) facilitator of a NCS & a RAG (WPs 1&3), novel value chains (WP4) & dissemination (WP5).
CREA-PB plays a key role in Work Package 1 and 5. Thanks to its role in EU CAP Network, particularly in providing technical and scientific expertise and all activities connected with rural development. Specifically, CREA experts participate at European level in the EU CAP Network's Technical-Scientific Committee, supporting MAs, Ministry of agriculture, offering input on various aspects of the CAP, stakeholders’ involvements, including the sustainable agricultural practices (soil, water, biodiversity and ecosystems services), innovation in agriculture. Working for the Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN, presents in many regional, national, European and international projects measuring the climate impact of the CAP: evaluations, bottom-up approaches, farm and stakeholders involvement, lessons and future directions.
The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) is an international organization undertaking research-for-development for five decades to provide innovative, science-based solutions for communities across the non-tropical dry areas, in partnership with research institutions, NGOs, governments, and the private sector. Since its establishment in 1975, ICARDA has implemented research-for-development programs in 50 countries across the world’s dry areas – from Morocco in North Africa to Bangladesh in South Asia. ICARDA's research activities include the development of new crop varieties, water harvesting, conservation agriculture, the diversification of production systems, integrated crop/rangeland/livestock production systems, and the empowerment of rural farming communities, especially rural women and youth.
ICARDAs' mission is to reduce poverty and enhance food, water, and nutritional security and environmental health in the face of global challenges, including climate change.
ICARDA envisions thriving and resilient livelihoods in the dry areas of the developing world with adequate incomes, secure access to food, markets, and nutrition, and the capacity to manage natural resources in equitable, sustainable, and innovative ways.
ICARDA is co-leading the WP1 Farmers’ engagement, leading Task 1.3 for Implementation of Regional Living Labs (RLLs) in the continuous engagement with farmers, farming community, local stakeholders and students, leading Task 2.6 Rehabilitation of an ancestral structure (Khettaras/Seguias) in collaboration with other partners, contributing to task 3.1 related novel rotations by evaluating varieties of triticale, quinoa and lupin under ancient irrigation systems, and contributing to Dissemination, communication and exploitation of results under WP5.
UNIBO [the oldest University (since 1088) in Europe] has outstanding experience in coordinating and participating in European research and academic cooperation projects, forging alliances with industries and public/private organizations, and being a hub of several international networks. In WaterMellon, UNIBO is represented by DISTAL that provides nation and worldwide research leadership in the subjects of crop production, sustainable agricultural systems and environment, crop physiology, bioenergy and biofuels, oil and fiber crops. The mission is to foster the adoption of profitable, environmentally sound, and socially responsive agricultural systems.
Unibo will provide it long-term experience on novel cropping systems (rotation, intercropping, relay) and sustainable value chains and water harvesting strategies. UNIBO will lead the farmers engagement activities (WP1), will facilitate the development of NCS & a RAG (WPs 1&3), contribute to WP2 (SFCW), novel value chains (WP4) and dissemination (WP5) activities.
The University of Skikda (Department of Agronomy, established in 1955) has deep experience in sustainable agricultural research, particularly in water and nutrient-efficient cropping systems. It has outstanding experience on legumes and cereals crop production (under both conventional and conservation agriculture e.g., no tillage, intercropping, rotation schemes) forboth forage and human consumption. It has participated in several EU projects like CAMA, BIODIVERSIFY and SEMIARID that will be further demonstarted in WaterMellon. SKIKDA is participating as key expert on cropping systems, water harvesting techiques and farmers’ engagment.
The university of SKIKDA will participate in all involved WP of watermellon project by analyzing and assessment of an innovative water harvesting system (Water Flexible Tank) in Algerian Demo site under contrasted cropping systems (i.e. monoculture, intercropping and rotation). The universiity of Skikda will also participate in designing and coassessment of both sustainability and resilience of the proposed innovative cropping systems face to climate changes senario uder semi-arid condition. This will be performed thanks to adoption of innovative modelling approach in collaboration with the main involved stakeholders (farmers, policy makers, academic and researcher) by using both biophysical (STICS model) and bioeconomic models. The university of Skikda ensure also the dissimination and communication results of the project at both national and international scale.
COOPAgroES represents the Spanish agricultural cooperative movement that consists of 3,669 cooperative companies. These companies have an overall turnover of 38.858 M€, employ 122.615 employees, and are composed by 1 million of associated farmers. These figures indicate that COOPAgroES, in spite of being an SME, implies and influences a bigger scope. Its main task is to represent and defend the economic and social interests of Spanish agricultural cooperatives before all the institutions related to the activity of agricultural cooperatives. In the performance of the mentioned main task, there is a high involvement on making visible the contribution of cooperatives to environmental sustainability, mitigation and adaptation of climate change and green deal. This commitment is showed in the mission that guides the organization: “Promote, represent and support the Spanish agri-food cooperative movement, boosting a profitable, competitive, well-dimensioned and professionalized business model and contributing to increase the profitability of farmers and cattle breeders, as well as to the sustainable development of the Spanish agri-food sector and the rural areas”.
The expert team of COOPAgroES, created for their participation in projects, has been also strengthened in relation to its allocated task in previous and ongoing projects such MAGIC, PANACEA, 4CE-MED, COOPID, AND CARINA. In this sense, the team working for European Projects has been trained in Project Management and has coordinated some of the mentioned projects (IEE, H2020 and Horizon Europe calls). This team also participates in working groups and initiatives, at European level, related to the project issues such as: Copa Cogeca Working Parties on Environment, Research, Technology, Bionergy and Civil Dialogues Group on environment and climate change, and EIP-AGRI Agriculture & Innovation, among others. Thus, the experience of COOPAgroES in dealing with environmental issues, through the agri-food cooperatives and the farmers themselves, will contribute to the success of WATERMELLON.
CoopsAgroES will coordinate and run trials (with the support of its affiliated entities) on novel cropping systems in both the Balearic Islands (Mallorca) and Andalusian Spanish regions for WP3, will actively participate in the activities on WP1 where the farmers’ engagement in WaterMellon will be organised and implemented and WP4 activities on sustainable value chains, applications and circular bioeconomy. Taking advantage of the high number of cooperatives that this organisation represents, it will significantly contribute to the dissemination and communication of the project’s findings and results of the project towards the end users, the people living in the rural areas.
In the other hand, CoopsAgroES will foster the linking between the project and the existing networks such as the EIP Agri, and the Working Groups of COPA-COGECA in which CoopsAgroES participate actively.
INICIATIVAS INNOVADORAS is a consultancy company specialized in promoting innovation and facilitating cooperation as key factors in the development of organisations. Iniciativas Innovadoras has broad experience in different EU Programmes (Interreg, Eco-innovation, ICT-PSP, FP7 and H2020), participating either as partners or supporting public and private organizations. Only in the last three years, Iniciativas Innovadoras has participated in more than 30 projects on different topics (agriculture, local and rural development, R&D&i, business cooperation, environment). The activities covered are technical, financial and administrative management and coordination as well as dissemination and exploitation tasks. INI has also participated in technical activities related to innovation in different fields, such as stakeholder identification and involvement, diagnosis and benchmarking, participatory methodology design and implementation, business inventories, or workshop facilitation.
تقود INICIATIVAS INNOVADORAS عملية الاتصال ونشر المشروع.
SRTA-City is the newest addition of research institutes (12 in total) in Egypt that was directed to the development and renovation of industry. SRTA-City in collaboration with the Arid Lands Cultivation Research Institute is been working sustainable agriculture under water deficit environments. It participated in several research projects SRTA-City has long term experience on innovative cropping systems and established opuntia plantations in dry areas.
SRTA team will be dedicated to WP1 and WP3 where there are two demo site will be implemented. The first one is Opuntia field with drip irrigation system and different applications of fertilizers. The second site is Quinoa field, about 1 hectare will be cultivated. The area will be divided to many plots to apply different organic fertilizers such as green compost, vermi-compost and humic substances. In addition biochar will be applied as an enhancer for water holding capacity and as a soil ameliorant.
NOVA FCT, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia is one of the nine academic units of Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL). Founded in 1977, NOVA FCT is a public school of science and engineering, with a total enrolment of ca. 8000 students, of which nearly 1400 are postgraduate students (MSc and PhD). NOVA FCT is structured in 13 Departments and 16 Research Centers. Departamento de Química (DQ) is a department of NOVA FCT. It is dedicated to teaching and research activities on the areas of Biomass Science and Technology, Bioenergy, Biofuels and Biomaterials, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Environmental Sciences and Environmental Engineering.
DQ/ NOVA FCT has a vast and long experience (30 years) in the field of non-food crops production and food-crops production, wastes valorization and bioenergy, either in R&D, in the frame of EU (current projects GOLD, MIDAS, IASIS and last projects, BIOREG, MAGIC, PANACEA, OPTIMA and FIBRA) and national funded projects, or linked with industrial activities, namely regarding transfer of technology. It has also developed research activities in the following fields: evaluation of the biomass and energy potential of a wide range of energy crops grown in experimental field trials; research on new crops better adapted to marginal soils, water stress conditions and contaminated soils; sustainability appraisal of implementing biomass (energy crops, agricultural and processing wastes) through cultivation, processing, use and disposal; biorefineries. DQ/ NOVA FCT also coordinated the project, MediOpuntia, Introducing cactus plantations (Opuntia spp.) and smart water management systems in marginal lands of Egypt and Morocco to drive rural renaissance in the Mediterranean Region (ERANETMED 3rd JOINT CALL, EU, funded by national funds – FCT/MCTES – through ERANETMED Programme), May 2018 - April 2021
NOVA FCT will participate in the activities on WP1 where the farmers’ engagement in WaterMellon will be organised and implemented, on novel cropping systems in Alentejo and Setúbal region for WP3, and will actively participate in the activities and WP4 activities on sustainable value chains, applications and circular bioeconomy. Last but not least will significantly contributed to the dissemination and communication of the project’s findings.
Frederick Research Center (FRC) is a leading research non-profit organization in Cyprus. It was established in 1997 to create a solid foundation for the development of scientific research activities of Cypriot and international scientists.
Its main goals are:
- to promote scientific research and technology transfer and to undertake and conduct research of basic and applied nature in various domains
- to encourage participation and development of Research, Development & Innovation proposals and the sound implementation of externally funded RDI projects
- to establish collaborations with other national and international Research Centers and Universities as well as SMEs for the execution of research work and tech transfer
FRC engages highly qualified academic/research staff with long experience in implementing independent and high-caliber research and with rich publications record in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Numerous Research, Development and Innovation projects (RDI) have been carried out through FRC and part of their results has been presented in international scientific conferences, contributing to their dissemination and technology transfer. To facilitate this, FRC has modern facilities and access to Frederick University’s infrastructure, equipment and software tools through a special collaboration agreement.
The Sustainable Energy Research Group (SERG) of FRC (http://serg-web.com) is an ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certified group, which engages with state-of-the-art research in the fields of experimental and computational building physics, sustainable energy technologies, and also offers high-quality laboratory and consulting services. The members of the SERG have a rich collection of peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals and proceedings in the thematic areas of energy efficiency and energy upgrading of buildings, as well as building physics and Life Cycle Assessment of individual building elements or whole buildings. SERG has been involved in numerous relevant Horizon projects.
FRC leads WP4, Identification of Novel Value Chains, and is responsible for the Sustainability and Profitability Analysis, addressing LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), LCC (Life Cycle Costing), and SLCA (Social Life Cycle Assessment). It conducts the LCA in accordance with ISO 14040 standards and co-develops data collection templates in collaboration with CRES. Additionally, FRC co-leads the development of a Decision Support System (Task 4.4), integrating environmental and agricultural data using remote sensing, GIS, and machine learning technologies. These contributions are critical for ensuring the environmental, economic, and social viability of the value chains and for providing practical tools to support stakeholder decision-making.
The Irrigation Consortium for the Emilia Romagna Canal (CER) is a unique centre for irrigation studies in agriculture and one of the most important irrigation consortia in Italy. It provides water supply to the provinces of Bologna, Ferrara, Forlì-Cesena, Rimini, and Ravenna, covering over 300,000 hectares. Its statutory mission includes research on efficient water use in agriculture, sustainable water saving, reuse and drought management. CER has developed IRRIFRAME, a decision support system for irrigation, and "Cognitive Manager", a big data incubator for basin-level water management. CER has participated in more than 20 Operational Groups and over 10 European projects (FP7, H2020, HE, INTERREG, LIFE)
CER contributes to the WATERMELLON project as a key expert in water harvesting systems in Italy. It is responsible for the implementation and assessment of a Surface Flow Constructed Wetland (SFCW) at its Acqua Campus in Italy. The trials conducted by CER aim to compare water productivity and efficiency between traditional and innovative irrigation methods. In addition, CER contributes through the expansion of the IRRIFRAME system to support smart irrigation practices and precision water use.
The Hellenic Association for the promotion of Conservation Agriculture - HACA is an Non-profit Organization aiming to promote conservation and regenerative agricultural systems in Greece in order to protect the natural resources, reduce energy use, enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services and promote the adaptation and mitigation of agriculture to climate change. Among the main objectives of HACA is the constant monitoring and recording of novel sustainable agricultural techniques, by enhancing and coordinating the communication, partnership and updating among members, individuals, and organizations, the enhancement and coordination of scientific research and education for sustainable agriculture systems and the preparation, organization and implementation of campaigns for farmers, stakeholders and policymakers.
HACA participates on five WPs on Watermellon. Due to its experience in Conservation Agriculture and its networking with local farmers HACA will set-up the Regional Farmers Groups (SFGs) in Greece for WP1 and will serve as a facilitator of the novel cropping practices (NCPs) proposed on WP3. In particular for WP3 HACA will introduce conservation agricultural practices, including minimum soil disturbance (reduced or no tillage), soil cover (residues, cover crops), and crop diversification (rotation, intercropping) between the selected WaterMellon crops. It will assist on the establishment of two experiments for Watermellon. 1st a conservation farming experiment with novel crops combined with subirrigation system in Velestino Greece and 2nd, the CREA Water Harvesting System (WHS) with underutilized crops (quinoa, tritordeum, tef). For the second experiment. HACA along with CRES and SKIDKA, will assess the parameters of the Flexible Water Tank System. In WP4, HACA will participate on the identification of novel value chains and will support the dissemination activities for WP5.
ICU, an international NGO headquartered in Rome, has an extensive track record in sustainable development, with a particular focus on rural development, water management, and agroecology throughout the Mediterranean region. Founded by a group of Italian university professors, ICU has implemented approximately 500 projects across 40 countries worldwide.
ICU has been active in Lebanon since 1994 and officially registered since 2004. Over the decades, ICU has implemented numerous impactful projects, introducing cutting-edge solutions in resource management, sustainable agriculture, and community resilience. Notable projects with synergies to the WaterMellon Project include GOTHAM, PROSIM, ACCBAT, ENSIAP, and OMSAR, alongside ongoing programs like Water4Med and MEDWISE, which continue to drive innovation in water management and climate adaptation.
ICU will spearhead the implementation of innovative cropping system trials in Lebanon (WP3), actively engage local stakeholders through targeted training and capacity-building initiatives (WP1), and promote sustainable value chains and circular economy practices to enhance agricultural resilience and resource efficiency (WP4).
The Agricultural University of Athens (AUA), established in 1920, has consistently and continuously contributed to both Greek and European agricultural and economic development through cutting-edge research and innovation.
The University comprises six academic Schools, which house 44 fully equipped laboratories. These schools are:
- Plant Science
- Animal Science and Aquaculture
- Applied Biology and Biotechnology
- Applied Economics and Social Sciences
- Food and Nutrition
- Environment and Agricultural Engineering
AUA employs 185 academic staff members and 300 administrative, financial, and technical personnel. The student community consists of 7,139 undergraduate students, 656 Master's students, and 445 PhD candidates. To date, AUA researchers have published 7,863 papers in peer-reviewed international journals and have been awarded 76 patents.
The University has extensive experience in both coordinating and participating in national and European competitive research programs. It has taken part in more than 4,585 funded projects—either as coordinator or partner—with a total budget of approximately €30 million. These projects have been financed by the European Commission, the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), and various public and private organizations.
AUA makes significant contributions to a wide array of fields that directly impact the daily lives of Greek and European citizens. These include: crop production and protection, cultivation management and logistics, soil science, environmental pollution and rehabilitation, biomass production and conversion, smart agriculture, animal husbandry, agricultural economics and rural development, food quality and human nutrition, food safety and environmental protection, water resource conservation, sustainability assessment, organic farming, renewable energy sources, biotechnological applications in agriculture, information and communication technologies (ICT), and agricultural engineering.
AUA is a member of the European University for Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability (EU-CONEXUS), a transnational European higher education and research institution that covers the smart urban sustainable coastal development from a global perspective
AUA will participate in the activities on WP1, where the farmers’ engagement will be organised and implemented and will co-lead with CRES Task 1.3. for the development of the cooperative organizational model.
In WP2, AUA will participate in all tasks utilizing remote sensing and GIS methodologies to monitor water harvesting and irrigation systems, identify potential water harvesting sites, assess soil moisture, and evaluate vegetation health, and will lead Task 2.6. Additionally, AUA will co-lead WP3, along with CRES, in the development and evaluation of novel cropping systems, and will lead Tasks 3.2 and 3.3. AUA will actively participate in the activities of WP4, providing data for the DSS, focusing on sustainable value chains, applications, and the circular bioeconomy, as well as in WP5 concerning the dissemination and communication of the project’s findings.
CVR - Centre for Waste Valorisation is a private non-profit association, founded in 2002 and recognised as a Public Utility Entity and Technology and Innovation Centre. CVR offers research, scientific analysis and actual application services in the waste valorisation area. It is dedicated to innovation, development, dissemination, and transmission of knowledge, primarily operating in four areas: Analytical Services, Consulting, Research and Development and Organisation of Scientific Events. CVR has the expertise to develop environmentally and economically sustainable waste treatment solutions, contributing to the pursuit of public policy goals within priority areas of specialisation, and its mission is to support industry and municipalities in the development of innovative solutions for waste management, respecting the stages of the process in an economically and environmentally way. Located in Guimarães, CVR is integrated into the University of Minho campus and has its own laboratory facilities where it conducts activities to support industry and municipalities. Additionally, CVR organises the international scientific Conference “WASTES: Solutions, Treatments and Opportunities”.
CVR will be involved in the work packages from WP1 to WP5. In WP1, CVR will be actively participate in the activities on WP1 where the farmers’ engagement in WaterMellon will be organised and implemented. CVR will be also participate in WP2 and WP3, specifically in the role of supporting the Portuguese and Spanish partners that will implement the demo sites and the partners that will develop the novel cropping systems. CVR will primarily focus on WP4, developing sustainable and profitable value chains by producing compost and biochar from the post-harvest residues at each demo site. The CVR will also work on identifying possible and potential value chains based on underutilised crops grown with advanced water harvesting systems tailored for dry and/or saline soils in Portugal. CVR will also conduct technical and environmental analyses of the developed solutions and their potential value chains, including Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies and the application of the CANVAS business model. Regarding the dissemination and communication activities (WP5), CVR will deliver public information and the main results obtained during the project through its official website (a particular area dedicated to projects obtaining important results), LinkedIn, and Facebook. At the academic level, CVR will participate in scientific conferences and write papers in international journals.
