Strengthening of institutional capacity building and training is internationally recognised as a top priority and the importance of this has been stressed also by the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. Strengthening of national, regional and local institutions in all sectors is of relevance for water management. Training and education of the different operators and users is equally a high priority.

The implementation of these actions calls upon strong political will and long term financial commitment.

Capacity building is the responsibility of:

• Governments, for adopting suitable legislation aimed at integrated water management that involves the community at the regional level, users and user associations as well as organisations responsible for water;
• Local communities to encourage decentralisation of the responsibilities of managing domestic water supplies and sewage disposal as well as wastewater treatment plants and irrigation networks.

Development of human resources, such as multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral training of managers, technicians and education of the civil society, is an essential condition for optimal use of resources and project efficiency:

• Training of highly qualified technicians and professionals should address preparation, elaboration and implementation of a strategy for rational and efficient use of water in all sectors based on integrated management principles, and include suitable practical training for the less qualified personnel;

• Importance of the priority area and impact on the Mediterranean Region

The need for professional capacity building in the water sector and for enhancing the exchange of institutional, economic and technical information prompted the 1996 Euro-Mediterranean Conference to put forward recommendations and a draft proposal for a multi-annual regional training programme. The aim of this programme was to achieve a more efficient organisation of users and services, as well as management and optimal maintenance of domestic and industrial water supply facilities, of irrigated areas.

Moreover, this programme aimed at the dissemination of techniques appropriate for Mediterranean regions e.g. for wastewater reuse, groundwater replenishment, detection and repair of leakage and desalination. Capacity building in these subjects, in the use of unconventional technologies or local adaptation of technologies, in the reuse of wastewater, in groundwater replenishment and in hydro-meteorology needs further strengthening at the regional level in response to the specific needs of the Mediterranean Basin.

Manpower requirements for domestic, industrial and agricultural water services are considerable given the projection for the year 2025 of 500 million inhabitants throughout the entire Mediterranean Basin.

In most cases and at all levels institutional capacity building involves raising awareness in legislative and financial aspects. Thus it will make it possible to allow application of the "polluter pays principle" and to enable integrated and sustainable resources management and promotion of public and private sector partnership. Raising awareness of the economic and financial implications of decentralisation also should be addressed.

• Suggested Actions

The actions aimed at professional and institutional capacity building could include:

• Networking of training centres

• Preparation of professional and institutional training modules, including:
• Definition of the contents of training modules, based on the results of surveys already conducted to establish the requirements and priority areas;
• Definition of teaching methods;
• Identification and presentation of "case studies" on integrated urban and irrigation water management, implementation of legislation, of urban development plans, and all other strategic documents concerning the water sector in a given country, for the purpose of preparing material for supporting institutional and human capacity building in each non-Community Mediterranean country;
• Preparation of training modules in the priority areas identified, for example: in technical (water treatment, technical management of an irrigated area), administrative, financial and legal areas (cost and forms of financial management of services, participation of the private sector, rules and regulations).

• Training the trainers and local experts

The objective is to train experts in the 12 non-Community Mediterranean countries so that they train professionals in their own countries, or to undertake and participate in strengthening the institutional and structural capacity of organisations responsible for managing water resources, water supply, wastewater treatment and management of irrigated areas).

• Organisation of regional sessions;
• Support for a first national seminar in each project partner country of the South, led by local trainers;
• Creation on internet of an on-line water training centre that integrates conventional interactive tools (downloadable modules, tutoring, forums);
• Strengthening the capacities of institutions, local communities and non-governmental organisations in view of decentralisation and raising awareness, by information/training sessions and exchanges of experience.

Improving knowledge and understanding of water resources and demand at all levels is essential for managing and improving their protection and efficient, equitable and sustainable use.

It is generally recommended to promote the improvement of technology and the transfer of information and know-how, including information on best practices by means of observation and information sharing systems on water resources and their various uses.

The main actions to be taken are:

• Setting up a network of information and documentation systems dealing with water resources.

• The gathering of documentation and its circulating to all the actors involved to facilitate the training of professionals working in the sector, to disseminate new knowledge and to raise public awareness about the most important water related issues);
• The creation of systems to share institutional, economic and technical documentation as well as basic information (such as directories of professional organisations or experts) working in network with several specialised documentation centres in the water sector;
• The definition of compatible references, computerised sharing protocols and multilingual approaches, and setting up of the corresponding networks and the training of documentalists.

• The consolidation of regional, national and international programmes for the acquisition of basic knowledge on water resources and their uses, considering that:
• The strengthening of regional programmes must rely as much as possible on national programmes. Considering their geographical extension and their content, these programmes need specific financial support. Moreover, national programmes could form the object of appropriate co-operation actions.

• Importance of the sector and impact on the Mediterranean Region

The 1996 Marseilles Euro-Mediterranean Conference on Local Water Management stressed the need to provide all partnership countries with widespread and detailed knowledge, especially as far as actors, available tools and documentation, techniques and methods used, programmes and results of research and training opportunities are concerned.

The existing information on these topics is fragmentary, dispersed and heterogeneous. Therefore, an effort must be made to rationalise the information, making it more readable, easily accessible and readily available.

To achieve this goal, a working group of 10 countries, co-ordinated by France, indicated how this information system, that would connect existing information sources through advanced communications technology, should be set up. The system is called "EMWIS: Euro-Mediterranean Water management Information System".

EMWIS is a project supported by the EU. EMWIS is set up as a "tool" for information exchange and, therefore, can be seen as a "tool" for information exchange regarding projects or programmes in any "approved" action plan.

This tool of co-operation between European and Mediterranean countries will soon enable the networking and inter-linking among different existing information systems.

According to the Marseilles Conference recommendations, EMWIS has been developed as an information-sharing tool on five priority fields: institutions, documentation, training, research, data management.

EMWIS, therefore, could be the appropriate tool for exchange of information and experience related to this Euro-Mediterranean Action Plan on Local Water Management.

EMWIS is a collector/provider of information and is meant to facilitate connections among Partners, mostly by making available such information on its web page. As EMWIS itself develops, it would need to focus its operation in a way to cope also with the above-mentioned points related to the Action Plan, which remain within its current mandate.

• Suggested Action
• The information provided so far by the EMWIS web page would need to be completed with complementary data to cover the needs of this Action Plan. Partners and future project co-ordinators are invited to co-operate with the Steering Committee and the technical team of EMWIS, to this end;
• EMWIS needs to be extended to all Euro-Med Partners. Focal points designated by each Partner would facilitate both collection of necessary data by EMWIS and access of Partners to information;
• Dissemination of information on "success stories" as regards integrated local water management in the Mediterranean would be of great interest.

To ensure transfer and development of technology and know-how, including experience with best practices effectively contributing to the development of local water management, the following need to be strengthened:

• institutional/management capacities to:
• Identify particular experience in technology transfer through suitable benchmarks;

• Importance and impact on the Mediterranean Region

Technology is usually transferred from the more developed countries to the developing ones. In the water management sector this is only partly true. In particular Partnership countries have developed diversified technologies and know-how specialising in certain fields dictated by peculiar local conditions

Some countries have thus built up a know-how on specific problems, gaining a wealth of experience that could be drawn on by those countries faced with similar problems.

Thus, application of a North-South transfer model is not feasible in this context, but rather the possibility should be explored of transferring solutions developed for areas with similar environmental, social and economic conditions.

Fruitful co-operation could be established, for example, in the area of water scarcity management between southern Mediterranean countries. On the other hand, as far as water quality is concerned, technology and techniques developed within the European Union and its Member States could be usefully applied to solve problems of water quality in coastal areas.

Any transfer or development of technology, know-how and best practices must be adapted to the regional context and made compatible with the management practices adopted in the region.

• Suggested Actions

Possible action to ensure a beneficial transfer of technology and know-how in the water sector could include:

• Survey of:
• Problems for which institutions and management bodies envisage investments and of technological approaches adopted by the different countries for solving these problems;
• Technology and management techniques used in Euro-Mediterranean Partnership states to respond to the problems identified;
• Successful experiences with problem solving through technology transfer by institutions and water management agencies.

• Identify successful experiences that suitably re-elaborated could serve as reference for benchmarking studies focused on the best practices concerning:
• Drawing up of supply contracts and supply management by institutions/managers;
• Adaptation of the technology to the context/problem and tailoring the offer to the customer's specific needs;
• Facilitating contacts and strengthening relations between institutions and managers to facilitate the transfer of experience from institutions to managers who have already successfully solved problems of mutual interest in similar contexts, and define the best practices for managing the purchase of supply.

Informing and educating the users is internationally recognised as a high priority to ensure that for users to become actors in the management process. This should be ensured in a participatory approach of society as a whole, and targeted to particular user groups, including women.

A programme of activities should be prepared with a view to creating and consolidating education in water use involving as actors:

• users
• water companies
• institutions

The objective of this programme is to ensure widespread understanding of the importance of water as a precious and vital element that requires rational management, taking into account environmental sustainability, respect of water resources, efficiency of technical solutions and the principles of social solidarity.

• Educating the user

Domestic, agricultural and industrial users should be made aware that:

• It is imperative to use water properly. Water is an economic asset and as such should not be wasted but conserved and managed in a sustainable way. It is a natural resource to be used with respect for other users and future generations.
• The right price has to be paid for the use of water and this will take into account capital and running costs making sure that water companies are remunerated.

These are key elements for affirming the economic value of water and the need for qualified and capable managers in the water services sector. The principle of solidarity towards the needier users can be safeguarded by ensuring that public institutions grant direct aid to those who are entitled to it, doing away with subsidies to water companies that may mask, in some cases, inefficient and uneconomic management.

Water companies should aim at achieving three basic goals:

• Perform effective and efficient water management
• Provide a good service
• Ensure economic viability of the services of the company

Water resources management by the water services should be made within regional or national plans for integrated water resources management and take into account the conditions within the river basin as a whole.

Indicators for measuring the quality of the service provided should be developed. Such "performance indicators" are a useful tool both for the water company for controlling their technological and management processes and for regulatory bodies and users for assessing the quality of the service delivered including the extent to which the services fulfil quality requirements.

• Educating the institutions

Water is a public asset and as such belongs to everybody. Thus institutions are obliged to control its use. This can be achieved in two ways:

• Controlling that the user and water utilities have the proper attitude: this means checking the effectiveness of the actions implemented for enhancing user awareness, taking corrective measures where necessary, and controlling the quality of the service provided by the utilities, as well as investment and maintenance plans.
• Controlling and promoting water "conservation". "Conservation" is a term used especially for water and one that best expresses the respect for this element. Water conservation means: storing it when there is an abundance, reducing wastage, safeguarding its quality.

Educating the user, the water companies and the institutions are all important, as:

• Lack of information or misconduct of the user makes rational and sound management difficult;
• An unsatisfactory service or a water company running at a loss is not conducive to good management and may lead to neglect or underestimation of the need for maintenance of distribution network and installations, education of staff and lowering the standard of the service provided;
• The lack of adequate knowledge and experience, of a legislative and economic framework or indifference of public institutions makes rational and sound management difficult.

Consequently, any programme to be developed on "awareness raising, mobilisation and commitment of the population" should consider all three issues.

"Awareness raising, mobilisation and commitment of the population" has been assigned top priority in Mediterranean countries as the improvement of water resources management implies not only technological and process innovations but also changes in the behaviour of the users, water companies and institutions.

Actions should provide new incentives and values to induce attitudes in keeping with the requirements for the safeguarding and proper management of water resources.

The development of "Awareness raising, mobilisation and commitment of the population" must take account of cultural, civic, social and religious differences that exist within the Mediterranean region.

• Suggested Actions

The projects carried out to date have been concerned mainly with awareness raising campaigns or have resorted to penalty systems to discourage undesirable behaviour, though sometimes the results are difficult to verify.

Presumably in certain Euro-Mediterranean contexts initiatives have been undertaken that have been met with success, and these experiences could form the basis for studying transferable models of action.

Possible actions might concern the research and development of models of awareness raising, mobilisation and commitment of the population adapted andadaptable to different contexts and applicable to the problems arising therefrom.

Specific objectives of actions could be:

• To classify actions in the fields of awareness raising and education in water use and identify conditions, factors and success indicators for each kind of action;
• To identify previous experience gained at a European and Mediterranean level and similar, significant initiatives world-wide, including in different but comparable sectors (such as environmental education and health education);
• To set up, disseminate and transfer models and technical and management know-how for drawing up, implementing and monitoring action aimed at awareness enhancing and education in water use;
• To put into operation in actual and significant contexts and concerning a variety of problems the developed models and assess to what extent the action taken has been effective.

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