AquaForMed : Mediterranean Network of Water Training Centers

Launched in March 2012 in Marseilles, on the occasion of the 6th World Water Forum, the AquaForMed Network gathers water training centers around the Mediterranean having a significant training activity for the technical staffs of water supply and sanitation utilities.

 

It aims to enable vocational training on water in the Mediterranean region. In particular, it supports the principle that the development of skills through training improves service quality and increases the life span of structures.

 

This belief is based on two studies being developed by Network members: the first deals with the benefits of vocational training for water and sanitation utilities and, the second, with the regulatory and financial context including training in the Mediterranean.

 

The launching phase of AquaForMed has been financed by the Ile-de-France Region since September 2012. The first activities of the Network enabled the development of an online website, the organization of three steering committees and the conducting of a study tour of water supply and sanitation utilities in Paris in March 2014. The Network also participated in the 3rd International Water Forum in Istanbul, by organizing on 28 May 2014 a session gathering stakeholders in vocational training.

 

Finally, the Network is continuing its expansion, with the accession of three important centers in 2014: the Water Training Center (CFME) of the ”Algérienne des Eaux” (Algiers Water Company - ADE), the Sanitation Training Center (CFMA) of the Algerian National Sanitation Office (ONA), and The City of Water and Sanitation (LCDEA) of the Interdepartmental Syndicate for Sanitation of Greater Paris (SIAAP).

 

AquaForMed will intervene at the 7th World Forum in Korea in thematic sessions on the economic benefits of vocational training, coordinated by the International Network of Water Training Centers (INWTC).