The 4^th Mediterranean Water Forum, organized by the Institut Méditerranéen de l’Eau in partnership with the Union for the Mediterranean, will be held in Malta on 6^th to 8^th December.

In this context, MedCities participated in the preparatory session of the event, which took place in Marseille during on 1^st October, with the mobilisation of all the stakeholders concerned by water issues in the Mediterranean.

The preparatory works for the Forum are organised in six working groups and MedCities will be contributing to those on “Non-conventional Water Resources and International Cooperation and Water”.

MedCities, as partner of the IME, has been actively involved in the organisation of the previous Mediterranean Water Forum. Currently, MedCities is implementing their project ValEUr Gabès, in partnership with the municipality of Gabès and the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. The project consists on the implementation of non-conventional water solutions and the exchange of knowledge and transfer activities at a regional level in Gabès, Tunisia.

The 4^th Mediterranean Water Forum is being organised upon invitation of the Maltese Ministry of Energy, Enterprise and Sustainable Development and with the support of the Maltese Ministry’s Energy and Water Agency. The main theme of the 9^th World Water Forum, which will be held from 21^st to 26^th March 2022 in Dakar (Senegal), will be “Water Security for Peace and Development”. The discussions will focus on identifying effective responses to ensure water security, a crucial topic for the Mediterranean where demographic is in constant change and the socio-economic challenges and the effects of climate change are constantly threatening water security.

With the scope of ensuring its sustainable development, the Mediterranean process will attempt to identify best practices and technologies developed, in order to use them as an inspiration for positive challenges on water security in the region and beyond.