Gov4GreenMed is a two-year project that began this October to promote inclusive governance models for a better municipal waste management throughout the Mediterranean.

Although significant progress has been made in waste collection, recycling and prevention, municipal and food solid waste remain urgent challenges across the Mediterranean. Participatory approaches are still rarely applied, and citizens and businesses play a limited role in decision-making. The Gov4GreenMed project, co-funded by the European Union through the Interreg NEXT MED program, and in which MedCities is an implementing partner, was launched this October to meet the need to develop territorial participatory methodologies to strengthen municipal and food solid waste management policies and practices. The project will also develop a framework for participatory collaboration for waste management.

This two-year initiative has a total allocated budget of almost 1.5 million euros and a contribution from the European Union of 1.3 million euros (89%). Gov4GreenMed includes a total of 6 partners that are UVic-UCC BETA Technology Center (as lead partner of the project) and MedCities in Catalonia, the Cooperation for the Development of Countries in Emergency Situations (COSPE) in Italy, the International Center for Technologies and the Environment of Tunis (CITET) in Tunisia, Future Pioneers for Empowering Communities’ Members in the Environmental and Educational Fields (FPEC) in Jordan, and the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality (AMM) in Türkiye.

The project will test participatory methodologies through five pilot actions in different Mediterranean municipalities such as Mancomunitat la Plana (Catalonia), Kumluka (Turkey), Nabeul (Tunisia), Scandicci (Italy) and As-Salt (Jordan), and each will address specific local problems in municipal waste management issues.

MedCities is responsible for the implementation phase of pilot actions and will coordinate the development of the multi-stakeholder consultation spaces in the above-mentioned selected municipalities, while the rest of the implementing partners will accompany their assigned pilot territory during the whole process. MedCities will also organise study visits in order to gain knowledge and learn from similar experiences. Finally, drawing on its experience in other projects, the association will also organise a transnational capitalisation event to disseminate and promote the adoption of the methodology on participatory governance models of Gov4GreenMed by other municipalities.

The project was officially launched during a kick-off meeting that took place in Vic (Catalonia) on 15 and 16 October 2025, gathering all implementing partners in the premises of the BETA Technology Center for the occasion.

Concrete actions

In Türkiye, the Kumluca district of Antalya will convert municipal organic waste into organic fertilizer while raising awareness and providing training to agricultural communities, schools and cooperatives. In Tunisia, Nabeul will develop waste prevention and recovery policies for large producers such as canteens and hotels, and will include composting, recycling, and a mobile application to improve citizen participation. In Italy, Scandicci (Tuscany) will create a local food policy and an «Organic District» that will connect urban and rural areas. It will also develop educational activities in schools, hold a biodiversity festival, and carry out food recovery initiatives. Finally, in Jordan, As Salt will implement home and commercial composting initiatives with the support of awareness campaigns, the distribution of compost bins, and the development of best practices for their replication. Finally, in Catalonia, Mancomunitat La Plana will expand the reuse circuits of different waste flows, involving citizens and training people in repair practices.

In addition to its local impact, Gov4GreenMed will develop a policy paper on inclusive local governance models, organize replication workshops and host a final capitalization conference. These actions will ensure that the lessons learned can be shared and replicated by other Mediterranean municipalities. Ultimately, the project aims to strengthen cooperation between public authorities and stakeholders, improve the quality of life of citizens and accelerate the green transition in Mediterranean territories.