Urban & Water Thematic Group (Hybrid) event
Presenters:
- Mr. Alain Meyssonnier, President of the Mediterranean Water Institute, and former manager of the Société des Eaux de Marseille (France).
- Prof. Nicolas Roche, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Aix-Marseille (France) and specialist of reuse of treated wastewater.
Synopsis:
Climate change obviously affects water resource management in Mediterranean countries. For example, it has not rained in Cataluña (Northeastern Spain and Southern France) for more than two years: as a result, reservoirs that supply Barcelona (5 million people) are almost empty and agriculture and tourism, two pillars of the regional economy, are badly impacted. Similar scenarios are rapidly developing in North Africa and the Middle East. All Mediterranean countries are faced with a need for drastically reducing water demand by cities, irrigation schemes and industries, promoting adapted technologies, recycling treated wastewater, developing large scale seawater desalination programs, and revisiting water pricing policies.
Also, extreme weather conditions have recently resulted in catastrophic floods, often with high tolls on human lives: the recent rupture of a dam following heavy downpours killed 6,000 people in Libya. But construction of dams to regulate flows and dikes to protect settlements located in flooded areas, and/or relocation of such settlements, always face strong opposition from stakeholders concerned with environmental and social consequences.
Our two speakers will summarize the results of the 5th Mediterranean Water Forum (Tunis, February 2024) and key elements of the presentation that will be made by the Mediterranean Water Institute on behalf of its member countries during the 10th World Water Forum (Bali, Indonesia, May 2024). They will also discuss how such proposals can possibly impact water resource management in Southern France.
Presenters’ bios:
Mr. Alain Meyssonnier joined the Société des Eaux de Marseille (SEM), the utility company that provides water supply and wastewater services to France’s third largest urban area (1.65 million) in 1984. Among others, he was responsible for SEM operations in greater Marseille and for SEM international activities in Latin America and North Africa. Mr. Meyssonnier is currently the President of the Mediterranean Water Institute and member of the Board of the World Water Council. He also is the coordinator of the Regional Processes of the 10th World Water Forum. Mr. Meyssonnier holds a masters in econometry from the University of Aix-Marseille and an MBA from ESSEC Paris (France).
Prof. Nicolas Roche teaches chemical engineering at the University of Aix-Marseille (France). Since the mid-1980s he has focused his research on improving wastewater treatment and reuse of treated wastewater and sludge in the context of circular economies. Among other activities Prof. Roche, is an affiliate professor at the Mohamed VI University (Morocco), vice-president of the French Chemical Engineering Society and Chief Editor for the Euro-Mediterranean Journal for Environmental Integration. He has published extensively and supervised numerous PhD theses. Prof. Roche holds a PhD in chemical engineering applied to wastewater treatment from the National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine (France).
Moderator:
The meeting will be facilitated by our colleague Nadim Khouri, who in addition to his long career at the World Bank held senior positions at the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) and the UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA). He will introduce the speakers and lead the question-and-answer session that will follow their presentations.
Please RSVP if you plan to attend in person, MC 6 -715
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