Water and Environment Support (WES) Project Launched, Athens, 25 September 2019

A new four-year EU funded regional support project has just been launched. The Water and Environment Support project in the ENI Southern Neighbourhood region aims at protecting the environment and improving the management of scarce water resources in the Mediterranean. It will tackle problems related to pollution prevention and water use efficiency. This new project capitalizes on previous successful EU funded programmes like SWIM-Horizon 2020. WES has been designed and will operate as a regional support mechanism to the Partner Countries, creating an enabling environment, synergies and opportunities for collaboration in the fields of water and environment. A number of EU funded Demonstration Projects, which are focusing on the efficient use of water in the region, will also receive technical support under WES. Their results will be promoted and WES will disseminate good practices identified. The project will furthermore support the shift to a more sustainable consumption and production model and promote an integrated and efficient management of water resources. It will focus on combatting plastic pollution and marine litter by finding ways to reduce single use plastics. WES will be implemented via a blend of regional and national activities, mostly technical assistance actions and capacity building workshops, study visits to European and other Southern Mediterranean countries, webinars and peer-to-peer activities.