The MCST- TÜBİTAK funded UNIMED research project invites Plumtri readers to join in its Second Community of Practice Workshop in Malta. The event will take place at the Esplora Science Centre on 8 February 2024, starting at 14:00 till 15:30 pm. Participation is free of charge, but we kindly invite your advance registration using this link. The event is being run in conjunction with the PRIMA Collaborate Event, uniting med researchers in Malta for innovation.

The ‘UNIfied framework to cope with droughts under MEDiterranean climate change conditions’, UNIMED, is aimed at the methodological development of a Survivability-of-Droughts Index in the context of the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) Nexus. This is a novel idea which derives from the quantification of four underlying indices: perception, vulnerability, adaptability and recoverability.

UNIMED’s First Community of Practice Workshop which took place on 7 July 2023, resulted in the enlargement of an originally foreseen set of economic, social and environmental indicators in a participatory manner. The enlarged set has since been checked against data availability in both Malta and Turkey and the resulting, ‘best available’ dataset will be presented during this follow-up event. Participants will be invited to assist us in reaching sound policy recommendations in the context of coping with droughts. Recently implemented, still in the pipeline initiatives or projects will be scrutinized against their level of effectiveness as well as their cost-effectiveness. Possible synergies between these initiatives or projects will also be explored.

The UNIMED research continues to enjoy an excellent synergy with the PRIMA funded Mara-Mediterra research project. Mara-Mediterra aspires to accelerate the uptake of agro-ecological practices to sustain the livelihoods of rural communities around the Region. Most recently the latter project created the opportunity to bring the testimonials of two young farmers in Malta on their successful adoption of Nature-based Solutions to produce organic vegetables under conditions of severe water scarcity.

The UNIMED research in Malta is being led by Integrated Resources Management Company Ltd., in collaboration with the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology. Our Turkish research colleagues from the Dokuz Eylul University Industrial Application and Research Center, will be joining us for the Second Community of Practice Workshop in Malta.

We are looking forward to meet up with you as well!

The UNIMED project is financed by the Malta Council for Science and Technology trough the MCST-TÜBİTAK Joint Call 2022 for R&I Proposals

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The UNIMED write-up which is included in the MCAST Research and Innovation Expo 2023, the 5th MCAST Research and Innovation Expo which ran from 14 to 15 December 2023

Figure 1a: The empty canvas

Figure 1b: A graphical representation of the canvas