An undoubted success for the number of participants, countries represented, themes and ideas proposed, this was the recent kick off meeting in Barcelona with which the year of preparation for the Forum began, scheduled from September 29 to October 2, 2026.
The introductory speeches of Marco Rago, representing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Roberta Toffanin for the Ministry of the Environment, Grammenos Mastrojeni for the Union for the Mediterranean have outlined the political framework in which the forum will develop.
"Considering the water cycle a common good of humanity, increasing cooperation between States and blue diplomacy, facing and solving climate and humanitarian emergencies, focusing on the digitisation of water, on new forms of sustainable finance will be the main themes of the Rome Forum" said Marco Rago, while Senator Toffanin expressed the ambition to "make water the protagonist of the public debate and address, in addition to traditional themes, issues related to the prevention of risks and disasters and the adaptation of communities to new climate change scenarios".
The general architecture of the event has been outlined, to provide the general context in which the Scientific Committee and the study groups will design panels, workshops and side events.
The Forum will move between the debate area and the large Onewater Expo, which will host in the 7000 square metres of “La Nuvola” conference Centre in Rome, the institutional stands of the Ministries, host countries, water authorities, international organisations and major actors of the sector, both profit and non-profit.
A sector that - as has been explained on several occasions - we consider “expanded” to include new entities, far beyond its traditional boundaries based on distribution-purification-irrigation industries.
The "One Water" approach will increasingly be a cross-cutting key with which new industrial “water-sensitive” sectors will have to compare with. Either because they strongly depend on the quality of this resource (like the entire agrifood system), or because the excess of water becomes a risk to be calculated (as for the insurance sector) or for their strong impact on the "water balance" (from the energy industry to the technological industry of data centres and microchips), finally due to the the attention needed for the protection of human and environmental health (as for the issue of microplastics and the fashion business).
The expanded vision of "One Water" is also linked to the novelty of exploring with greater conviction the continuum between the world of "fresh" water (lakes, rivers, distribution for civil and productive use) and Sea (blue economy, coastal areas, sea health) that is an essential aspect in the Euro-Mediterranean region, where a sea-ocean of two and a half million square metres lies at the centre. One of the interventions reminded us how plastic residues were found on the Alps, coming from our rivers, evaporated from the sea and then transported there by the rains.
The debates of the Forum will take place in the morning and afternoon sessions of the week, through High Level Panel, scheduled workshops and meetings proposed and sponsored by the various participating organizations, already interested in booking spaces and making proposals.
The direction indicated for the Rome debate is simple and challenging: "Achieving water security in the Mediterranean by 2050".
This means working on five dimensions: solving the "trilemma" of water (excess, scarcity, access), protecting its quality, ensuring better governance and community participation, fostering water digitalization, finding the money and political will to make investments.
The study groups and Scientific Committee will work on new and traditional themes (extreme events; water-food-energy-environment; governance and finance; water footprint; blue diplomacy; innovation and AI) illustrated in Barcelona by experts from the IME (European Mediterranean Institute) and One Water and enriched by suggestions and proposals. Among the ones raised during the debate in Barcelona: climate refugees, data exchange, regulatory policies, a "stocktaking moment" on SDG 6 in the Mediterranean area, greater attention to the involvement of the mass media and the theme of communication, finally the attention to the spiritual and artistic dimension that would help build a "pop" and empathetic Forum, capable of speaking beyond the boundaries of experts.
The Forum's work will also benefit from the results of the important project conducted by CIHEAM - Bari this year, mapping priorities, policies, strategies and best practices in the Mediterranean on water use in agriculture and risk prevention and management.
All the suggestions and deserving proposals presented in Barcelona and those that will be sent to the Scientific Committee in the coming months, will be published on a sort of "Acquapedia", a small free, collaborative and multilingual encyclopedia that will be a section of the site.
Let's not forget that, in the first days of work, the Euro-Mediterranean Forum will be enriched by hosting and interacting with the "Water Festival", a traditional two-year event organised by Utilitalia, the Federation that brings together companies operating in public services of Water, Environment, Electricity and Gas in Italy.
To maintain the meaning, direction and usability to such a vast debate, we will also try to provide special thematic paths ("tracks"), common threads among the sessions of the different days to shape "personalised agendas", tailored to your own interests.
We presented the three specific "tracks" of the Forum, introduced by the subjects who will help us organise them: Water Europe for the "European track", INBO (the association that brings together the European Basin Authorities) for the "Local and urban track", the Arab Water Council for the track dedicated to the "Arid countries".
A Forum that aims to make the Euro-Mediterranean area more vocal in the international debate, in view of the United Nations Conference of 2026, feeding the hope of the future, fighting every "eco anxiety" that leads to inaction, showing solutions and innovations, strengthening confidence in man and in the intelligence of a community, the Euro-Mediterranean one, cradle of civilisation and development.
