Green Living Areas Mission – Projects Map
On 5 January 2024, the URWAN project took part in the second edition of the MED Talks, an online high-level event hosted by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and supported by MedCities. The event brought together representatives from across the Mediterranean to discuss progress under the Interreg Euro-MED Programme, with the aim of fostering dialogue, collaboration and complementarity among the 56 selected projects.
MED Talks 2024 built upon the foundations laid by the first edition held in December 2023, further strengthening cooperation between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean. The 2024 edition showcased tangible progress across the Interreg Euro-MED Missions and highlighted the growing involvement of non-EU partners, reinforcing the Programme’s commitment to inclusive and balanced regional cooperation.
Within the framework of the event, the Natural Heritage Mission contributed to a dedicated session focused on ecosystem restoration and biodiversity conservation in the Mediterranean. The discussion underlined the Mission’s alignment with key international and European policy frameworks, including the EU Nature Restoration Law (NRL) and the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), with particular emphasis on Target 2: restoring at least 30% of all degraded ecosystems.
The Mission highlighted its role in bridging policy objectives with concrete, place-based solutions, demonstrating how collaborative approaches can translate ambitious goals into effective action across diverse Mediterranean contexts.
MedCities presented the Mission Policy Recommendations, enriched by inputs from the Specially Protected Areas Regional Activity Centre (UNEP MAP SPA/RAC), focusing on their transferability and uptake. The recommendations outlined practical pathways to achieve restoration objectives, particularly in coastal and marine ecosystems, and stressed the importance of connecting governance levels to ensure coherent and effective strategies. A clear hierarchy of action was reiterated:
prioritising non-degradation, followed by passive restoration, and, where necessary, active restoration.
The session also featured innovative practices from two thematic projects:
- WE GO COOP, which presented its virtual collaborative platform designed to activate participatory governance processes around wetland contracts;
- MPA4Change, which showcased its toolkits for Marine Protected Area (MPA) adaptation action plans and its #MedAlliance campaign.
URWAN within the Community for Living Areas
The Interreg Euro-MED Community for Living Areas was also represented at MED Talks 2024 through the URWAN project, with a dedicated testimony from a taker of results.
The experience of the Municipality of Jerash (Jordan) was presented by Wafaa Hawamdeh, representing the city as an associated partner of the URWAN project.
Jerash, a member of MedCities, shared its perspective on how URWAN’s results are being taken up at local level, illustrating the concrete value of transnational cooperation. The testimony highlighted how the project supports cities in addressing the critical link between urban regeneration, water management and climate change adaptation, through the implementation of Nature-Based Solutions (NbS). URWAN brings together nine partners from seven Mediterranean countries, jointly working to influence decision-making processes and to multiply the impact of public investments. By capitalising on innovative participatory approaches and existing NbS, the project demonstrates the importance of making nature-based solutions multifunctional and transferable across different urban contexts. The results of URWAN are expected to be particularly valuable for MedCities members interested in increasing climate resilience. As underlined by the Municipality of Jerash, the project’s outputs will contribute to strengthening knowledge and capacities within local administrations and among urban planners, especially in relation to water reuse and NbS in urban areas, supporting more efficient resource use and more effective responses to climate change.
MED Talks continue to represent a key platform for dialogue, knowledge exchange and cross-fertilisation in the Mediterranean region. The 2024 edition reaffirmed the importance of aligning project activities with policy frameworks and of fostering cooperation among local, national and regional actors. By bringing together diverse perspectives and experiences, MED Talks 2024 demonstrated how cross-border collaboration can drive meaningful and lasting change across the Mediterranean.
