AGRICULTURE AND URBANISATION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION:
ENABLING POLICIES FOR SUSTAINABLE USE OF SOIL AND WATER

Concerted Action financed by the European Commission INCO-DC (Dg XII)
Contract no. IC18 - CT98 - 0268

Scientific Coordinator: Dino Borri, Department of Architecture and Town Planning, Polytechnic of Bari, Italy
Contractor: CIHEAM IAM-Bari
 

CA OBJESTIVES AND CONTENTS    LIST OF PARTNERS     PARTNER COUNTRIES

CA OBJESTIVES AND CONTENTS:

• OBJECTIVES
  The general objective is to connect and co-ordinate the ongoing and future research efforts aiming at a sustainable use of natural resources - in particular soil and water- in the Mediterranean region, in the context of urbanisation processes and their interdependency with agricultural and industrial activities.
  Furthermore, the purpose is to develop interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and cross- sectoral scientific approaches to foster scenario building in local-global policies and to verify their feasibility with appropriate private and public stakeholders.
  Specific objectives are:
  a) Prevent the unsustainable use of natural resources, and mitigate the effects of urbanisation on soil and water use in the Mediterranean region.
  b) Study on how to improve economic productivity of scarce natural resources (soil and water).
  c) Promote research on ecosystem management involving the partnership of private and public stakeholders.
  d) Integrate the use of advanced detection technologies with a close and friendly observation of, and participation in, community processes in order to build scenarios based on adequate knowledge, helping concerted and feasible urbanisation/agriculture policies.
  e) Establish a sustainable data base link through electronic networks and a CD-ROM on the use of natural resources in the Mediterranean region in order to couple economic and biophysical data as a support to eco-systemic research and socio-political awareness.
   
   
• ACTIVITIES
  This Concerted Action will address and identify policy research options on three main interrelated and cross-sectoral issues, all bearing upon the sustainable use and management of natural resources, with emphasis on soil, water and coastal zones.
  The approach that has been chosen is a multidisciplinary and transectoral one, as we believe the most appropriate to promote co-operative research programmes in order to tackle problems such as: high rate of urbanisation, predominant agricultural activities, increasing environmental problems affecting fragile ecosystems.
  Those aspects are coupled with the specific need and efforts towards integrated strategies in order to favour jobs creation especially in the fields of tourism and services and in the manufacturing industry and aiming to preserve and to lend greater value to soil and water esource in the prospect of the emergence of the Euro-Med Free Trade Zone.
  In this context it will focus on:
  - Interdependency between urbanisation and agriculture;
  - The development of tourism and coastal zone management;
  - Opportunities for sustainable economic growth in the context of economic globalisation and the progressive emergence of a Mediterranean Free Trade Zone.
  The examination of these issues and the outline of related scenarios will be jointly carried out by policy makers from Mediterranean region and researchers in different disciplines from South Mediterranean region and EU countries, aiming at building policies consistent with:
  sustainability in use of natural resources, complementarity between urbanisation and agriculture, local economic and cultural identity preservation especially in tourist and coastal zones.
  After a preliminary stage of exchanging and structuring ideas on relevant local problems, three research meetings will be organized, scenarios will be built, training stages on data collection and analysis will be carried out, and concerted activities will be promoted among partners, highlighting local/global agreements and conflicts on environmental decisions and actions.
  The last stage will consist in making data, information, and results of CA exchangeable and comparable among partners, also using for this purpose management information systems.
  In all stages, meta-analytical, communicative, social learning approaches, and in particular the "soft approaches" recently emerging from the Operations Research field, including problem structuring methods, futures studies and sensitivity analysis, will be used in integration with harder methods and techniques stemming from cognitive science and information technology, including Intelligent and Multimedia Systems, spatio-temporal monitoring systems and GISs.
   
   
• RESULTS
  Scientific-technical results
  (i) increased knowledge of scenario building techniques for sustainable use of soil and water resources among policy makers and other actors;
  (ii) spreading knowledge about sustainable ways for meeting the emerging demands of urbanization and agricultural production;
  (iii) contributing to better analyses and monitoring of soil and water quality changes in urban fringes by networking and promotion of general MISs abilities;
  (iv) promoting models of integrated community-environment framework of self-sustainable socio-economic development;
  (v) indirect future change of environmental soil and water decay, due to potential improvement of management quality for ongoing changes of ecosystems in the buffer zone urban land-agricultural land;
  (vi) indirect future change of agricultural production, according to the new policy guidelines and technology advancements induced by this project in the long run;
  (vii) tendency to modification of urban landscapes on the urban fringes according to new policy and planning guidelines aimed at protecting rural and natural spaces;
  (viii) promotion of a stable and inter-active Mediterranean network involving both researchers and public and private stakeholders;
  (ix) management of information needs by Intelligent and Multimedia Systems, spatio- temporal monitoring systems and GISs.

  Deliverables
  (x) CD-ROM aiming at disseminating the CA main results;
  (xi) short advanced training course on data collection and analysis.
  (xii) meetings and publications on interdependencies between agriculture and urbanisation and documentation on scenarios
  (xiii) data base links and Info-Newsletter using electronic networks to exchange information and research outcomes with other Concerted Actions and research teams.
   
   

• FOLLOW-UP
  Forthcoming year
  Initiating electronic network for information exchange with other CAs and research teams.
  Organising a one week advanced training course on data collection and analysis carried out.
  Organising cross-sectoral meeting and building scenarios on "Interdependency between Agriculture and Urbanisation"
  Starting the production of database links, WWW dissemination and Info-Newsletter.

  Remaining three years
  Organising cross-sectoral meeting and building scenarios on "The Development of Tourism and Coastal Zone Management" and "Opportunities for Sustainable Growth in the Context of Economic Globalisation and Progressive Emergence of Euro-Med Free Trade Zone
  Producing database links, WWW dissemination and Info-Newsletter.
  Exchanging of data and tools for defining MISs on CA research topics.
  Organising a Workshop with representatives of local community decision-makers to discuss and test theme scenarios and MISs: documentation on agreed outcomes.
  Producing a CD-ROM for diffusion of CA outcomes on data collection and analyses.
   
   

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LIST OF PARTNERS AND STEERING GROUP (SG) COMPONENTS:

1. Mr Dino BORRI (Coordinator, SG), Polytechnic of Bari, Department of Town Planning
   Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari - Italy
   Tel: (39) 080.5963.347
   Fax: (39) 080.5963.348
   Disciplines: Urban and Regional Planning
2. Mr Rüsen KELES, Ernst Reuter Center for Urban Studies, Faculty of Political Sciences, Ankara University
   Cebeci 06590, Ankara - Turkiye
   Tel./Fax: (90) 312.319.77.36
   Disciplines: Political science; Public aministration and law; Expert in urbanization policy, comparative urbanization, policies on environment
3. Mr Mohammed ELLOUMI, Institut de Recherche sur le Maghreb Contemporain (IRMC)
   20, Rue Mohammed Ali Tahar, Mutuelleville - 1002 Tunis - Tunisie
   Tel. (216) 1.796.722
   Fax (216) 1.796.376
   Disciplines: Agro-economist
4. Mr Driss BEN ALI (SG), Universite' Mohamed V - Agdal - Centre d'Etudes Strategiques, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Internationale
   Boulevard des Nations Unies - B.P. 721, Agdal - Rabat - Maroc
   Tel./Fax (212) 7.60.22.49
   Disciplines: Economics and development; International economics
5. Ms Michelle BORG, Planning authority, Floriana - St Francis Revlin
   P.O. Box 200 - Valletta, Malta
   Tel.: (356) 22.90.15.46
   Fax: (356) 22.48.46
   Disciplines: Coastal planning
6. Mr Abdelghani ABOUHANI, Institut National d'Amenagement ed d'Urbanisme
   Hay Riad - Secteur 20, Bloc 117, Rabat, Maroc
   Tel./Fax (212) 7.71.21.79
   Disciplines: Town planning; Studies on the mechanism and forms peripherical urbanization
7. Mrs Nur SOZEN, 9.cadde 401.sokak no.14, Akademililer Sitesi Ilkyerleçim Mahallesi
   06370 Batikent - Ankara - Turkiye
   Tel. (90) 232.797.78.22
   Fax (90) 312.426.13.72
   Disciplines: Advanced Environment management; Environmental impact assessment; Sustainable tourism
8. Mr Abdelkader FRADI, Ministere de l'Equipment et de l'Habitat
   Avenue Habib Chrita - 1002 Belvedere Tunis - Tunisie
   Fax (216) 1.799.741
   Disciplines: Urbanism
9. Mr Thierry RIEU, CEMAGREF, Chef du Laboratoire d'Irrigation
   361, rue J.F. Breton - B.P. 5095 - 34033 Montpellier Cedex - France
   Tel. (33) 4.67.04.63.51
   Fax (33) 4.67.63.57.95
   Disciplines: Irrigation and water in agriculture; Water economics; Negotiation in water management
10. Mr Amor MTIMET (SG), Ministere de l'Agriculture - Direction des Sols
    Rue Hedi Karray, 2049 Ariana - Tunisie
    Tel. (216) 1.718.901
    Fax (216) 1.718.208
    Disciplines: Soil sciences; Ecology, Ecosystems; Environmental Planning
11. Mr Abdellah LAOUINA, Faculte des Lettres et Sciences Humaine, Chaire Unesco-Gas Natural "Gestion de l'Environnement et Developpement Durable"
    Rabat - Maroc
    Fax (212) 7.77.20.68
    Disciplines: Geography; Environmental sciences
12. Mr Frans MALLIA, Team Manager, Environmental Management Unit, Planning authority, Floriana - St Francis Revlin
    P.O. Box 200 - Valletta, Malta
    Tel.: (356) 22.90.15.46
    Fax: (356) 22.48.46
    Disciplines: Environmental management; Planning; Architecture
13. Mr Donato ROMANO (SG), Universita' di Firenze, Dipartimento Economia Estimativo Agrario e Forestale
    P.le delle Cascine 18, 50144 Firenze - Italy
    Tel. (39) 055.32.88.244/363
    Fax (39) 055.36.80.57
    Disciplines: Agricultural economics
14. Mr Fdo. Carlos AUERNHEIMER (SG), Universidad de Alicante, Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra y del Medio Ambiente
    Ap. Correus 99, E-03080 Alicante - Spain
    Tel./Fax (34) 96.590.35.52
    Disciplines: Geology
15. Mr Alfonso DO Ó, Associação Terras Dentro (NGO)
    Rua Rosso de Pinheiro, 7095 Alcaçovas, Portugal
    Tel. (351) 266.94.80.70
    Fax (351) 266.94.80.71
    Disciplines: Geography; Regional planning; Branch natural resources; Land use
16. Mr Giuseppe ENNE, NRD - Nucleo di ricerca sulla Desertificazione, c/o Dipartimento di Scienze Zootecniche - Facolta' di Agraria, Universita' degli Studi di Sassari
    Via E. De Nicola - 07100 Sassari, Italie
    Tel. (39) 079.22.93.03 / 079.22.93.04
    Fax (39) 079 22.93.02
    Disciplines: Agricultural sciences; Animal biodiversity; Forestry; Natural resources management
17. Mr David HIGGITT, Department of Geography, University of Durham, Science Laboratories
    South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
    Tel. (44) 191.374.24.87
    Fax (44) 191.374.24.56
    Disciplines: Physical geography (especially geomorphology and soils); Environmental management
18. Mr Abdul KHAKEE (SG), Department of Political Science, University of Umea
    Sweden
    Tel. (46) 90.78.66.36
    Fax (46) 90.78.66.81
    Disciplines: Economics; Human geography; Political science
19. Mrs Angela BARBANENTE (SG), Polytechnic of Bari, School of Engineering in Taranto
    Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari - Italy
    Tel: (39) 080.5963.453
    Fax: (39) 080.5963.348
    Disciplines: Urban and regional planning
20. Mr Harry COCCOSSIS, University of Aegean, Department of Environmental Studies
    30 Voulgaroktonou str. 114, Athens - Greece.
    Tel. (30) 1.68.00.051/1
    Fax (30) 1.68.00.053
    Disciplines: City and regional planning
     
     

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1. PARTNER COUNTRIES INVOLVED IN THE CA:

   

   France | Greece | Italy | Malta | Morocco | Portugal | Spain | Sweden | Tunisia | Turkey | United Kingdom
    
    

   COUNTRIES INVOLVED AS CASE STUDIES IN THE CA:

   

   Jordan | Lebanon | Syria

   
   
   

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