The 'Wat'Savereuse' initiative is funded by the 'Life' Program and coordinated by the Mediterranean Pyrenees Euroregion, or EPM with the participation of the Balearic Water Agency and the Balearic Tourism Strategy Agency or Aetib.
The project was launched on Monday by the General Director of Water Resources, Joana Garau; the General Secretary of the Balearic Water Agency, Juan Calvo and the Director of Aetib, Antònia Alomar. Representatives from institutions in Catalonia and Occitania who are taking part in the project were also at the meeting.
“This project is a great opportunity to work together with Catalonia and Occitania and share communication strategies which will make the public in general and tourists in particular more aware of the need to save and reuse water,” said Garau.
“It is a necessary and fundamental project to respond to the current context of climatic emergency that the Mediterranean region is suffering from due to severe droughts,” added Calvo, who described the project as an opportunity for the Balearic Water Agency and Aetib to work together to communicate and generate a change in habits and practices in the Tourism Sector.”
Alomar agreed with Calvo, saying “It's important for Aetib to be able to participate for the first time in a 'Life' project and to be able to develop concrete actions that make the Tourism Sector more aware of the need to reduce water consumption.”
Benefits
The three year project has a total budget of 1,587,985 euros and 873,391 of that has been contributed by the European Union. The rest will be co-financed by each of the partners and the Balearic Water Agency will contribute 67,153 euros.
The main objective of 'Wat'Savereuse' is to highlight the benefits of water reuse and the opportunities that implementing initiatives that promote a circular economy model based on the reduction of water consumption can bring to the Tourism Sector.
The project has a consortium of nine participants from Catalonia, Occitania and the Balearic Islands.
The Balearic Chemical Industry Cluster, or CliqIB will participate on behalf of the Islands; the Eurecat Foundation, Catalan Water Agency, or ACA, Catalan Tourism Agency, or ACT, Catalan Water Cluster or CWP and the Catalan Water Agency will participate on behalf of Catalonia and the Occitania Economic Development, or AD’OCC and the World Water Competitiveness Cluster or Aquavalley will participate on behalf of Occitania.
The project aims to help alleviate the problem of water scarcity and drought through awareness campaigns that will encourage tourists to reduce their water consumption by at least 10% when they’re staying in hotels.
It also aims to sensitise interest groups in the Tourism Industry and encourage them to implement solutions, strengthen collaboration between public administrations and value chain operators and reduce global freshwater consumption by 30%.
The plan is to promote actions and collaborations between companies that present advanced solutions in the Water Sector, end users and public entities and other representatives in the Tourism Sector.
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