The project BIOGASMENA follows an innovative, integrated and multi-disciplinary approach for the development of biogas technology and know-how in the ERA and the MENA region, combining technology transfer and laboratory research with academic exchanges, communication and training activities directed to both the general public, especially small farmers from the MENA region, and the academic community, with a particular focus on young researchers. The project includes the following tasks: (1) building dry fermentation biogas plant at pilot scale, (2) building a hybrid energy system at pilot scale, combining biogas, solar and wind energies for autonomous electricity supply, (3) equipping biogas laboratories in Algeria and Tunisia, (4) investigating biogas production in the MENA region, in particular via dry fermentation in lab-scale and bench-scale experiments, (5) including results into an online database for modeling of bioconversion kinetics, (6) optimizing digestate treatment, characterization and utilization, (7) investigating the combination of biogas production with microalgae cultivation, (8) LCA and techno-economic analyzes of designs for biogas production in the MENA region, (9) training young researchers from the MENA region in EU, in particular by following CIHEAM courses (10) informing of the research community, farmers, and the general public about biogas technology. A small-scale pilot plant of 5m3, with a planned electrical power of 500W will be built in Tunisia with concerted efforts from the partners. A thermal solar heating system will be implemented to maintain the temperature of the reactors. The biogas plant will be integrated into a hybrid system with solar photovoltaic and wind energy for grid-independent (island) electricity production, and serve as a demonstration platform for future research in the MENA region. Research laboratories in the MENA region will be equipped. In Tunisia as well, dry fermentation reactors will be built at the laboratory and coupled with a module for dewatering and ultrafiltration, which will be connected to microalgae cultures. In Algeria, a highly efficient, patented methane potential assay developed previously at the University of Hohenheim, will be installed. In the MENA region and EU, concerted research efforts will be carried out to optimize the biogas process, in particular with dry fermentation, focusing on temperature level, structure of the feedstocks, nutrient balance, as well as trace metals supply and supplementation. The quality and maturity of digestates from dry fermentation will be analyzed, and tested for plant growth in pot experiments. Furthermore, innovative digestate treatment methods will be tested, including a system for ammonia recovery during drying of digestate, and the cultivation of saline microalgae and mixotrophic microalgae fed with the liquid fraction of digestate. Young Researchers from the MENA region will move to EU to work on practical topics of the project. Promising young students will be sent to CIHEAM-IAMB in Bari to follow the International Master course in Land and Water Engineering, with second-year secondments on the project. Finally, experiences of rural communities in Egypt with household biogas production based on Indian-type digesters will be analyzed, and the techno-economic potential for the implementation of dry fermentation for electricity production will be studied.

Productive land resources in Egypt are under multiple natural and human pressure that are leading to soil degradation and desertification. Agriculture land conservation is a high priority for Egypt. Several efforts have been undertaken by the government authorities of Egypt to reduce desertification processes and preserve land productivity but they have faced a wide range of obstacles, mostly related to : i) improper and irrational land use policy and planning; ii) lack of scientific knowledge and technical expertise to cope with complex problems; iii) absence of national, regional and international networking and an ineffective mechanisms for technology transfer, exchange of experience and cooperation at different levels. ILHAMEC project is intended to develop a postgraduate Master on Sustainable Land Management (SLM) within the curricula of four Egyptian universities supported by three EU ones adopting the strategy to first train teachers. During its life time, the consortium envisages to reach many results such as: studies, surveys, access to open digital contents, web learning tools, teachers training materials, an educational web-based simulation game on SLM, educational innovative video-lessons, new Master curricula, workshops and seminars. All the resources will be accessed easily, reused and adapted by the project target groups (mainly teachers, students and HEIs) at local, regional, national and European levels. Sustainability will be ensured by identifying individuals and groups or institutions that will take over its animation and moderation. ILHAMEC will have a strong impact within the same partners of the Consortium through the process of sharing knowledge, challenges and solutions. Additional stakeholders will benefit from the project as the main outcome is to spread knowledge and awareness on SLM issues and on the importance to improve quality in HEIs for increasing technical and analytic skills of young students.

An IT-based, multi-disciplinary diploma accompanied with 4 professional certificate programs in clinical toxicology targeting both pharmacists, physicians (and nurses in the certificate programs) in a cross-cutting education discipline is at hand with a goal to introduce a new line of qualified professionals capable to manage, attend and deal with increasing threat of natural and synthetic poisons and poison agents in various disciplines such as agricultural, industrial, petrochemical, pharmaceutical as well as domestic and home usage. In-spite of the growing use of chemicals in various industrial, domestic and home applications, very poor awareness about the toxic risks of chemicals is evident in a country with over 90 Million inhabitants and a frightening increasing rate of chemical use and abuse. This shall be realized by an EG and EU accredited one-year 60 ECTS multi-track diploma, 45 ECTS of which are covering fundamental modules serving both pharmacists and physicians, while the remaining 15 ECTS are in two separate pharmacists/physicians specialization tracks. The one-month 5 ECTS professional certificates are designed to serve particular areas with extensive practical and hands-on skills content. Both the diploma and the certificate programs incorporate intensive implementation of e-laboratories covering most of the lab work that would require complicated simulations or tests on life samples to be the 1st in that domain in Egypt integrating ICT and e-labs/e-learning technologies as a main ingredient in content and delivery means. The targets of this program are professional pharmacists and physicians in hospitals, in poison control centers, pharmaceutical companies or employed in health departments in industrial enterprises. The proposed diploma shall be developed in cooperation between universities, public authorities and NGOs. A wide community impact is expected as outlined by various stakeholders from the academia and health-related authorities.

Population growth drives up local demand for food and energy resources and induce a negative impact on the ecosystems due to waste accumulation and greenhouse gas emissions. Slaughterhouses produce large amounts of solid and liquid waste, containing a high organic load, which constitutes a threat to ecosystems and a risk to human health. Their management is even more challenging as it is complicated by the overconsumption of water. The blood, stomach contents, urine and faeces of the animals and possibly other organic constituents are drained with the cleaning water to the sewage system. Because the slaughterhouse waste (SHW) contains large amounts of fats, proteins, lipids, and organic matter, it becomes a potential source for producing biogas (methane), biohydrogen and other value-added products. The bioenergy produced can support addressing rural population energy needs in rural areas, and energy self-sufficiency for slaughterhouses. In this context, an integrated approach will be developed to overcome these environmental and socio-economic problems and to develop effective strategies to recover and valorize effluent streams for applications mainly in energy production. The BIOTHEREP project which is mainly within topic 1 and 5 of the call, aims to develop an integrated strategy to produce bioenergy from slaughterhouses wastes, and to implement solutions responding concretely to the global and regional objectives of sustainable development in a circular economy aspect. The BIOTHEREP approach combines biochemical (BCC) and thermochemical conversion (TCC) (pyrolysis, gasification) processes to produce renewable energies. The obtained solid digestate from BCC will be processed by a TCC to produce biochar by pyrolysis, and syngas by gasification. The biochar will be used as a precursor for improving CH4 and H2 production, and for in-situ CO2 removal. Syngas (mainly H2 and CO) could be used as a fuel to produce thermal energy. This hybrid system outputs are contributing to the bioenergy production, and they are good local and regional alternatives to imported activated carbons and conventional energy sources. The use of the proposed approach will be justified in the context of ensuring economically and environmentally sustainable development both at the regional and international levels. The mechanism for such an assessment will be based on an integrated approach, including a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the internal and external sustainability of the proposed project. The integrated approach will be developed in collaboration between the eleven R&D institutions from Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, South Africa, Italy, Germany and France, including two private companies from Germany and South Africa. It will be implemented under eight Work Packages (WP) for 24 months. Each partner will be responsible for its own WP or task and could be involved in other WPs led by other partners to ensure synergy between the teams.

Euro-Mediterranean policies, as well as research on them, have been characterized by a Euro-centric approach based on a narrow geopolitical construction of the Mediterranean. Moreover, stakeholders, policy instruments, and policy issues have been defined from a European standpoint, marginalizing the perspectives and needs of local states and people, and ignoring the role played by new and powerful regional and global actors. In an increasingly multipolar world, overcoming this Euro-centric approach is key for Europe to play a more meaningful role in the region. Thus, MEDRESET aims to reset our understanding of the Mediterranean and develop alternative visions for a new partnership and corresponding EU policies, reinventing a future role for the EU as an inclusive, flexible, and responsive ‘actor’ in the region. This will be achieved through an integrated research design which is in three phases: it 1) de-constructs the EU construction of the Mediterranean, 2) counters it by mapping the region on the geopolitical level and in four key policy areas (political ideas, agriculture and water, industry and energy, migration and mobility) alongside a three-dimensional framework (stakeholders, policy instruments, policy issues), which directly feeds into 3) a reconstruction of a new role for the EU, enhancing its ability to exert reflexive leadership and thus its relevance in the region. Embedded in an interdisciplinary research team, as well as in a civil society and media network, MEDRESET evaluates the effectiveness and potential of EU policies by investigating whether current policies still match the changing geopolitical configuration of the Mediterranean area. The perceptions of EU policies and the reasons for their successes or failures are assessed by surveying top-down and bottom-up stakeholders on both shores of the Mediterranean. Country-tailored policy recommendations for the EU will be given for four key countries: Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia.