WHLab
Water Harvesting Lab
Projects
Ongoing projects:
RESILIENT - AID 013244/09/7
Diversified, sustainable and inclusive value chains in Ethiopia Ref
Objectives: to respond to the food security and nutrition needs of the Ethiopian region of Tigray, recently subjected to an internal conflict that ended in November 2022, leading to a worsening of the already precarious living conditions.
Funding: Italian Development Cooperation Agency (AICS)
Countries involved: Ethiopia
Project duration: 36 months
Starting date: October 28th, 2025
SHARE
Shared Innovations for Mediterranean Agroforestry Systems (SHARE)
Objectives: The overall objective of SHARE is to co-design innovations to improve the efficiency, productivity, and sustainability of Mediterranean agroforestry systems.
Funding: Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area Programme (PRIMA)
Countries involved: Italy, Portugal, France, Tunisia, Cyprus, Morocco
Project duration: 36 months
Starting date: June 1st, 2025
DOWES
Disclosing the Overlooked Wetlandscape Ecosystem Services
Objective: The main objective of DOWES is to resolve the interlinkages between water availability in wetlandscapes, their responses and stressors, and the provision of ecosystem services within and beyond their area of influence through synthesis across multiple wetlandscapes. Comprised of six well-known institutions across Sweden, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and Brazil, DOWES will, in five work packages, address the main objective across six iconic wetlandscape ecosystems.
Funding: Water4All Joint Call
Countries involved: Sweden, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Brazil
Project duration: 36 months
Starting date: March 1st, 2025
RE-FARM
Research on agroecological innovations for increasing resilience to climate change in Cuanza Sul and Benguela
Objective: The project aims to contribute to the transformation of the agriculture sector in Angola through research and innovation. Holistic improvement of smallholders’ productivity, in the face of climate change in 2 provinces of the Central Highlands Area (Planalto Central).
Funding: EuropeAid
Countries involved: Angola
Project duration: 48 months
Starting date: August 1st, 2022
Link: https://europa.eu/capacity4dev/desira/wiki/re-farm
Past projects:
AG-WaMED
Advancing non conventional water management for innovative climate-resilient water governance in the Mediterranean Area
Objective: The project aims at providing innovative, evidence-based participatory management solutions to water scarcity governance that can be scaled at the Mediterranean level. The project will reach its envisioned objectives through a transdisciplinary approach, integrating the state of the art of land, water and agronomic modelling to support evidence-based water management in four Living Labs located in Mediterranean watersheds (including a transboundary case).
Funding: Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area Programme (PRIMA)
Countries involved: Italy, Algeria, Tunisia, Spain, Egypt, the Netherlands
Project duration: 36 months
Starting date: September 1st, 2022
Link: https://agwamed.eu/
ERASMUS+ KA171
Objective: Mobility project for students and teachers involving the University of Florence, the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, and the University of Nairobi.
Funding: Erasmus+
Countries involved: Italy, Kenya, Malawi.
Project duration: 36 months
Starting date: August 1st, 2022
Link: https://www.dagri.unifi.it/vp-819-erasmus-azione-ka-107-international-credit-mobility.html
SALAM-MED
Sustainable Approaches to LAnd and water Management in MEditerranean Drylands
Objective: The project aims to identify, test and validate tailored, “nature-based” practical solutions to enhance the resilience of endangered MED dryland socio-ecological systems or to restore degraded ecosystems in arid and hyper-arid lands. New scientific-based knowledge, integrated tools and processes will be developed, ground tested and validated through the Living Labs (LL) to address LD and water management across a wide range of “hotspots” of dryland socio-ecological systems.
Funding: Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area Programme (PRIMA)
Countries involved: Italy, Egypt, Spain, France, Greece, Morocco, Tunisia and State of Palestine
Project duration: 36 months
Starting date: April 1st, 2022
Link: https://www.salam-med.org/
Hydro-Farm-Vet
Objective: Hydro-Farm-Vet project aims to increase basic competence and support competitiveness and employment at regional, national and European level being acclimatized with both the priority of fight against climate change as well as the increase of flexibility of VET opportunities.
Funding: ERASMUS+ KA220
Countries involved: France, Italy, Greece, Czech Republic, Slovenia
Project duration: 2022 - 2025
Link: https://www.hydrofarmvet.eu
Desk study on "Best Siting of Water Harvesting Structures in Somalia with a focus on its arid parts"
Objective: The purpose of this study is to to identify the best sites for water harvesting structures in the most arid parts of Somalia where the need is the highest, and to produce suitable dissemination material
Funding: FAO Somalia
Countries involved: Somalia
Project duration: April - November 2024
Acesso Melhorado a Agua para fortalecimento da Segurança Alimentaria e Nutricional de famílias vulneráveis em Namibe
Improved water access to strengthen food security of vulnerable families in Namibe
Objective: The project aims to contribute to the reduction of hunger, poverty and vulnerability to food and nutrition insecurity in Namibe Province by improving food diversity and quality and access to water in vulnerable rural population, particularly children.
Funding: FRESAN - Fortalecimento da Resiliência e da Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional em Angola
Countries involved: Angola
Project duration: 2022 - 2024
NEXUS-NESS
NEXUS Nature Ecosystem Society Solution
Objective: The project aims to prototype a comprehensive data-driven technology in the form of a GIS-based data-driven platform, to manage in a sustainable way the so-called Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE). The solutions will be co-designed, co-developed, co-tested by multiple actors of the WEFE Nexus in four target catchments.
Funding: Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area Programme (PRIMA)
Countries involved: Italy, Spain, Egypt, Tunisia
Project duration: 2021 - 2025
Link: https://prima-nexus-ness.org/
PRRPB - Burundi Landscape Restoration and Resilience Project
Objective: The project aims to restore land productivity in targeted degraded landscapes and, in the event of an eligible crisis or emergency, to provide immediate and effective response to said eligible crisis or emergency.
Funding: World Bank
Countries involved: Burundi
Project duration: 2019 - 2024
Link: https://projects.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/project-detail/P160613
FAO Building Forward Better
Objective: The project is a consultancy for the FAO Building Forward Better program for training of agricultural services officers in three African countries. The Water Harvesting Lab is involved in a module on water harvesting and agroforestry.
Funding: FAO
Countries Involved: Niger, Mali, Libya
Project duration: April - December 2022
Link: https://www.fao.org/in-action/building-forward-better/en
AGRIWATER
Innovative and Sustainable Measures of Keeping Water in the Agricultural Landscape
Objective: The project aimed to support farmers and landowners by providing innovative educational materials about sustainable on-farm water management to improve water efficiency in the agricultural landscape.
Funding: EU (Erasmus+)
Countries Involved: Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany, Cyprus, Spain, Italy
Project duration: 2020 - 2022
Link: https://agriwater.eu/ https://learning.agriwater.eu/
TransÁgua: Valorização das boas práticas dos pastores transumantes em gestão dos recursos hídricos and adaptação àsmudanças climáticas
(Enhancing the good practices of transhumant shepherds in managing water resources and adapting to climate change)
Objective: The project aimed to increase the resilience of agro-pastoral communities in the province of Namibe, against effects of climate change. WHLab is involved in planning and support to the implementation of Water Harvesting structures (Sand Dams, Flood Wells and Vallerani micro catchments).
Funding: FRESAN - Fortalecimento da Resiliência e da Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional em Angola
Countries Involved: Angola
Project duration: 2020 - 2022