On 8 September 2025, at the Giornate dell’idrologia 2025 of the Italian Hydrological Society at Politecnico di Bari, our project partner University of Parma presented the latest results of the OurMED project, funded by the PRIMA programme.

On 9 August 2025, the Fourth Meeting of the Mujib Basin National Committee was held at the Landmark Hotel in Amman, gathering representatives from the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Municipalities, the Jordan Valley Authority, Mutah University, the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, and various experts and stakeholders in the water sector.

From July 23 to 26, 2025, Living Planet Morocco represented the OurMED project at the Ifrane International Festival, one of Morocco's major cultural and environmental events. This was an opportunity to raise awareness among a wide audience about nature conservation, sustainable water management, and ecosystem protection.

The OurMED project was represented at the international conference of the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), held from 24 to 28 June 2025 in Palermo, Italy, under the theme “New challenges in understanding and managing water-related risks in a changing environment.”

Since the end of May 2025, Albufera Lagoon has been undergoing a brownification event, a phenomenon characterized by a noticeable darkening of surface waters. This change, clearly captured by recent Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, shows elevated NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) values, which are closely linked to increased chlorophyll concentrations in surface waters. The timing of this event aligns with a period of rising temperatures and prolonged lack of precipitation, raising concerns among environmental scientists and local stakeholders.

Within the framework of OurMED project, a specialized training workshop on “Classification of Insects as Bioindicators of Water System Health in the Mujib Basin” was held at the headquarters of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN). The event brought together researchers and research assistants from the University of Jordan and the RSCN, with the aim of strengthening their practical skills and scientific knowledge in the field of aquatic biodiversity monitoring.

The two-day training focused on the use of freshwater insect species as biological indicators for assessing the ecological health of freshwater systems. 

Experts emphasized the growing importance of bioindicators in environmental research and conservation, especially in fragile ecosystems like the Mujib Basin, a key area for biodiversity and freshwater resources in Jordan.

This collaborative initiative reflects a shared commitment between academia and conservation institutions to promote evidence-based approaches to water management and to empower young researchers with the tools needed to support sustainable environmental practices.