WE&B’s latests news

Catalunya drought and water conservation in Barcelona

WE&B is contracted to the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in the new project «Report on green, circular economy at Mediterranean level»  Striving for Social and Economic Impact drives WE&B.  This idea is clear and prevailing in the new WE&B project that kicked off in January where our environmental consultancy services will be provided to […]

Did you know thatsustainability has a human dimension? (Vallance et al 2011) This is what we call “social sustainability”,whichisabout identifying and managingthebusiness impacts, both positive and negative,on people (United Nations GlobalCompact). In nature, everything is connected and, if we want to pursuesustainable development, wehave to do it through a holistic approach. This means that we [...]

On the 20th of May, the Spanish law on climate change and energy transition finally entered into force. Finally? Indeed, the law has taken more than a decade to pass since Congress called for it.

WE&B has the good fortune to welcome as part of our team two strong young professionals in Josefine Nytofte and Miram Thiemann. Josefine joins WE&B as an Environmental Systems consultant with her expertise in climate change adaptation and mitigation research and education, sustainability analyse, sustainable business models, ecosystem services and nature-based solutions. She has previously […]

Today, Mathias Brummer from WE&B published an interview with Mari Carmen Romera on water conflicts in Morocco: the case of the Réserve de Biosphere de l’Arganeraie.

An ideology? A political creation? An act of God? As much as people will want to deny it, the Arctic is melting, temperatures are rising, droughts are occurring, Climate Change is a reality which one will only choose not to believe because perhaps you close your eyes to the realities of what is happening to […]

In my experience, I have rarely been made aware of coastal or river sand mining in academic terms or in my daily life. Only recently have I heard the term in my master’s course, in developmental reports and here at WE&B. However, did you know that the Economist (2017) reports that sand and gravel are […]

I recently had the pleasure to be home, in Africa, in the Bush away from the dangerously high air pollution levels in Mexico City (to which the government has closed schools, advised its citizens not to be out doors between 11:00 and 19:00, taken cars off the road and launched a “Movievete en Bici” (Move […]

It has made international news, it has made an American dentist infamous and has left a country without one of its biggest tourist attractions. Cecil the lion was wounded by an arrow on the 1 July 2015 and later killed some 40 hours later. It is alleged that Walter Palmer, the American dentist, paid US$50,000 [...]

At the recent Water Week Latin America in Chile (April 2015), WE&B had the opportunity to interview Mrs Monica Porto. At the recent Water Week Latin America in Chile (April 2015), WE&B had the opportunity to interview Mrs Monica Porto the Deputy Secretary for Water and Sanitation in Sõa Paulo, Brazil. As had been widely [...]

The number of SMEs working within the water industry in Europe is vast, according to EuroStat there are over 9000 active SMEs, that provide at least 600,000 direct jobs in the water sector in Europe... However, if we consider that large companies have a monopoly on the treatment and production of water services, it makes [...]

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. For of those of you that are very familiar with Spaghetti Westerns, you will be well acquainted with the movie “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”. The movie, set in the old west, in my point of view, has a number of similarities to European water companies [...]

WE&B, together with the assistance of the AfriAlliance consortium, undertook a Social Network Analysis (SNA) to provide insight into who has the power, influence, and networking-ability [...]

WE&B used a combination of structured interviews held with experts on the nexus between biodiversity and cultural practices from 9 case studies in the Mediterranean, as well as a literature review.  The study found that a significant amount of cultural practices related to biodiversity exist in the Mediterranean basin. We discovered that there is a link […]

Sustainable development in Africa is reliant on increasing the viable use of water resources without significantly degrading ecosystem services, which are fundamental to human well-being. This is particularly challenging in Africa due to the high spatial and temporal variability of available water resources. As stated by the IPCC in 2014 “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, [...]

The interconnected coastal and marine environment of the West African Countries is a highly productive ecosystem of significant marine biological diversity. It also underpins a significant portion of livelihood opportunities of the coastal communities, home to a third of its people and the source of about half of its GDP. However, several assessments based on [...]

Catalunya drought and water conservation in Barcelona

WE&B is contracted to the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in the new project «Report on green, circular economy at Mediterranean level»  Striving for Social and Economic Impact drives WE&B.  This idea is clear and prevailing in the new WE&B project that kicked off in January where our environmental consultancy services will be provided to […]

WE&B has the good fortune to welcome as part of our team two strong young professionals in Josefine Nytofte and Miram Thiemann. Josefine joins WE&B as an Environmental Systems consultant with her expertise in climate change adaptation and mitigation research and education, sustainability analyse, sustainable business models, ecosystem services and nature-based solutions. She has previously […]

Social Network Analysis (SNA) is a powerful way of analysing the social structure of your network. But, we get it, it can be an abstract concept that needs debugging! Here we attempt to [...]

What a year! At the end of 2019, who would have guessed that 1 year later the biggest phrases of 2020 would be: “I think you are on mute” and “Have you seen my face mask anywhere?”

It is our great pleasure to bring to be able to provide the Social Network Analysis service. We have been developing, designing, and adapting this analysis for over 7 years, thus we believe we now have a very robust analysis that can assist you with your needs. Our focus is on the Environmental sector, where [...]

At WE&B we have worked for clients in local communities to national governments, intergovernmental organisations and international funding bodies. For each of our clients, we strive to bring forward our driving principles at WE&B – to ensure sustainable development in both the natural and human systems. However, we are also acutely aware that small continued [...]

Coastal zone management is a pressing matter, especially in developing countries, which are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

As we wrap up another year at WE&B it’s a great time to reflect on some of the personal and professional achievements reached throughout 2019. We also reflect on the year with some relevant projects where, in our little way, we look to make the world a bit more sustainable, liveable and circular.  WE&B is […]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmYGQ-UrU4U&feature=youtu.be Houseful Call to Action for Policy Makers, Industry and Tenants

Recently, WE&B participated in the presentation of the results in a form of White Paper of the Interreg Med Green Growth Community in Brussels the 19th- 20th of September 2019, at the European Committee of the Regions. After three years of study, analysis and pilots, 150 actors have come together to reflect upon these results. […]

On the 11th and 12thApril 2019, the HOUSEFUL project held its 12-month progress meeting with the entire consortium of project partners. The attendees were: LEITAT (as project coordinator), WE&B ITEC, CARTIF, AIGUASOL, SCCL LGI, Turntoo, Housing Europe, ICONS and ALCN. On the first day of the two day meeting, the project partners had the opportunity [...]

Given the need to reflect on the efficient use of resources, it is essential to configure social activities under the circular economy concepts. The circular economy concept aims to produce goods and services while limiting the environmental impact, and reducing the consumption of raw materials, water and energy sources in all stages of the life [...]

2018 has been another fantastic year at WE&B, in our little way we have made small ripples in the ocean of sustainable development. Here we list some of our highlights from 2018: Near the start of the year, we were selected to form part of Valles Circular (http://www.vallescircular.com) The “Vallès Circular” is a territorial initiative shared […]

From 24 to 25 June 2018, WE&B participated in the kick-off meeting of the HOUSEFUL project (funded by the H2020 program of the European Commission). The meeting was held at Leitat, Terrassa (Barcelona). The Houseful project: Systemic, eco-innovative approaches for the circular economy: large-scale demonstration projects, focuses on implementing circular economy solutions in the rehabilitation of housing buildings. [...]

The Paris Agreement stresses the urgency to reach targets for Climate Change adaptation and to support developing countries with funds, technology and strengthening their capacity. The participation of local actors (e.g. local government, civil society organizations and local communities) is essential to reach implementation targets faster and reduce future costs. However, multilateral funds such as [...]

AfriAlliance combined a top-down approach (policy analysis) and a bottom-up approach (workshops, surveys and interviews) to analyse the specific capacity needs, in view of Climate Change, of African water practitioners from three key stakeholder groups involved in water management, namely water utilities [WUs], river basin organisations [RBOs], and civil society organisations [CSOs] The Key Messages […]

Although presented in Spanish, the Policy Brief provides a methodological guide of how to generate social and economic models for a greater adaptation to the effects of climate change in coastal areas by integrating the experiences gathered in the four pilot sites of the Waterclima LAC project. The key recommendations following the study was to: [...]

The new H2020 circular economy project REWAISE kicked off last week. WE&B is leading the work package on "Governance and Social Engagement" for this ambitious 6-year project. We will lead the analysis of the social context as well as the social engagement strategies. We will oversee the Development of the Governance strategies for water-smart communities [...]

WE&B together with the AfriAlliance Project partners sets up 10 Action Groups (Communities of Practice) across Africa to deal with water and climate issues. After a competitive call, WE&B together with the AfriAlliance partners has selected a total of 10 Action Groups that will and are addressing specific, demand-driven issues with innovative approaches and knowledge [...]

On the 11th and 12thApril 2019, the HOUSEFUL project held its 12-month progress meeting with the entire consortium of project partners. The attendees were: LEITAT (as project coordinator), WE&B ITEC, CARTIF, AIGUASOL, SCCL LGI, Turntoo, Housing Europe, ICONS and ALCN. On the first day of the two day meeting, the project partners had the opportunity [...]

Given the need to reflect on the efficient use of resources, it is essential to configure social activities under the circular economy concepts. The circular economy concept aims to produce goods and services while limiting the environmental impact, and reducing the consumption of raw materials, water and energy sources in all stages of the life [...]

From 24 to 25 June 2018, WE&B participated in the kick-off meeting of the HOUSEFUL project (funded by the H2020 program of the European Commission). The meeting was held at Leitat, Terrassa (Barcelona). The Houseful project: Systemic, eco-innovative approaches for the circular economy: large-scale demonstration projects, focuses on implementing circular economy solutions in the rehabilitation of housing buildings. [...]

One of the Project demonstration sites of the Run4Life Project is in Helsingborg (Sweden). This DEMO-SITE is within the framework of the larger local project H+. The project partners met here to discuss the progress after the first year of the project. Moreover, from WE&B’s perspective, as leaders of the task dealing with social perception […]

On the 30th and 31st of January 2018, WE&B together with the project partner El Centro del Agua para America Latina y el Caribe participated together with COMO VAMOS LA PAZ to close the WaterClima LAC project in the pilot area, La Paz, Mexico. As part of the closing activities, WE&B run a workshop on […]

At the end of November the RUN4Life project held its 6-monthly consortium meeting, http://run4life-project.eu,  in Vigo, Spain. All partners provided updates on the progress and work plans for the coming months. In addition, there were several invited project advisors who provided input into the project progress. The meeting location was in the Zona Franca in Vigo […]

From the 12th to the 14th of June, 2017, WE&B participated in the Kick-off Meeting of the H2020 project RUN4LIFE. The kick-off meeting was held in Sneek, Netherlands, at one of the 4 Demonstration Sites of the project. In this 4 year project, WE&B will be leading Work Package 6 Strategic Organisational and Social Innovation. In […]

The AfriAlliance project has recently published its first newsletter. The Africa-EU Innovation Alliance for Water and Climate (AfriAlliance), is a 5-year project funded by the European Union’s H2020 Research and Innovation Programme. It aims to improve African preparedness for climate change challenges by stimulating knowledge sharing and collaboration between African and European stakeholders. As a […]

Are you working in the area of water and climate challenges in Africa? Then we invite you to complete our short survey. The responses to this survey will allow us to gain a better understanding of the networks and the key institutions working in the area of water and climate in Africa and Europe. This will […]

The First AfriAlliance Conference will be organized in parallel with the Local Climate Solutions for Africa 2017 Congress (LoCS4Africa 2017), on  22-24 March 2017, at The Birchwood Hotel & OR Tambo Conference Centre, Viewpoint road, Bartlett, Boksburg, Ekurhuleni municipality, in the outskirts of Johannesburg. AfriAlliance, the Africa-EU Innovation Alliance for Water and Climate, is a […]

Do you have an idea or a solution to address the water and climate challenges in Africa? Then we invite you to create an AfriAlliance Action Group. An Action Group (also commonly referred to as a Working Group or a Community of Practice) will provide seed-money to bring together relevant stakeholders (both African and European), […]

On the 2nd to the 4th of March 2016, the 16 partners of the AfriAlliance project met in Delft, UNESCO IHE, for the kick-off of this ambitious H2020 project that aims to prepare Africa for future climate change challenges by having African and European stakeholders work together. WE&B is leading Work Package 1, where we will […]

Objective: The major objective of this assignment is to apply the GGPA to Peru to support the government in carrying out a gap analysis as a preliminary step toward the formulation of the NGGS. This is envisaged to generate value-added information that could provide clear structure and inputs in designing the NGGS. The GGPA, as […]

WE&B is contracted to the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in the new project «Report on green, circular economy at Mediterranean level»  Striving for Social and Economic Impact drives WE&B.  This idea is clear and prevailing in the new WE&B project that kicked off in January where our environmental consultancy services will be provided to […]

Coastal zone management is a pressing matter, especially in developing countries, which are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Authors: Martinuzzi, A. and Sedlacko, M and a chapter contribution from Beatriz Medina. 2017 https://www.amazon.es/Knowledge-Brokerage-Sustainable-Development-Evidence-Based/dp/1783532548  This book provides the first systematic analysis of knowledge brokerage experiences for sustainable development. It will help researchers to increase their impacts and support evidence based policy making in Europe and beyond. –Edeltraud Hanappi-Egger, Rector of Vienna University of Economics […]

Authors: Lead Author Celine Hervé-Basin, contributor Beatriz Medina https://www.amazon.com/Communication-Analysis-Strategies-Campaigns-Sector/dp/1780405219  Water Communication aims at setting a first general outlook at what communication on water means, who communicates and on what topics. Through different examples and based on different research and contributions, this book presents an original first overview of “water communication”. It sets its academic value […]

Authors: Trenc, Medina, Presas, Rubio-Varas, de la Torre (2017) Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321992166_Las_dimensiones_sociales_de_la_percepcion_de_la_energia_nuclear_Un_analisis_del_caso_espanol_1960-2015 Nuclear energy is a complex technology that requires intensive use of resources and high centralized decision-making processes, whose governance poses a real challenge for democratic societies. In this article, we explore the social perceptions about nuclear energy in Spain through the analysis of opinion surveys […]