Organization of the 1st Sebou Living Lab (2 May 2024, Fez, Morocco)
The 1st Sebou Living Lab marked an important milestone on the road to sustainable water resource management in the Sebou river basin. The event was a real success, bringing together more than 30 key players in the fields of water, sustainable development, agriculture, tourism, research and natural heritage management in the whole basin of the Sebou. The main goal? Tackling the urgent challenge of preserving wetland ecosystems while adapting to the growing impacts of climate change. Through collaborative efforts, the Sebou Living Lab set the stage for innovative solutions to ensure a resilient future for both the region’s water resources and its vital ecosystems.
The workshop was also an opportunity to present the preliminary results of research conducted within the framework of the Sebou Water Fund. Additionally, with a scientific basis, to develop joint responses and proposals to:
✅ Help re-establish the natural water cycle in the basin, through the implementation of actions to restore and conserve wetlands as Nature-based Solutions (NbS).
✅ Promote more sustainable agriculture (e.g. agroecology) and reduce water abstraction pressures around wetland
✅ Strengthen governance and make wetlands, and the many ecosystem services they provide, visible in regional and national strategies. Develop plans for natural resource management, land use planning, urbanization and agricultural and tourism development.
🔜 Next steps: putting some of these many recommendations into practice, with concrete projects and actions. The appointment is therefore made for another “review” workshop between now and mid-2025.
