
Nexus-Ness PROJECT FINAL CONFERENCE
ROME, ITALY – APRIL 10, 2025
Technological and Socio-cultural Change for achieving Sustainable and Fair Water, Energy, Food and ecosystem resource management
Venue: Sede Cia-Agricoltori Italiani (Italian Farmers Association) Via Mariano Fortuny 16
Project coordinator: Prof. Fernando Nardi
Xenia Schneider, XPRO Consulting Limited
Rudy Rossetto, Scuola superiore di studi Sant’Anna
Maria Cristina Rulli, Politecnico di Milano
Filippo Tessari, Davide Bazzana, Fondazione ENI Enrico Mattei
Sebastian D. Marcu, Design & Data GmbH
Enrica Caporali, Università degli Studi di Firenze
Christophe Cudennec, L’Institut Agro Rennes-Angers
Leonor Rodriguez Sinobas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Mohamed Ouessar, Fethi Abdelli, Institut Régions Arides
Salah M’hemdi, Commissariat Régional au Développement Agricole Gabès
Mohamed Bahnassy, Alexandria University

AGENDA
8:30 AM WELCOME AND REGISTRATION OF PARTICIPANTS
9:00 AM
MAINSTREAM SYSTEMIC WEFE NEXUS APPROACH: PRIMA’S EVOLVING FUNDING STRATEGY
Antonella Autino (PRIMA Project Coordinator)
PRIMA PROJECTS AND IMPACTS TOWARDS MAINSTREAMING THE WEFE NEXUS IN THE EUROMED
Ali Rhouma (PRIMA Project Officer)
MISSION AND OUTCOMES OF THE NEXUS-NESS PROJECT
Fernando Nardi (NEXUS-NESS Project Coordinator, Italy)
9:45 AM KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:
WATER AS A LIMITING FACTOR FOR SUSTAINABLE FOOD PRODUCTION: THE WEFE NEXUS APPROACH
Maria Cristina Rulli (Politecnico di Milano, Italy)
THE PARADOXES OF WATER
Edoardo Borgomeo (University of Cambridge, UK)
10:30 AM WEFE NEXUS MANAGEMENT AND TRANSITION PLANS:
FROM SCIENCE-DRIVEN BIOPHYSICAL MODELLING TO NEXUS STRATEGY OPERATIONALIZATION: WEFE NEXUS MANAGEMENT PLANS AND THE NEXUS-NESS GEO-SERVICE
Davide Danilo Chiarelli (Politecnico di Milano, Italy)
Marco Bonamente (Urby et Orbit Srt, Italy)
TOWARDS TRANSDISCIPLINARY WEFE NEXUS MANAGEMENT AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT IN NEXUS ECOSYSTEM LABS
Xenia Schneider (XPRO Consulting Limited, Cyprus)
ASSESSING THE WEFE TRANSITION AT MULTIPLE SCALES: THE ROLE OF INDICATORS
Christophe Cudennec, Mohammad Merheb (L’Institut Agro, France)
Tommaso Pacetti (Univ. of Florence, Italy)
11:45 AM – COFFEE BREAK
12:15 AM
FROM POLICY TO IMPACT: SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
Sergio Vergalli, Davide Bazzana, Cristina El Khoury, Nicola Comincioli (Fondazione ENI Enrico Mattei, Italy)
THE ADOPTION OF GENDER-RESPONSIVE APPROACH IN THE NEXUS ECOSYSTEM LABS
Marco Bonamente (Urby et Orbit Srt, Italy)
COMMUNICATING CLIMATE CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS: FROM SPACE TO CITIZENS
Sebastian Marcu (Design & Data, Germany)
13:00 AM LESSONS LEARNT, OPPORTUNITIES AND THE WAY AHEAD – PART 1
VAL DI CORNIA LIVING LAB: EXPERIMENTAL WEFE NEXUS PLAN 2030 (ITALY)
Rudy Rossetto (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa, Italy)
DUERO BASIN LIVING LAB: HANDS ON WEFE NEXUS PLAN (SPAIN)
Leonor Rodriguez Sinobas (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain)
1:30 PM LUNCH BREAK
2:45 PM LESSONS LEARNT, OPPORTUNITIES AND THE WAY AHEAD – PART 2
MATMATA LIVING LAB: MATMATA 2050 – SUSTAINABLE FUTURE (TUNISIA)
Mohamed Ouessar, Fethi Abdelli (Institut des Régions Arides / CRDA, Tunisia)
MARSA MATROUH LIVING LAB: OPERATIONALIZING WEFE IN ARID REGIONS (EGYPT)
Mohamed Bahnassy (Alexandria University, Egypt)
AFTERNOON ROUND TABLES
Moderator: Chiara Biscarini (WARREDOC UNISTRAPG, UNESCO Chair Water Resources Management and Culture)
3:15 PM AFTERNOON ROUND TABLES
Moderator: Chiara Biscarini (WARREDOC UNISTRAPG, UNESCO Chair Water Resources Management and Culture)
SESSION 1: FROM INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION TO NATIONAL/REGIONAL POLICIES
Stefano Francia (CIA), Adriano Battilani (ANBI), Fabio Zappalorti (ANBI Toscana), Raffaella Zucaro (CER), Christophe Cudennec (IAHS), Silvia Baralla (CREA)
4:00 PM COFFEE BREAK
Salvatore Grimaldi (IAHS), Marco Arceri (ICID), Maura Marchegiani (UNISTRAPG), Francesca Greco (University of Bergamo), Maurizio Casarci (ICU), Tommaso Letterio (CER), Ioannis K. Kalavrouziotis (Hellenic Open University)
5:30 PM LESSONS LEARNED AND THE WAY FORWARD: THE NEXUS-NESS LEGACY
Fernando Nardi (NEXUS-NESS Project Coordinator, Italy)
DEBATE AND Q&A: THE NEXUS-NESS MANIFESTO
All participants
6:00 PM CONFERENCE CLOSING