Side event details
Taking the Mediterranean as an example, this session will explore where are the opportunities for both fundraising and investment, based on demonstrated successes.
You will hear from the perspective of experienced representatives from various stakeholder groups:
- Philanthropy, represented by the MAVA Foundation, a Swiss-based Foundation that has been active in supporting Freshwater issues in the Mediterranean for the last 28 years and will close its doors at the end of the year.
- Government, represented by the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy that has been very active as part of MedWet, the Mediterranean wetlands initiative of the RAMSAR Convention.
- Technical partners from civil society, represented by members of Wetland-Based Solutions, a coalition that tackles the protection and restoration of coastal wetlands, and by members of Wetlands for Mediterranean Resilience, a coalition which focuses on Integrated Water Resource Management at River Basin level.
- The MedWet Secretariat which, from its unique positioning as a consortium of governmental bodies, academic, and NGO will offer a particularly interesting perspective on the issue.
- Private sector actors working with a consultancy, Vertigo Lab, in pioneering technical and financial solutions for the sustainable use of water resources in agriculture (with examples from viticulture and arboriculture); including through encouraging financial investment to make the adoption of innovative technical solutions economically attractive.
The sunsetting of MAVA puts a sense of urgency on this discussion, as, for almost three decades, the foundation has been the main private donor on freshwater issues in the Mediterranean, unsurprisingly since MAVA’s funder was instrumental in the creation of the RAMSAR Convention. The MAVA freshwater community will be proud to share the innovative solutions that it developed to secure alternative sources of funding post-MAVA. It will also be the opportunity for the Foundation and fellow funders to discuss the learnings from MAVA responsible exiting and the mature response it triggered from its partners