The University of Florence (UNIFI) is one of the largest organizations for research and higher education in Italy, over 50,000 students, 3,300 academic and tech/adm staff, 1,600 PhD students and research fellows. Recently, UNIFI has been ranked among top Italian Universities for the distribution of national research funds, and it is one of the most active Italian universities in terms of EU projects and related grants. UNIFI is coordinating almost 50 EU funded project, including 21 H2020, and about 10 Erasmus+ Capacity Building projects. The University also participates in several research programs sponsored by international agencies, associations, foundations and other donors. It has been granted (Dec ’18) with the European ‘HR Excellence in Research’ award. Departments involved are:

1) Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICEA);
2) Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (DAGRI).

Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI) is one of the largest technical universities in Europe and ranked among the world top university in several engineering areas. POLIMI is participating in the project with the research unit belonging to the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICA) is a key academic institution with an outstanding reputation for high quality, state-of-the-art research. DICA staff includes 101 faculties, 43 technical and administrative staff members, 46 research fellows/associates, 78 PhD students. In recent years, DICA has been involved in a large number of both national and international projects, including 19 H2020. The research team participating in the project consist of researchers coming from the Water Science and Engineering Division of DICA.

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) is currently the largest Spanish technological university specialized in all engineering fields and architecture. More than 2,400 researchers carry out their activity at UPM, grouped in more than 200 Research Groups, 20 Research Centers or Institutes and 55 Laboratories, all of them committed to transforming the knowledge generated through research into innovation advances applied to the productive sector, contributing to solve the challenges of the European citizens. UPM is closely linked with the industrial and business sectors, signing ~600 contracts annually, and applying for an average of 40 patents per year. The intense collaboration with governmental bodies and industry guarantees that research at UPM offers real solutions to real-world problems. UPM has a strong record in quality management control and assurance systems and has an active plan for gender equality. Departments involved are 1) Department of Civil Engineering: Hydraulics, Energy and the Environment; 2) Department of Agricultural Economics and Social Sciences.

Established in 1976 as a public research institution affiliated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the “Institut des Régions Arides” (IRA) has been involved in: monitoring and combating desertification, water and soil resources conservation, Sustainable management of biodiversity and resilience capacity in the pastoral ecosystems, croplands improvement and valorization of geothermal resources in agriculture, assessment of development experiences, decision-making tools for development and Integration of the group actors strategies. To accomplish its mission, the Institute is backed up by five scientific Laboratories (Eremology and Combating Desertification, Agronomy, Animal Sciences, Human Sciences, and Rangeland Ecology), an extension and development directorate, an information and documentation center and a training service. Since its creation, the Institute carried out and/or contributed to the realisation of research and development projects in the dry regions of the country, the training and formation of specialists in dry land farming and conservation of natural resources in collaboration with national and international universities, organisations and agencies.

Alexandria University (ALEXU) was founded in 1938, and soils and water sciences department was established in 1942. The department has and outstanding group of staff members and researchers in different disciplines covering the soil and water sciences. Moreover, the department has a specialized unit for information, training and services, where all the soil and water analysis are carried out. The department also has the first geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) lab among the colleges of agriculture, and the lab is specialized in geospatial analysis, modeling and mapping of different soil and water attributes, and holds a wide range of topographic maps at different scales, aerial photographs and satellite images covering different parts of Egypt. The department has several research projects funded nationally (STDF, MOLAR) and internationally (EU, FAO, UNEP, IDRC) covering a wide range of research topics. Prof. Bahnassy is the director of GIS/RS lab.

ELGO-DIMITRA is a legal entity of the public sector, under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Rural Development and Food. AGRERI is one of the eleven Research Institutes of ELGO-DIMITRA, the only one in Greece specializing exclusively on economic, managerial and social issues in the agri-food sector. Having participated in more than 40 EU and national projects, AGRERI specializes on the analysis of socioeconomic performance of production systems (crop and livestock) and rural development pathways and on issues relating to socio-economic sustainability assessment and protection and efficient use of natural resources. AGRERI is particularly focused on working closely with stakeholders through participatory approaches of co-design and co-implementation as well as on the design and carrying out questionnaire surveys.

Larbi Tebessi University (UTEBESSA) is located in the far east of Algeria. Initially the university was a group of three National Institutes of Higher Education which are earth sciences, civil and mining engineering institutes in It was later upgraded to become a university following an executive decree n ° 09-08 of January 04, 2009. Since then, UTEBESSA has undergone major changes in both its administrative and scientific structures. Several faculty were created contributing to the improvement in training and research opportunities in the various existing disciplines and specialties. The 26,000 students follow their graduation and post-graduation studies in 6 different faculties and 2 national institutes. Researchers and PhD students activate in 14 research laboratories covering several fields.

The geology department which belongs to the faculty of sciences where students follow majors in hydrogeology, rural planning and engineering geology. With its rich teaching staff, it ensured the training of 8 promotions of LMD doctorate in hydrology-hydrogeology and a promotion of a master’s degree in (2013) “Impact of climate change on water resources in Algeria”. Its research professors have already carried out research on a national and international level in the fields: water quality, water management, climate change. One laboratory is designated Water and the environment, the second is Sedimentary Environment, Mineral and Water Resources in Eastern Algeria. Each of them is constituted by at least 3 research groups dealing with different topics but always in relation with water. Both laboratories work in collaboration with the 03 laboratories of the faculty and national and regional agencies working in the water and environment sectors.

VU Amsterdam is one of the leading institutions for higher education in Europe and aims to be inspiring, innovative, and committed to societal welfare. It comprises ten faculties and has teaching facilities for 23,000 students. Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) mission is to contribute to sustainable development and to care for the environment through excellent scientific research and teaching. A unique feature of the institute is our capacity to cut through the complexity of natural-societal systems through novel interdisciplinary approaches. Being the oldest environmental research institute in The Netherlands (est. 1971), IVM is currently one of the world’s leading institutes in sustainability science. With 100 employees (staff, PhDs and Postdocs), IVM has been rated with the highest scores on scientific excellence, and each year receives over 140 MSc students and hosts over 50 PhD students in its teaching programmes.