Global Water Partnership

Background/Objectives: Personal values shape appraisal of stress and life satisfaction. We examined the relationship between perceived stress and life satisfaction among uniformed personnel in outpatient mental health care, and the role of a personal values hierarchy in this context. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 183 uniformed personnel (34 females, 149 males, age 30-66 years, M = 44.72, SD = 5.84) diagnosed with bodily distress disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder at a mental health clinic. Participants completed standardized questionnaires assessing perceived stress, satisfaction with life, coping styles, and personal values. For the Personal Value List, each value not selected by a participant was coded as 0 to avoid missing data; scores regarding symbols of happiness were not used. Reliability was evaluated via repeated measurement; two parts of a key instrument showed test-retest correlations of approximately 0.78 and 0.76. For assessing statistical significance, the bootstrap method was used (1000 resamples). Analyses were conducted in jamovi 2.3.28 using snowLatent (latent profile analysis) and medmod 1.1.0 (moderation analysis). Results: Perceived stress was negatively associated with satisfaction with life (B = -0.36, 95% CI [-0.48; -0.24], p < 0.001). Latent profile analysis extracted two personal values hierarchy profiles (AIC = 4237; BIC = 4587). Profile membership was not a significant predictor of satisfaction with life (p = 0.595) and did not moderate the relationship between perceived stress and satisfaction with life (p = 0.907). Distraction seeking was significantly higher in profile 1 (p = 0.010). Conclusions: In treated uniformed personnel, higher perceived stress is linked to lower life satisfaction. The personal values hierarchy did not moderate this relationship and was not associated with satisfaction with life; however, the personal values hierarchy was related to coping, specifically distraction seeking.

This study investigates the application of generative adversarial networks (GANs) for generating synthetic climate data to support drought modelling in datascarce regions of Southern Africa. The primary focus was to reconstruct long-term time series of soil moisture and sunshine duration. These variables are crucial for understanding drought dynamics but are often characterised by incomplete records. Soil moisture and sunshine duration data were obtained from online sources. Subsequently, the GAN model was trained on these real-world datasets containing substantial gaps to learn their temporal structures and generate realistic synthetic values for the missing periods. A key contribution of this work is the application of GANs to reconstruct these critical variables, producing a 50-year hybrid dataset (1972-2022) that combines observed and synthetic data. The GAN discriminator achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve score of 0.889. This indicates strong classification capability and aligns with results reported in comparable studies. To evaluate the practical utility of the synthetic data, the hybrid datasets were employed as inputs for random forest and feedforward neural network models for drought prediction. The results demonstrate that integrating these synthetic variables improved drought prediction model accuracy, with some synthetic variables outperforming traditional ones in feature importance rankings. This underscores the potential of GANs to mitigate observational data limitations in climate applications. The study contributes to developing hybrid modelling strategies and highlights the role of generative models in enhancing predictive capabilities in regions with limited observational data.

Globally, small-scale fisheries (SSF) support over 94% of the 120 million people engaged in capture fisheries. An estimated 5.8 million fishers in the world earn less than $1 per day, yet they generate an estimated two-thirds of the global fish catch for direct human consumption, with fish being a key source of local food security. According to the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, (2012), tenure systems are defined as the rules and norms that determine who can access what resources and their spatial and temporal attributes. The FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (2015) identify the governance of tenure as a fundamental requirement for responsible and sustainable use of aquatic biodiversity and natural resources.In the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region, the importance of small-scale fishers to broader sustainability outcomes is crucial. In the WIO region, small-scale fishers are strongly anchored in local communities, reflect a way of life, and provide critical contributions to society, economy, culture, and environment. At the same time, there has been a rapid increase in regional dialogues and actions related to WIO blue economy initiatives and global conservation targets catalyzed by multi-lateral agencies, global development and conservation organizations and regional governments. At the core of these initiatives are substantive challenges and/or threats to marine tenure of SSF and coastal communities generally. In our presentation, we highlight in particular two specific gaps which the Blue Tenure Transitions (BTT) working group is addressing. First, how we are building the transdisciplinary science base for the WIO region on the specific impacts and implications of marine tenure and the social, culture, economic, and ecological challenges of inadequate tenure provisions in the context of Blue Economy and 30x30 initiatives such as Marine Spatial Planning in countries such as South Africa and Tanzania. Second, we will present how we are co-developing participatory methodologies that enable communities to map and subsequently ‘share their stories’ about marine tenure in creative and accessible ways (through visuals and artforms and/or narratives) that empower them to advocate for necessary reforms. Our overall objective is to support community tenure systems and highlight bright spots where tenure has led to positive social and ecological benefits to ensure small-scale fisheries have equitable access to ocean resources, and help co-generate policies and practices that help protect and enable small-scale fishers. Working group members in the BTT project are funded by the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association and are based in both academic and government positions, from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, Institute for Coastal and Marine Research at the Nelson Mandela University, South Africa, Rhodes University, South Africa, Institute of Marine Science at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy, Zanzibar, South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, South African National Biodiversity Institute, and the Vulnerability to Viability Global Partnership for Small-Scale Fisheries at the University of Waterloo in Canada.

Agriculture is the most water-consuming sector in the Mediterranean region, accounting for up to 70% of total uses in southern regions. Addressing this high demand while fostering socio-economic growth necessitates improving irrigation efficiency and water productivity. However, the dual pressures of climate change and population growth threaten water availability and increase agricultural water demand. Effective water resource management faces challenges, including sectoral policy conflicts, fragmented governance, inefficient water use across overlapping domains, and the lack of integrated digital tools to optimize water allocation and monitor usage effectively. Digital transformation in the water sector is pivotal for sustainable Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). Advanced digital tools enable comprehensive monitoring, analysis, and decision-making within a unified framework, enhancing cross-sectoral coordination and supporting sustainable growth. However, for these tools to impact water governance, they must be user-friendly and collaboratively developed with stakeholders and end-users from diverse fields to ensure acceptance and practical application.For these reasons, we carried out this work, aiming to develop a real-time digital platform for irrigation optimization and water resource management, leveraging Living Labs to ensure the tools meet local needs and challenges and then combining digital innovation and participatory methods to enhance IWRM and sustainable irrigation at farm and basin scales. The work employs a suite of innovative tools, including IoT sensors for real-time monitoring, Web of Things technology for interoperability, and advanced modeling tools for efficient operations and decision support. Two interactive dashboards were developed: one for farm-level irrigation management and the other for basin-scale decision-making. Real-time data collected through sensors is stored in a OGC SensorThings compliant database, enabling models to estimate crop water requirements and assess sectoral water consumption. The platform has been developed and tested in four Mediterranean case studies: Italy's Tirso River Basin, Jordan's Central&amp;#160; Jordan River Basin, Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, and Tunisia's Jeffara Plain. These regions face acute water scarcity and climate challenges, making them ideal testbeds for the proposed solutions. Living Labs in these areas facilitate collaboration with farmers and decision-makers, ensuring that tools are tailored to local needs. Two series of workshop were conducted in the four pilot areas: the first aimed at collecting local needs and expectation from the digitalization of the water accounting, and the second focused on presenting initial platformn advancement refining functionalities based on local feedback, training end-users, and assessing the tools effectiveness. This feedback loop ensures continuous improvement and alignment with stakeholders' expectations. Simultaneously, data were collected both from installed sensors and from existing monitoring tools, in order to calibrate the irrigation model at farm scale and the hydrological model at basin scale.The integration of digital tools with participatory engagement enables simulation of complex interactions between environmental and socio-economic factors over different timeframes. This holistic approach enhances decision-making and informs policy recommendations, supporting climate change adaptation and sustainable water resource management in the Mediterranean region.This work is conducted as part of the ACQUAOUNT PRIMA Project, which aims to advance digital innovation and participatory approaches for sustainable water resource management in the Mediterranean region.

River basins are influenced by various factors, which is why Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is essential. IWRM may be new in Panama because this type of study has not been carried out in many of the country’s basins. But it is a great tool for decision-making in other countries. The Juan Díaz River basin was chosen for this research because it is a well-known basin with a high population density with 2856.7 inhabitants/ $\mathrm{k m}^{2}$ in the lower basin, considering that in other river basins in the country, such as the $\mathrm{N}^{\circ} 132$ (Santa María River) has a density of 13.15 inhabitants/$\mathrm{k m}^{2}$. In that sense, a great portion of Panama’s city population will be linked and affected positive or negatively. Basin problems and solutions were analyzed using the Global Water Partnership (GWP) toolbox. The GWP Toolbox presents information using conceptual maps and it is based on available references. Conceptual maps allow for summarizing all the information collected and interconnecting ideas, thus making it easier for decision-makers and the population, in general, to understand and take integrated actions for the well-being of the basin. In the present study, through the construction of conceptual maps, the different problems that the basin presents and the solutions to them are shown, how these situations, despite being shown from different disciplines, are interconnected with each other.

Abstract. Droughts are often long lasting phenomena, without a distinct start or end, and with impacts cascading across sectors and systems, creating long-term legacies. Nevertheless, our current perception and management of droughts and their impacts is often event-based, which can limit the effective assessment of drought risks and reduction of drought impacts. Here, we advocate for changing this perspective and viewing drought as a hydro-eco-social continuum. We take a systems theory perspective and focus on how “memory” causes feedback and interactions between parts of the interconnected systems at different time scales. We first discuss the characteristics of the drought continuum with a focus on the hydrological, ecological, and social systems separately; and then study the system of systems. Our analysis is based on a review of the literature and a study of five cases: Chile, the Colorado River Basin in the US, Northeast Brazil, Kenya, and the Rhine River Basin in Northwest Europe. We find that the memories of past dry and wet periods, carried by both bio-physical (e.g. groundwater, vegetation) and social systems (e.g. people, governance), influence how future drought risk manifests. We identify four archetypes of drought dynamics: Impact &amp;amp; recovery; Slow resilience-building; Gradual collapse; and High resilience, big shock. The interactions between the hydrological, ecological and social systems result in systems shifting between these types, which plays out differently in the five case studies. We call for more research on drought pre-conditions and recovery in different systems, on dynamics cascading between systems and triggering system changes, and on dynamic vulnerability and maladaptation. Additionally, we argue for more continuous monitoring of drought hazards and impacts, modelling tools that better incorporate memories and adaptation responses, and management strategies that increase social and institutional memory to better deal with the complex hydro-eco-social drought continuum and identify effective pathways to adaptation.