Water scarcity has dominated world news in recent days, shedding light on the challenges that many countries face when it comes to managing water resources in a sustainable way. Morocco, like other countries in the Maghreb region, faces this challenge against a backdrop of rapid population growth, urbanization and economic development. The H2O Maghreb project, a public-private partnership initiative implemented by the United Nations industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and supported by FESTO Didactic SE, EON Reality, The Moroccan National Office for Drinking Water and Electricity (ONEE), and United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is helping to improve industrial and municipal wastewater management practices in Morocco and the rest of the Maghreb region.

In order to select the appropriate equipment for the project’s training center, a three-day study tour with project partners was held on January 16-19, 2018 at the University of Stuttgart and the premises of the project partner, FESTO Didactic SE.

During the three days, the project partners assessed technological innovations like FESTO’s Environmental Discovery System (EDS) for water management and Augmented Virtual Reality (AVR) for eventual use at the project premises. The AVR approach will help future water professionals to deal with potential dangerous issues or issues difficult to reproduce that could otherwise not be simulated during the training.

H2O Maghreb aims to address some of the key factors contributing to unsustainable wastewater management practices in the region, such as lack of up-to-date training in the latest technologies and slow job growth in the wastewater sector. The project will thus focus on the development of new curricula for wastewater management-related skills – including the most recent technological innovations, such as adaptive virtual reality and automation technology – and of a demonstration and training hub at ONEE training centre. The two-year activity will upgrade the skills of trainers, water professionals and youth from Morocco in order to help increase their employability.

The H2O Maghreb project is being implemented over a period of two years with a budget of USD 2.7 million and is linked to UNIDO’s global knowledge sharing platform, the Learning and Knowledge Development Facility (LKDF).