Major Agreement Signing for the Sustainable Management of the Nestos River
On Wednesday, May 28, 2025, the 6th Stakeholders’ Workshop for the NEXOGENESIS project “Facilitating the next generation of effective and intelligent water-related policies utilising artificial intelligence and reinforcement learning to assess the water-energy-food-ecosystem (WEFE) nexus” took place in Chrysoupoli, Kavala, Greece.
The event was organized by the Municipality of Nestos (Greece), in collaboration with the National Technical University of Athens (Laboratory of Physical Geography & Environmental Impacts Assessment) and the Municipality of Gotse Delchev (Bulgaria).
Stakeholders from both Greece and Bulgaria participated, sharing their visions and expectations for the project.
The main topics discussed included the results of the NEXOGENESIS project, an evaluation of the project’s participatory activities, the signing of an agreement to use the project’s outcomes, and the presentation of three “Governance Roadmaps”.
These roadmaps aim to support the sustainable management of the water-energy-food-ecosystem (WEFE) nexus in the Nestos/Mesta river basin.
The roadmaps are based on policies identified during previous workshops with local stakeholders over the last four years.
The “Governance Roadmaps” were created from policy suggestions validated during the 5th Stakeholders’ Workshop in November 2024. Each roadmap outlines steps for adopting and implementing these policies.
These policies focus on reducing water use in the Greek and Bulgarian sub-basins through:
- Modernizing irrigation systems
- Replacing open irrigation canals with closed pipelines
- Promoting water-saving technologies and infrastructure in livestock farming.
