Category Archives: Sustainable Development

Green Buildings Certification in the MENA Region – Key Challenges

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Green building rating systems are increasingly gaining attention in the building industry in the MENA region. During the last 15 years, there has been a regional trend in developing and applying green building ratings systems. In several countries such systems have been developed in an attempt to follow the international green movement. For example, the Pearl Building Rating System (PBRS) was founded in UAE in 2007, the Green Pyramid (GPRS) and ARZ Building Rating System in Egypt and Lebanon respectively were founded in 2008, the Edama was proposed in Jordan in 2009 and Qatar Sustainability Assessment System (QSAS) was founded … Continue reading →

Restoring the El Harrach River: A Strategy for Environmental, Urban, and Social Renewal

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The El Harrach River, which flows through some of the most densely populated areas of Algiers, has for several decades become a symbol of the environmental challenges faced by rapidly urbanizing coastal cities. The foul odors that recur regularly are not only a nuisance for residents: they reflect a deep ecological imbalance, chronic pollution, and a deterioration of quality of life. Understanding the origins of these odors and proposing sustainable solutions requires an integrated analysis of the hydraulic, social, urban, industrial, and biological pressures exerted on this watercourse. The Degradation of El Harrach River For years, a significant share of … Continue reading →

Earth Day – It’s Our Turn to Lead

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Earth Day focus on the unique environmental challenges of our time. As the world’s population migrates to cities, and as the bleak reality of climate change becomes increasingly clear, the need to create sustainable communities is more important than ever. With smart investments in sustainable technology, forward-thinking public policy, and an educated and active public, we can transform our cities and forge a sustainable future. Nothing is more powerful than the collective action of a billion people. Due to rising population, more migration is taking place from rural to urban areas. Today, more than half of the world’s population lives … Continue reading →

Membrane Innovation: Transforming Water Security in Arid Regions

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Membrane innovation has emerged today as one of the most decisive technological levers for arid countries facing water scarcity, degradation of natural resources, and the rapidly increasing water demand for drinking, agricultural, and industrial water. At the heart of this silent revolution, membranes, whether reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration, forward osmosis, or emerging processes such as biomembranes and graphene-based membranes, have transformed the way dry nations produce, recycle, and secure their water supply. Far from being a simple technical tool, they have become a major geopolitical, economic, and environmental instrument. In the context of accelerated climate change, where extreme droughts are … Continue reading →

Beyond Wage Slavery – A Return to a Better Economy, Politics And Society

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According to the Cambridge Dictionary, wage slavery is defined as the economic condition where someone is obliged to work so that they can earn enough money to live on and pay for necessities. In effect, all workers in the global economy who have no other option but to work and sell their labour or else face poverty and homelessness, are in fact slaves to the capitalist economy. This links with the ideas of thinkers like Karl Marx and Joseph Proudhon, who elaborated on the comparison between wage labour and slavery, most notably the critique of work and working conditions. Moreover, … Continue reading →

المرأة و ريادة الأعمال في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا

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تعد ريادة المرأة للأعمال مصدرا مهما، لم يتم بعد استغلاله،  في النمو الاقتصادي في جميع أنحاء العالم تقريبا. وعلى الصعيد العالمي، تسجل المرأة في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا أدنى معدلات النشاط الريادي الإجمالي:  فقط 4٪ من السكان. في حين ُتسجل أعلى المعدلات  في أفريقيا جنوب الصحراء  (27٪). متبوعة بأمريكا اللاتينية ومنطقة الكاريبي بمعدل (15 في المئة). أما بخصوص اقتصادات بلدان (بنما وتايلاند وغانا، والإكوادور، ونيجيريا، والمكسيك، وأوغندا)، فيتساوى فيها مستوى المرأة مع مستوى الرجل، أو قد يتعداه قليلا، في مجال ريادة المشاريع. و بالنسبة لبقية المناطق، فتشكل المرأة نسبة صغيرة من رواد المشاريع. الوضع الحالي ازداد مؤخرا الاهتمام بريادة … Continue reading →

Sahara Nature-Based Solutions: Algeria’s Ancestral Water Systems for Climate Resilience and Sustainability

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Nature‑based solutions (NBS) have emerged as a critical strategy for sustainable water resource management, especially in arid and semi‑arid regions where water scarcity is amplified by increasingly erratic rainfall, more frequent extreme weather events, and progressive ecosystem degradation. Algeria, which spans from the Mediterranean littoral to the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert, is endowed with a rich heritage of traditional hydraulic techniques adapted over centuries to the region’s harsh climate [1]. Long before modern hydraulic infrastructures, these techniques leveraged a deep understanding of local hydrology and integrated human settlements within the natural cycles, enabling a remarkable resilience to climatic … Continue reading →

Why Algeria Should Become the Regional Hub for Predictive Drought and Water Modeling

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North Africa is entering a new climate era defined by chronic drought, accelerating warming, and unprecedented pressure on water systems that were never designed for this level of stress. Over the last decade, the region has experienced a succession of dry years, but recent analyses from the Copernicus Global Drought Observatory show that since late 2023 the drought signal in northern Africa has been both multi-annual and structurally deeper than past cycles, with pronounced precipitation deficits, rising evapotranspiration, and abnormal land-surface temperatures. These dynamics have led to measurable impacts on groundwater recharge, agricultural productivity, and reservoir inflows, creating a complex … Continue reading →

Energy Efficiency in the Arab World: Key Findings

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Energy efficiency is the most cost effective means of reducing the energy intensity of the economy and promoting a low-carbon future in the Arab world. Energy efficiency further helps Arab states meet their SDGs on combating climate change and its impacts (SDG13), as it cuts down on GHG emissions resulting from excessive and inefficient consumption of energy. Energy efficiency improvements can save governments, companies, and citizens billions of dollars in the Arab region from reduced energy bills, while at the same time quickly reducing carbon footprints – a win-win solution. Many countries in the region are now moving ahead with … Continue reading →

الارادة والتعليم سر الانجازات الاقتصادية

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إقتصادياً؛ ينظر الكثير إلى مياه البحر من زاوية التكاليف الباهضة لمشاريع تحليتها، هذه النظرة تجعل من مياه البحر عقدة بدلاً من كونها حلا لبعض الحاجات الإقتصادية والمشاريع التنموية. قبل أيام أطلقت أستراليا مشروعاً زراعياً يعد الأول من نوعه على مستوى العالم، إذ يستغني عن التربة والمياه الجوفية والوقود الأحفوري، ويكتفى بأشعة الشمس ومياه البحر لإنتاج 17 ألف طن من الطماطم سنوياً. وفي ظل الأزمة التي تواجه العالم في الحصول على المياه العذبة وإنتاج الطاقة فإن المشروع يشكل الوجه الجديد للزراعة المستقبلية حسب تعبير مجلة New Scientist التي ذكرت أن المشروع استغرق ست سنوات فقط، وهي مدة قياسية بالمقارنة بمشاريعنا، بل حتى … Continue reading →

Seawater Reinvented: Inside the Race to Build Cleaner and Smarter Desalination

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Desalination has stopped being an engineering footnote and quietly become one of the most consequential climate-era industries. Once synonymous with enormous power plants, thick plumes of hypersaline waste and prohibitive costs, modern desalination is remaking itself along three intertwined axes: slashing energy needs, turning brine from a waste into a resource, and folding data-driven intelligence into plants and networks. The result is a trajectory that could make seawater an affordable, environmentally acceptable pillar of water security for coastal and island nations ; provided the industry solves the brine and emissions puzzles fast enough. Recent projects and a surge of academic work … Continue reading →

Role of Algerian Matorrals in Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Adaptation

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Matorrals, Mediterranean shrublands including maquis and garrigue form a key component of Algeria’s ecological landscapes. Stretching from coastal zones to foothills and lower mountain belts, they serve as transitional ecosystems between humid northern forests and southern semi-arid steppes. Despite their limited spatial coverage, they host rich biodiversity, including many endemic and xerophytic species, and provide crucial ecosystem services such as soil protection, carbon storage, and hydrological regulation. Their structural diversity and adaptive traits make them among the most resilient vegetation types under Mediterranean climatic stress. Recent national studies and international assessments (IUCN, Plan Bleu) highlight their essential role in land … Continue reading →