News

Not every successful project needs another study. Some need a decision.

After six years of implementation, Tunisia is no longer asking what its environmental challenges are. It has generated evidence, tested solutions and built institutional experience across hazardous chemicals, water management, wastewater and coastal resilience.

The question nowadays is about results: which ones are ready to be completed? Which can be replicated? Which should become the country's next investment priorities?

At the Fourth MedProgramme Annual Stocktaking Meeting in Tunis, Emna Hend Sbaouelji Public Services Adviser, Ministry of the Environment, Directorate-General for International Cooperation of Tunisia presented a national Replication Atlas designed to answer exactly those questions.

"Tunisia does not start from scratch. We have a set of validated outcomes, technical knowledge and pilot experiences that are a solid platform to prepare future investments."

Rather than producing another catalogue of achievements, the Atlas helps national institutions decide what happens next. It identifies which interventions have reached maturity, where important gaps remain and which organisations should lead the next stage.

Its purpose is simple: turn environmental results into national decisions.

Completing what has already begun

Some of Tunisia's strongest opportunities lie in hazardous chemicals.

Mercury inventories and medical-device assessments carried out in seven hospitals now provide the technical basis for moving towards mercury-free healthcare. Work on polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has progressed beyond identification to include audits, screening capacity, safeguarding and preparation for disposal.

The challenge is no longer understanding the problem. It is completing the transition.

That means confirming remaining contaminated equipment, securing finance for disposal and replacement, maintaining monitoring systems and assigning clear institutional responsibility.

As Sbaouelji noted, Tunisia must "attribute clearly the responsibilities to pilot institutions" if technical progress is to become operational reality.

The same principle applies to all persistent organic pollutants. Guidance and regulatory proposals only create environmental value once they are formally adopted, implemented and monitored.

Completing this work would allow Tunisia not only to address existing hazardous-chemical legacies, but also to reduce the risk of creating new ones.

Replication is not repetition

Other MedProgramme results have already demonstrated enough potential to move beyond their original locations.

At Ras Jebel, groundwater modelling, vulnerability assessments and stakeholder engagement produced an integrated approach for managing coastal aquifers affected by over-abstraction, pollution, salinisation and climate change.

At Ghar El Melh, smart irrigation, solar-powered pumping and groundwater monitoring were combined to address the links between water, energy, agriculture and ecosystems.

The pilot reportedly reduced water consumption by 30 per cent while increasing agricultural production by 27 per cent. These figures should be confirmed against the final approved project records before publication.

The Atlas does not propose copying these experiences unchanged. It proposes understanding why they worked.

Different locations have different environmental pressures, institutions and communities. Successful replication therefore requires adaptation rather than duplication. Suitable sites must be selected, baseline conditions understood, stakeholders engaged and financing matched to local realities.

That distinction sits at the heart of the Replication Atlas. Replication is not about repeating projects. It is about repeating success.

Preparing tomorrow's investments

Tunisia has also generated substantial technical work that could support larger environmental investments.

Preparatory work for wastewater transfer and treatment infrastructure, including the El Hessiane project in Greater Tunis, has established technical, environmental, social and institutional foundations for future investment preparation.

Coastal work has produced another opportunity.

Knowledge generated on lagoons, climate risk, land use, ecosystem management and coastal planning could be assembled into integrated investment packages linking ecosystem restoration, water management, climate resilience and local livelihoods in priority areas.

Neither opportunity is investment-ready today. Both require further technical preparation, costing, safeguards, institutional agreement and financing strategies.

That is precisely why the Atlas matters. It separates interventions that are ready to advance from those that first need additional preparation.

As Sbaouelji described it, the Atlas serves as "a bridge between science and investment opportunities."

The next national decision

The value of Tunisia's Replication Atlas does not lie in producing the longest possible list of projects. Its value lies in helping the country choose. This simply means that PCB disposal is not the same as equipment replacement. A feasibility study is not the same as infrastructure investment. Regulatory adoption is not the same as implementation.

Every opportunity has a different level of readiness and therefore requires a different decision.

Tunisia's next task is to approve a realistic shortlist of national priorities, assign one lead institution to each intervention and define the first practical step needed to move it forward. Only then can technical and financial partners respond with targeted support.

As Sbaouelji concluded: "The outcomes that I am introducing are not an end, but a starting point for new cooperation and investment opportunities beyond national borders."

That may be the Atlas's greatest contribution.

It shifts the conversation from what the MedProgramme achieved to what Tunisia chooses to do with those achievements next.