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Background

As part of the "International Cooperation" action plan, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) together with the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of the Islamic Republic of Iran (MSRT) is funding the project "Drivers and Socio-Economic, Behavioural Effects of Climate Change in Iran: The Case of Water Resources Management (DEBEC)" with 20,000 euros (Förderkennzeichen 01DK20092).

The partner institutions in Iran are the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (Prof. Dr. Narges Salehnia) as main coordinator and the University of Tehran (Prof. Dr. Pooya Alaedini). In Germany, there is cooperation with the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO) in Halle/Saale ((Dr. Tinoush Jamali Jaghdani, Dr. Zhanli Sun), the inter 3 Institute for Resource Management in Berlin (Dr. Ali Asghar Besalatpour) as well as the departments 02 (Prof. Dr. Björn Vollan) and 19 (Prof. Dr. Christian Opp) of the Philipps University of Marburg.

The aim of the two-year project is to increase knowledge about the causes and effects of climate change, with a special focus on water. In addition, strategies are to be identified which provide answers to the existing problems on different levels in Iran. In the course of the project, different working groups of experts will be formed in Germany and Iran and four workshops will be organized in Germany and Iran. Thus, information and knowledge will be bundled in order to obtain an up-to-date picture of the effects of climate change on water resources in Iran. Furthermore, the project represents an opportunity for young scientists to gain experience in international cooperation, teaching and research. By focusing on integrated water resources management and water governance in Iran, a sustainable cooperation between partners in Germany and Iran as well as the implementation of a detailed study of the socio-economic consequences and behavioral effects of climate change will be realized, thus contributing to an internationalization of science and research.

Prof. Dr. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan of the Economics of the Middle East Research Group (CNMS/FB02) heads the project. In the past, there has already been international cooperation between Prof. Dr. Farzangean and Prof. Dr. Salehnia (Ferdowsi University of Mashhad) and Prof. Dr. Alaedini (University of Tehran). This successful cooperation will be continued with the new project.