Debates around the global water crisis have gained an un­precedented global momentum over the past years. Issues affecting the accessibility and quality of fresh water, such as climate change, skyrocketing population rates, and polluti­on, immensely increase the pressure on existing fresh water resources. It is not without reason that “Water and Sanitati­on” was adopted as one of the “Sustainable Development Goals: 17 Goals to Transform our World” announced by the UN in September 2015. Only one month later, the DAAD Cairo launched the Egyptian German Water Cluster consisting of 30 individual experts and various scientific part­ners. Following the Egyptian-German Year of Science and Technology 2007, the bilateral Egyptian-German research cooperation in the fields of protection, upgrading, quality management and efficient use of water resources have intensified, leading to the establishment of a wide network of DAAD-Alumni and projects.

In 2017 the Water Cluster became part of COSIMENA, the new DAAD regional ini­tiative on scientific innovation in the Middle East and North Africa. COSIMENA aims to set up new issue-driven clusters focusing on relevant fields such as health, energy, urbanism, and economy. The various activities shall also simplify and strengthen the access to Germany as an outstanding locati­on for research and build synergies between DAAD funded projects, alumni and partner institutions. By bringing together experts from academic institutions, researchers and represen­tatives of the industry and the government, the COSIMENA Water Cluster fosters scientific collaboration, focusing on one of the region’s most pressing social, political, economic and environmental issue: water.