This document discusses a conference on technology transfer between Israel and Italy in integrated water services to be held from June 21-23, 2023 in Bari, Italy. It provides an introduction to UNIDROIT, an intergovernmental organization established in 1926 to harmonize private law between countries. It discusses UNIDROIT's work developing modern legal standards and legislation related to water resources, agricultural land investments, and protecting water access rights. Finally, it proposes drawing lessons from historical civic uses of land and water in Italy to help manage conflicts over water resources.

1. 2023
Organizzazione Con il patrocinio di
Da un’idea di
LE TECNOLOGIE DI DOMANI PER L’ACQUA DI OGGI
GLI STATI GENERALI SUL TRASFERIMENTO TECNOLOGICO FRA ISRAELE E ITALIA NEL SERVIZIO IDRICO INTEGRATO
TOMORROW'S TECHNOLOGIES FOR TODAY'S WATER
THE STATES GENERAL ON TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN ISRAEL AND ITALY IN THE INTEGRATED WATER SERVICE

2. Centro CONGRESSI
FIERA DEL LEVANTE - BARI
21 - 22 - 23 GIUGNO 2023
Organizzazione Con il patrocinio di
Da un’idea di
Some proposals for legal cooperation
building upon existing UNIDROIT instruments
and approach
Prof. Maria Chiara Malaguti
President
UNIDROIT

3. 2023
Centro CONGRESSI
FIERA DEL LEVANTE - BARI
21 - 22 - 23 GIUGNO 2023
Organizzazione Con il patrocinio di
Da un’idea di
Intergovernmental Organisation
Set up in 1926 League of Nations
Currently 65 member States
➢World’s main economies
➢Relevant developing markets
➢A global institution
➢74.1% of the world population
➢Over 90% global nominal GDP
• Develops modern standards
for private law, & internationally
harmonised legislation:
➢Modernises national legislations
➢Lowers transaction costs in cross-
border investment
INTRODUCTIONTO UNIDROIT

4. 2023
Centro CONGRESSI
FIERA DEL LEVANTE - BARI
21 - 22 - 23 GIUGNO 2023
Organizzazione Con il patrocinio di
Da un’idea di
Waterand the law
Water means food, but also irrigation; it means navigation and
transport, but also fishing and breeding.
It means collection, but also distribution: dams and canals, ports and
beaches. The water of the sea and of the sky, of the springs, of the
shores, of the rivers, of the lakes, of the swamps, of the groundwater;
marine, continental, meteoric, underground, superficial, wild, channeled
waters; thermal, mineral, industrial waters; drinking and non-
drinking, clear and wastewater, soft, acidic, neutral, alkaline, hard, very
hard waters. And so on.

5. 2023
Centro CONGRESSI
FIERA DEL LEVANTE - BARI
21 - 22 - 23 GIUGNO 2023
Organizzazione Con il patrocinio di
Da un’idea di
Waterand «the commons»
“The commons” are cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a
society, including air, water, and a habitable Earth. These are held in common
even when owned privately or publicly. Commons can also be understood as
natural resources that groups of people manage for individual and collective
benefit.
Commons can also be defined as a practice of governing a resource not by state
or market but by a community of users that self-governs the resource through
institutions that it creates.
See Nobel-prize Elinor Ostrom "Governing the Commons: The Evolution of
Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge, 1990

6. 2023
Centro CONGRESSI
FIERA DEL LEVANTE - BARI
21 - 22 - 23 GIUGNO 2023
Organizzazione Con il patrocinio di
Da un’idea di
UNIDROIT - IFAD LegalGuide on
AGRICULTURAL LAND INVESTMENTCONTRACTS(ALIC)
Building upon the UNIDROIT
Principles of International
Commercial Contracts (UPICC) and
the UNIDROIT/FAO/IFAD Legal
Guide on Contract Farming,
the ALIC Legal Guide seeks to
provide innovative guidance to
improve such contracts by
effectively operationalizing
international principles and
standards for the promotion of
secure tenure rights, equitable
access to land

7. 2023
Centro CONGRESSI
FIERA DEL LEVANTE - BARI
21 - 22 - 23 GIUGNO 2023
Organizzazione Con il patrocinio di
Da un’idea di
4.18. Water. An investment project’s use of water can have significant impacts on legitimate
tenure right holders, local communities, and the environment.
Where the grantor is a government with responsibility for governing natural resources, the
contract should: (i) specify the extent of the right of use of surface water, ground water or
both according to the needs determined by the project’s feasibility studies and impact
assessments (see Chapter 3.III and IV); and (ii) indicate the modalities of water usage, the
necessary quantities, and specify the corresponding fees, procedure for adjustments and
protections that must be in place.
Where the grantor is a local community, while that community might not have responsibility
for water governance, the parties should nevertheless consider the water sources and
quantities to be used in the contract in order to minimize confusion and avoid grievances
and disputes with members of that community.

8. 2023
Centro CONGRESSI
FIERA DEL LEVANTE - BARI
21 - 22 - 23 GIUGNO 2023
Organizzazione Con il patrocinio di
Da un’idea di
4.115. Protecting water. Parties should carefully consider water issues, including by
negotiating contractual provisions that specify and limit the water rights granted to the
investor, where relevant. For example, water access and abstraction in irrigated
agricultural projects can be addressed as a related right of the investor (see Section
I.B.2 above), to be reviewed during the lifetime of the contract according to present
and future environmental conditions and to the needs of legitimate tenure right
holders and affected communities. Contractual clauses should calibrate the investor’s
water rights to ensure they do not interfere with the water supply of other groups or
individuals, other farming activities and watering places for animals. National law, or in
default the contract, should also clarify how any water fees are determined. Further,
contractual provisions can also provide for re-allocation of water rights when
circumstances so require during project implementation; specify the type of water that
can be used (e.g. surface or groundwater, from river or sea, etc.); and govern pollution
and discharge management to ensure that, throughout the duration of the activities, all
employees and residential communities are supplied with clean and safe drinking
water.

9. 2023
Centro CONGRESSI
FIERA DEL LEVANTE - BARI
21 - 22 - 23 GIUGNO 2023
Organizzazione Con il patrocinio di
Da un’idea di
Waterand «usi civici»:towards possibleforms of
cooperationbetween various communitiesleaving
close?
Some lessons could be learned from the often millenary
historical and juridical experience of the so-called "civic
uses" [of things] (usi civici), not only in Italy (referring to
lands under collective dominion, but also to waters). The
study of experiences of this kind would help to overcome
the bottlenecks of the 'public/private' dichotomy and
would allow new forms of water management (and
protection) capable of accommodating many of the
conflicts that today affect its management and use.

10. 2023
Centro CONGRESSI
FIERA DEL LEVANTE - BARI
21 - 22 - 23 GIUGNO 2023
Organizzazione Con il patrocinio di
Da un’idea di
Thankyou for your attention!
For more information, please visit our website:
https://www.unidroit.org

11. Organizzazione Con il patrocinio di
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www.waterinnovationsummit.org