On 6, 7, 8 November 2019, SHUKALB in partnership with SHUKOS (The Water and Wastewater Works Association Kosovo) organized the 7th Balkans Joint Conference and Exhibition, titled “Water for All”, at Emerald Hotel, in Prishtina, Kosovo.

This year’s event marked its highest participation in the history of the conference, with a record of over 550 participants coming from 16 different countries throughout the Balkans, Europe and beyond.

Prior to the start of the Opening Ceremony, on 6 November, several Pre-Conference events were organized to include the Young Water Professionals Forum from Kosova and Albania “Young Water Professionals Education Towards Career Development”, the special Meeting on “Test-Based Certification Program”, and the Regional Benchmarking Workshop of the Utility Benchmarking Program for Kosovo and Albania HUB.

IAWD and the Danube Water Program were represented at the Conference by IAWD TS Coordinator Philip Weller, and Patricia Lopez of the World Bank. Both Patricia and Philip provided keynote presentations on central aspects of the Danube Water Program – the State of the Sector and Achieving Water Security respectively.

Additionally, Alexander Krstic, the Coordinator of the Danube Hub delivering the Utility Benchmarking Program, was present and together with Philip Weller participated in a dedicated session on Benchmarking and improving Utility Performance. The conference again reached its goal to stimulate the dialogue between different stakeholders and offer opportunities for water professionals, policymakers, and business professionals from the sector to discuss issues of concern, exchange information, and share their experiences in an effort to help the further development of the water supply and wastewater sector in the Greater Balkan Region.