How to close the rural access gap to wastewater treatment and sanitation services? In the Danube region, this question remains an important challenge. An upcoming workshop on this topic will focus on the issues of wastewater management in small agglomerations (below 2000 PE), with an emphasis on decentralized sanitation and wastewater treatment systems in rural areas.

Most of the countries in the Danube region still struggle to manage wastewater in order to reach water resources protection targets, especially in the context of EU accession and harmonization processes. In particular, the construction of adequate sewage collection systems and treatment facilities in small rural communities is lagging, with a lack of financial, technical and staff resources, but also a lack of awareness in the society.

Building upon previous work and events on this topic the World Bank, under the Danube Water Program, and the ICPDR, are organizing a workshop aiming at contributing to the understanding, issue awareness, potential approaches to overcome constraints and to create an enabling framework for sustainable and decentralized solutions for wastewater treatment in rural areas. Please consult the link below for further information.