The workshop on "Financial Sustainability of Wastewater Management in the Danube Region" took place on 3 February. Jointly invited by the Danube Water Program, the World Bank and the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, interested government and utility representatives gathered in the virtual space to find valuable insights about the financial aspects of improving wastewater services in Danube region.

This one-day event had a three-session schedule, opening with a look at the status of financial sustainability of wastewater management in Danube region, with World Bank's Rado Russev making “The Case for Reinvestment”, OECD's Xavier Leflaive treating “The Better Use of Scenarios”, and EUSDR's Balazs Horvath giving an overview of the “Complementarity of EU Funding Sources”.

The second session treated policy level actions towards sustainable wastewater management, with WAREG's Christian Minelli, World Bank's Ivaylo Kolev and Gabor Kisvardai of the Hungarian Energy & Water Regulating Authority presenting experiences from selected countries with national strategy development, tariff setting, financial sustainability, service affordability, and the related challenges.

Session three treated the practical side, with Jesper Karup Pedersen (COWI), David Tagg (Jaspers), Benoit Samanos (SUEZ), Vesna Muslic & Ines Delic (Aquasan) and Doru Popa (Apa Brasov) presenting examples of good practices in development of sustainable wastewater services at utility level, with a special focus on O&M costs, technology selection, and longer-term business and investment planning.

Those who missed this very informative event can find all presentations for download under the link below. A full workshop report will also be available soon.