WATERVILL exists thanks to the diverse consortium that makes up its partnership, bringing together municipalities, universities, associations of local governments and water organisations. The “Meet the partners” series aims to present WATERVILL partners through short interviews, highlighting each organisation’s work, their role in the project and the team involved.
We continue the series, introducing this time project partner Bulgarian Water Association (BWA).
PARTNER OVERVIEW
- Organisation: Bulgarian Water Association (BWA)
- Type of organisation: Association, network
- Location: Sofia, Bulgaria
- Staff: 9
- Expertise: Water supply, leak detection, water networks optimisation
ABOUT BULGARIAN WATER ASSOCIATION
CAN YOU SHARE AN INTERESTING DETAIL ABOUT YOUR ORGANISATION?
Being the biggest non-governmental organisation in the water sector in Bulgaria, BWA unites more than 300 members divided into two main groups: corporate and individuals (experts), all of them involved in the water supply and sewerage field, including but not limited to the quality and treatment of drinking, industrial, agricultural and wastewater, as well as management, preservation and utilisation of water resources. By expressing consolidated standpoints and working solutions as well as building a bridge between all stakeholders in the water world, BWA can be fairly called “the Bulgarian Water Voice”.
By expressing consolidated standpoints and working solutions as well as building a bridge between all stakeholders in the water world, BWA can be fairly called “the Bulgarian Water Voice”.
WHAT ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH EU-FUNDED PROJECTS?
As a non-governmental organisation BWA tends to participate in different projects with National and/or European funding with different ideas but always connected to the improvement of the water supply and sanitation (WSS) services in Bulgaria. BWA has also participated in the past and currently in another forms of partnerships.
Generally, they can be divided into four categories:
• Continuous => this is a type of projects that BWA maintains with no deadline
– “Benchmarking of Bulgarian WSS Operators”. The project initially started in 2014 with the support of IAWD-International Association of Water Service Companies in the Danube River Catchment Area and has been developing ever since.
– “Energy Efficiency in water supply and sanitation systems”
• Past/Finished projects – the type of projects, that BWA has had participated in with a significant role and has been successfully concluded:
– Promotion of employment in the water sector under “Development of human resources” operational programme;
– Urban water full cycle: from its source to its end-users and back to the environment (WATenERgy Cycle) under Interreg V-B „Balkans – Mediterranean“ 2014 – 2020 transnational programme;
– Tackling hazardous substances pollution in the Danube River Basin by Measuring, Modelling-based Management and Capacity building (Danube Hazard m3c) under Interreg Danube Transnational Programme
• Past/Finished projects – the type of projects, that BWA has had participated in with a minor/supplemental role and has been successfully concluded:
– Inspection of all major pumping stations in three regions of Bulgaria: Vidin, Smolyan and Sliven.
– Inventory report of all wastewater treatment plants with a preliminary agreed template.
– Actualisation of “Strategy for infrastructure development of Sofia Municipality in the part for engineering activities connected to water supply, sanitation and correction of river beds for the period 2014 – 2025″.
• Ongoing projects – the type of projects BWA currently is involved:
– BWA is Project Partner 11 in Boosting the uptake of inovative solutions in the context of water and circular economy (BOOST-IN) project under programme HORIZON-CL6-2023-CIRCBIO-01 which aims to develop a successful strategy that promotes technological changes, governance schemes, shifts in mind-set and organizational structures.
– BWA is Project Partner 4 in Coordinated Danube Action for the titanic endeavor of tackling hazardous substances water pollution under changing pressures, challenges and targets (Tethys) project under Interreg Programme Danube Region
– BWA is Project Partner 19 in Development of a harmonised water balance modelling system for the Danube River Basin (Danube Water Balance) project under Interreg Danube Programme.
– BWA is Project Partner 4 in Innovative solutions for enhancing village water supply and addressing water scarcity for resilient rural and mountain areas (WATERVILL) project under Interreg Euro-Med.
– BWA is Project Parner 12 in Innovative Water Retention for Climate Change Mitigation, Sustainable Agriculture and Flood Protection (InnoWATCCH) project under Interreg Danube Programme.
WHAT DOES BWA’s WORK FOCUS ON?
One of the essential functions of BWA is the capacity building and spreading of knowledge and good practices. We achieve that through organisation of many different events such as conferences, seminars, workshops, etc. Other more specialised activities are directly connected to our mission to improve the water sector are listed below:
• BWA develops expert appraisals, standpoints, strategies, technologies, and gives consultations on all issues concerning water supply and sewerage, water treatment, preservation and utilisation of water resources as well as participates in projects with both national and international significance.
• With its Vocational Training Centre, BWA organises and conducts professional training courses and specializations in the country and abroad thus spreading know-how and good practices.
• Another main activity, developed by our subsidiary – BULAQUA Standard, is performing continuous quality control of construction materials through physical inspections in accredited laboratories and proving their compliance with product standards. In this way we help to limit the use of low-quality products in the implementation of infrastructure projects in the water supply and sewerage sector in the Republic of Bulgaria.
• With our specialised magazine – BULAQUA, we aim at distributing good examples and promoting reliable partners among the Bulgarian water supply and sanitation operators.
• We participate in National and International Projects aiming at improving water infrastructure and services.
• Last but not least, with the help of our weekly/monthly newsletters (one general and on focused exclusively on the water losses) we try to follow the national and international trends and news around the water and share them with our constantly growing community.
BWA and WATERVILL
WHAT EXPERTISE DOES YOUR ORGANISATION BRING TO WATERVILL?
BWA mostly brings to WATERVILL its extensive knowledge and experience in organisation of trainings and capacity building. As project partner BWA will directly contribute to all working packages but will have its main role and lead two activities:
• Activity 2.3. Capacity Development in WSS Management: Through joint international training and then support in the conduction of locally tailored technical trainings specifically designed for capacity building in use of new pilot technologies and/or inventions BWA will encourage the capacity development both internally in Bulgaria (through partner institutions/municipalities) but will also help other project partners in the knowledge distribution.
• Activity 2.7. Monitoring the project carbon footprint: The project will have appointed its own Carbon Footprint Coordinator within BWA who will consolidate the input information from all partners into periodic reports. At project closure, a final carbon footprint report will be delivered, providing an overview of total emissions, reductions achieved, best practices adopted, and lessons learned. This report, highlighting the project’s commitment to sustainability and the Programme’s broader environmental objectives.
WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO ENGAGE IN WATERVILL?
BWA always looks for new opportunities to strengthen its contacts with as many national and international partners as possible. That way it would be easier for the Association to offer better and more suitable support to all members and in the end to advance its main goal and aim – to help in the improvement of water sector in general.
“BWA brings to WATERVILL its extensive knowledge and experience in organisation of trainings and capacity building.”
WHAT DO YOU FIND MOST EXCITING ABOUT THE PROJECT?
It is always a pleasure and true excitement to work with many international colleagues and learn more about the challenges and opportunities that they face and explore in they everyday work. It is vital for any organisation but even more so for an NGO (such as BWA) that through the assessment of such experiences to constantly improve. Therefore, the whole Bulgarian team awaits with eagerness what solution and practices will be explored and deployed in the pilot areas of the project.
MEET THE PROJECT TEAM
The project team at Bulgarian Water Association consists of Ivan Ivanov, President of BWA, Capacity Building & Carbon Footprint Coordinator for WATERVILL; Teodora Pakuleva, Project Manager in BWA, Project Officer for WATERVILL; Dimitar Mihalkov, Secretary General of BWA, Administrative Officer for WATERVILL; Daniela Popova, Financial Manager of BWA, Finance Officer for WATERVILL.
