The follow-up project of the Utility Platform got off to a successful and seamless start in July 2024. In recent weeks, the contracts for the utility partnerships have been signed and partnership work has resumed. The Utility Platform currently supports a total of 25 operator partnerships:

• Water Operator Partnerships: 11
• Solidarity operator partnerships with Ukraine: 11
• Operator partnerships in the waste sector: 3
• Countries: Zambia, Tanzania, South Africa, Jordan, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Albania and Germany

In December 2024, the German Federal Ministry for Development and Economic Cooperation (BMZ) made additional funds available for the current and further Ukraine partnerships. These funds will be available for partnership work at the beginning of 2025.

We would like to thank all of our operators for their extraordinary partnership commitment in 2024! We look back on an impressive year full of activities, trips and successes:

07.10.24 Hamburg Sustainability Conference (HSC): There was a session on utility partnerships organised by Hamburg Wasser and GWP. Hamburg Wasser and Lena Pahlenberg spoke about the future of utility partnerships. More info and photos: LinkedIn post and LinkedIn video.

08-10.09.24 16th Federal Conference of Municipal Development Policy in Ingelheim: Exhibition of the activities of the Utility Platform and the OOWV-Chernihiv/Sumy partnership.

12.10.24 UN Day in Bonn: GWOPA exhibits our new factsheet and BonnNetz activities on the marketplace. Bonn's mayor drops by the stand.

11.11.24 Kick-off trip of the Zambia operator partnerships in Lusaka: Eight German operators travel to their five Zambian partner operators and meet with the German embassy, an EU delegation and the Zambian Ministry of Water, among others as part of the NEWZA programme.

13-15.11.24 ReBuild Ukraine 4.0 in Warsaw: Anastasiia Kahlow presents the Utiltiy Platform in a panel discussion at the Water Solar Recovery Forum (More info and photos: LinkedIn post). The OOWV and its Ukrainian partners meet for talks with manufacturers at the trade fair.

18.11.24 Ukraine conference organised by the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia: The Utility Platform presents its activities using the example of the solidarity utility partnership Dresden/Cologne with Lvivvodokanal in a panel discussion. Bergischer Abfallwirtschaftsverband (BAV) and its partner utility from Poltava (Ukraine) present their work and the issue of construction waste in a panel discussion. Further information and photos: LinkedIn post.

29.11.24 Our water utility partnership Hamburg-Bremen-Jordan wins the International German Sustainability Award. More info and photos: LinkedIn post.

29.11.24 The first Outcome Report (Hamburg-Jordan) from the pilot phase is published and shows the diverse effects of utility partnerships. A further six outcome reports will be published by the end of January 2025.

19.12.24 The second Outcome Report (Dresden-Ukraine) from the pilot phase is published.

We wish everyone a festive holiday season full of joy and peace and a good start to the New Year! May this special time of year bring you much warmth, hope and light.