Public
Forum of PRESTO Final Conference entitled “Save the Sea – Investing in Waste
Water Management in Belarus” took place in Helsinki on 11th of
February 2014. The event has gathered around 90 participants representing
waste water treatment utilities, universities and research institutes,
engineering and technology consultancy companies, as well as local, national
and EU officials and representatives of the international organizations (UBC, HELCOM),
water associations (European - EWA, German
- DWA, Belarussian - Aqua-Bel and Finnish Water Forum) and financial
institutions (NIB, NDEP/EBRD,
NEFCO).
Topics
discussed during the conference concentrated on the benefits and challenges of
implementing the transnational investments in Belarus, presented practical
examples of cooperation aiming at reducing the nutrient load in the Baltic Sea
Region, and tried to look into the future of European water management sector.
 |
| Björn Grönholm, Head of the Sectretariat UBC EnvCom, explaining “How did we do it?” in PRESTO project |
The overall
objective of the event was to summarize the achievements of the project, disseminate
its outcomes and share the knowledge developed throughout over the two years of
its duration. PRESTO kicked off in November 2011, and since then the project
activities have resulted in the phosphorous removal investments at three Belorussian WTTPs in Grodno, Molodechno and Vitebsk; laboratory, measurement
and other analyzing equipment at the Baltic WTTPs Daugavpils and Kaunas; and
capacity building cooperation between the Technical University of Berlin and
three universities that prepare water management specialists in Belarus.
Text and photos: Olena Zinchuk
