PRESTO Final Conference - the last full scope project’s event, but the first opportunity for partners to learn about waste water management in Finland

As reported before, central event of PRESTO Final Conference – Helsinki Public Forum “Save the Sea – Investing in Waste Water Management in Belarus” has marked project’s ending. However, PRESTO partners’ programme included several other meetings and excursions, taking place during 11-13^th of February.

At Kakkola WTTP. Photo: Nicholas Petroff

In the morning before the Public Forum, partners visited Viikinmaki wastewatertreatment plant and Aalto University’s Water Laboratory. The first group went to the largest WWTP in Finland, the Viikinmäki plant, treating the domestic and industrial wastewater of the capital city and five neighbouring municipalities. The second group had the opportunity to gain an insight into the work of Water Laboratory at Aalto University’s School of Engineering, which is an excellent example of the water sector education in Finland.

Forum Marinum collection. Photo: Paulius Vaitelis

The next day, project consortium headed to Turku, where were scheduled two more excursions and a ferry cruise to Stockholm. Site visit to Kakkola WTTP enabled participants to compare the plant with the one previously visited in Helsinki, and therefore to have a more general idea of the modern waste water treatment in major Finnish cities. Also, project partners have visited Forum Marinum Maritime Centre and learned about seafaring and ship-building history of Turku and other ports in Finland.

The ultimate exploration took place on the Viking Grace ferry cruiser to Stockholm. The ship, completed in Turku shipyard in 2013, represents the new generation of environment-friendly large scale passenger ferry powered by liquified natural gas. 

During the cruise the final Partners seminar was organized to summarize project activities and achieved results, and finally to get to know the Baltic Sea from the personal encounter.

“One thing is to talk about saving the sea that you have never seen with your own eyes, and a completely different - to commit yourself for improving something that you have personally experienced” – commented one of the Belarussian partners.

Baltic Sea. Photo: Nicholas Petroff.

 Text: Olena Zinchuk

Saving the Baltic Sea by Investing in the Waste Water Management in Belarus

Public Forum of PRESTO Final Conference entitled “Save the Sea – Investing in Waste Water Management in Belarus” took place in Helsinki on 11^th 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

 

Experiencing innovations and new cooperation perspectives in water management at WASSER BERLIN INTERNATIONAL

Cooperation under the framework of international project PRESTO has accelerated recently. After successful Water Management Policy Forum organized in March 2013 in Minsk (Belarus), PRESTO partners visited “Wasser Berlin International” Congress and Trade Fair in Berlin (Germany) on 23 April 2013. This world-leading exhibition on innovative technology in water supply and treatment is attended biennially by 28 000 visitors and creates perfect platform for discussions with international experts on a variety of water-related topics. Congress helps specialists to improve their expertise, learn how other countries address water management challenges and provide networking opportunities in highly dynamic water market. Using this opportunity, PRESTO partners not only visited the Congress but also organised a Belarusian Country Forum open for external visitors.

Among invited speakers there was a representative of Ministry of Housing and Communal Services of the Republic of Belarus, Mr. Siarhei Tsimoshkin; Mr. Rüdiger Heidebrecht, Head of Department Training and International Cooperation from DWA - German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste and Mr. Bernd Zacharias, Head of Regional Section Russia of German Water Partnership.  

Speakers at the Forum: Siarhei Tsimoshkin, Rüdiger Heidebrecht, Vladimir Anoufriev, Bernd Zacharias; facilitation: Matthias Barjenbruch, Technical University of Berlin.
Photo by Agnieszka Ilola, UBC EnvCom.

  

Mr. Tsimoshkin in his speech highlighted the importance of public-private collaboration and stated that currently, based on a call from the Belarusian government, a new law on public-private partnerships is being developed, and that in the future it will foster investments in the water sector. Moreover, he admitted that the Ministry of Communal Services and Housing of Belarus is elaborating further ways of cooperation in reducing nutrient inputs to the Baltic Sea. For that the Ministry, together with the regional Departments of housing and communal services, searches for water and sewage utilities that directly affect the state of the Baltic Sea drainage area, to encourage their participation in the new projects with international investments for the advanced treatment technologies. ”It is evident that exchanging of experiences and knowledge in the projects like PRESTO can contribute to mutual understanding and accelerate the future cooperation process” Mr. Tsimoshkin said.

Mr. Rüdiger Heidebrecht, Head of Department Training and International Cooperation from DWA - German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (Hennef) presented international activities of DWA and invited PRESTO partners to collaboration with other leading European water alliances as IWA (International Water Association), EWA (European Water Association) or GWP (German Water Partnership).

After the Forum all partners had a chance to participate in the guided tour at the Trade Fair organized by the Technical University of Berlin and get familiar with the latest trends in pipeline engineering, water construction machinery, measuring and analysis technology and equipment.

For more information please visit our website at www.prestobalticsea.eu.

PRESTO partners visiting fair's stand of Grundfos, one of the world's leading pump manufacturers.
Photo by Agnieszka Ilola, UBC EnvCom.

Text by: Agnieszka Ilola, UBC EnvCom, Project Officer, PRESTO Project

Mobilizing political will and commitment to address water issues in Belarus

"Joint actions for clean water" was the title of the Water Management Policy Forum that was organized on 27 March 2013 in Minsk, Belarus. After the Environmental and Technological forums, it  was the third  bilingual event organized by the international technical assistance project PRESTO (Project on Reduction of the Eutrophication of the Baltic Sea Today) lead by UBC Commission on Environment. PRESTO project develops joint actions between the EU and Belarus to combat transnational pollution risk and eutrophication of the Baltic Sea. The project has been officially registered in Belarus in May 2012 and supports the goals of both the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and the National strategy for sustainable development and Water strategy of the Republic of Belarus for the period to 2020. Project supports Belarusian cities in their attempt to reach the HELCOM recommendation in nutrient removal from their wastewaters.

"It is impossible to solve the Baltic Sea’s challenges without the holistic approach to its entire basin. EU cannot achieve a healthy status of the Baltic Sea alone and thus cooperation with Russia and Belarus are of great importance" said Mikhail Durkin from Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, HELCOM.

Water Management Forum participants. Photo by Tuuli Ojala, John Nurminen Foundation

More than 100 invited guests from Belarus and Baltic Sea Region including representatives of Ministries, research experts and NGO’s attended the Forum. Intention of the Policy Forum in Minsk was to accelerate cooperation, investments and funding possibilities between EU member states and Belarus by drawing together different experts across the water management sector. The Forum provided a platform for policy dialogue and promoted best practices in sustainable management of water resources.

“Sustainable water management is essential for our future and requires international cooperation. Year 2013 is officially recognized by UN General Assembly as International Year of Water Cooperation. We hope to intensify the cooperation in the Baltic Sea region to increase cost effectiveness of our common actions towards better water management and better state of environment” stated Björn Grönholm from UBC (Union of the Baltic Cities) Commission on Environment which is responsible for overall management of the project.

Laura Saijonmaa from the Ministry of Environment of Finland spoke at the Forum and highlighted the importance of communication across the borders and common goals in the framework of HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP). “It has been calculated that in a long term, benefits of BSAP implementation will significantly exceed the costs thus more action from all stakeholders in the region is needed. New innovative approaches, capacity building and alignment of funding lies in the core of the future success” said Ms. Saijonmaa.

According to Sergei Zavyalov from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus “Much has been done recently in the field of water resources management in Belarus but much more is ahead. We are actively working on implementation of objectives of the Water Strategy for the period up to 2020 which foresees among others harmonization of EU and Belarus water legislation, revision of Water Code of the Republic of Belarus and increased public participation in decision-making”. Belarus has signed two transnational agreements regarding river basin management: trilateral agreement Belarus-Lithuania-Russia and bilateral intergovernmental agreement with the Russian Federation.  

In the afternoon session the possibilities of investments in water sector in Belarus and available financing instruments in the Baltic Sea Region were presented to all participants. Invited speakers shared their experiences on public-private partnerships and presented examples of successful investments in Belarus.

Panel discussion lead by prof. Dr-Ing Matthias Barjenbruch from Technical University of Berlin.
Photo by Tuuli Ojala, John Nurminen Foundation

The Forum concluded with the panel discussion where not only successful stories but also challenges in water sector were discussed. It became clear that overcoming these challenges requires sustained commitment, cooperation and investment of all stakeholders. Involvement and active communication is crucial for developing and implementing new opportunities and solutions for more sustainable water management policies and practices in future.

For further information please contact:

Pekka Salminen
Project Manager

Union of the Baltic Cities Commission on Environment Secretariat

Phone: +358 44 9075999

e-mail: firstname.lastname@ubc.net

Check the Forum newsflash from the local media coverage.

Text by: Agnieszka Ilola, UBC EnvCom, Project Officer, PRESTO Project