2 Introduction The DABLAS Task Force was set up in November 2001 to provide a platform of cooperation for the protection of water and water-related ec

Transcription

1 DABLAS Newsletter issue 14

2 2 Introduction The DABLAS Task Force was set up in November 2001 to provide a platform of cooperation for the protection of water and water-related ecosystems in the Danube and Black Sea region. After 10 years of existence, the DABLAS Task Force is now wrapping up its activities and will cease operations in November This issue of features reports from a training-of-trainers session that took place on September 28, 2011 in Sarajevo. It also provides a snapshot of an October seminar in Belgrade at which DABLAS beneficiaries were given an opportunity to exchange experiences with representatives from new EU member states on implementing integrated river basin management and the Water Framework Directive. The newsletter also looks back and summarises the main activities and outcomes of the past two years of the project. We are pleased to announce that guidance on project pre-appraisals is now available on the DABLAS website. In addition, the publication DABLAS Guidance on Integrated River Basin Management is being finalised and will soon be available online. Articles in this issue include: DABLAS training on rapid pre-appraisal of urban wastewater projects DABLAS seminar on integrated river basin management planning and the Water Framework Directive DABLAS implementation in recent years RENA in progress News in brief

3 3 DABLAS training on rapid pre-appraisal of urban wastewater projects On September 28, 2011, Bosnia and Herzegovina s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations hosted a one-day regional training workshop in Sarajevo. The event attracted participants from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. The aim was to acquaint trainees with the new DABLAS guide Rapid Pre-appraisal of Urban Wastewater Projects. The guide is a tool for rapidly assessing the viability of urban wastewater projects and leads the appraiser through four steps: Analysis of the context in which the project is set (primarily the financial health of the municipality and/or water company). Verification of the project objectives. What does the project actually aim to achieve? Project identification (defining various options that each contribute to meeting project objectives). Simple financial analysis of the project options. The financial analysis tool (an Excel computation sheet) includes standard unit-cost curves, allowing the appraiser to verify project cost estimates. The financial analysis tool calculates the cost of various project options, expressed in terms of required shares of loans, foreign grants and national grant funding.

4 4 A review of the financial results of various options weighed against project objectives and project context yields one of the three following outcomes: Green light: Project is likely to be viable. Proceed with project preparation. Yellow light: Project may be viable pending major revisions in scope. Red light: Project viability is highly unlikely. Trainees were staff members at national ministries involved in project preparation and/or appraisal. During the first half of the training session, participants systematically went through a sequence of steps in the pre-appraisal methodology, aided by examples of preappraisals carried out in Serbia. In the afternoon the trainees worked on a case study from Bosnia and Herzegovina and carried out financial analyses for different project options. Findings of the analyses were discussed extensively. The financial analysis tool appeared to be especially useful in explaining the dynamics of funding arrangements (i.e. the relationships between wastewater tariffs, loan amounts that can be supported, and the amount of grants required). The guide is deemed to be a very practical tool for assessing projects quickly, and it was suggested that it could also be helpful in negotiations with financers. The guide, comprising a text document and the financial analysis tool, is available on the DABLAS website.

5 5 DABLAS seminar on integrated river basin management planning and the Water Framework Directive: How to get started As part of the integrated river basin management (IRBM) component taken up by the DABLAS Task Force this year, a seminar was conducted in Belgrade on October at which water managers from the DABLAS countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey) shared their experiences with regard to IRBM and the Water Framework Directive (WFD) with water managers from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania and Romania. Practical and recent experiences from EU new member states were considered alongside problems faced by the other countries. As a result, the seminar served as a lively platform in which needs felt and lessons learned were shared with enthusiasm. Representatives from Albania, Croatia and Serbia shared problems faced while working on IRBM and the WFD, while representatives from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary and Romania presented their experiences. The conclusions of surveys conducted amongst DABLAS countries and new member states were also presented. Split into working groups, five DABLAS countries were challenged to formulate their main waterand planning-related problems. The results were then presented to workshop participants, who were asked in turn for their advice and recommendations. As a result, five countries produced five different stories and five different, tailor-made sets of recommendations. Water-related problems included drought, floods, water quality, water supply and others. Problems anticipated in relation to IRBM/WFD planning process form a long list, including lack of political support, lack of stakeholder interest in joining a planning process, lack of data, lack of staff, shortages of funds etc. Participants offered practical advice, the need for which was clear as one country summarised: We know where we are, but we don t know where we are going!

6 6 The approach tried out at the seminar forms the core of the guidance document Integrated River Basin Management and the Water Framework Directive: How to get started. This guidance suggests starting with the formulation of a strategy document in which water ambitions are stated, and also establishing a planning process in which all requirements are defined jointly by major stakeholders. An important step is for politicians to formalise the strategy document. The guide describes the steps, which are accompanied by key messages and lessons learned. It is a practical guide that offers a broad range of bases upon which to make important choices.

7 7 DABLAS in the past two years The DABLAS Task Force Secretariat has been supported over the past two years by DHV BV from the Netherlands and the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC). Starting in November 2009, the consortium has worked to further strengthen and disseminate experience available in beneficiary countries in the identification, preparation and financing of infrastructure investment projects in urban wastewater treatment, with the aim of improving the environment in the Danube and Black Sea region. The policy and financial framework in the wider Danube and Black Sea region has changed considerably since the Task Force was established in 2001, and there was a need to review the DABLAS mission and mandate. The past two years have therefore been characterised to some extent by the DABLAS reform process that was launched in autumn 2009, during which the initiative tried to find the best way to continue providing targeted support to the region s water sector. Looking back on the past two years it can be said that much work was concentrated on providing targeted methodological guidance to the beneficiary countries. The two main contracted deliverables, Guidance for Integrated River Basin Management and the guide Rapid Pre-Appraisal of Urban Wastewater Projects, set the tone for much of the contractors work. Experiences from the organised workshops were integrated into the two guidance documents. Separate trainings were also conducted on how to use the pre-appraisal guide, and the two guidance documents are featured in separate articles in this newsletter. The consultants have focused closely on bringing people together and creating dialogue both within the beneficiary countries and across the region. Efforts have therefore been made to create suitable opportunities for interaction between the different actors, such as national beneficiaries, the European Commission, the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), the Black Sea Commission (BSC), project preparation facilities, international financial institutions (IFIs) and other stakeholders. The DABLAS contractors have been active in communication and coordination with the main actors working on wastewater-related issues in the Danube and Black Sea region. The DABLAS Task Force Secretariat has been represented at a number of workshops centred on sharing Task Force experiences and identifying synergies with other

8 8 initiatives. Among others, the DHV-REC consortium has been present at workshops organised by the Regional Environmental Network for Accession (RENA), the EC s Horizon 2020 initiative and the German development bank KfW. In parallel, a team from ERM/Solventa has provided support to the preparation of waterrelated projects, mainly in Serbia. The main tasks were to: identify and prepare new projects and/or further develop identified projects; develop methodological guidance relevant to project preparation in the Balkan region; and increase local capacity in advanced project preparation. The project delivered full tender documents for water investments (a sewerage network and water treatment plants) in Novi Sad and identified gaps in the Serbian legal framework that hinder compliance with EU water policy. The project helped to develop national drivers (discharge requirements), which were previously absent from the national regulatory system, enabling the implementation of all required EU-compliant projects in the uture and ultimately facilitating compliance with EU water policy and having a positive impact on water and water-related ecosystems in the Danube and Black Sea. Along with the sector- and country-specific methodological guidance developed, the project also clearly demonstrated that by planning for water infrastructure investment at a basin level, together with planning at project level and sequencing work appropriately (in order to ensure financial sustainability), stakeholders can generate far more cost effective investment plans. This considerably reduces countries investment burden while still meeting the overall objectives contained in the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, the Drinking Water Directive and the Water Framework Directive. Three workshops were organised by the DABLAS Secretariat in association with ERM/Solventa.

9 9 The workshops took place in: Podgorica, Montenegro (October 26, 2010); Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (November 9, 2010); and Skopje, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (November 11, 2010). The purpose of the workshops was to bring together policy makers, proponents of water and wastewater projects and financers, and to discuss issues related to financing such projects in a more efficient way. In the spring of 2011, a joint DABLAS BSC regional meeting on project identification and project financing was organised in Istanbul, Turkey. The main objective of the regional meeting was to support the advancement of investments in wastewater infrastructure in the Black Sea region. Selected stakeholders from all neighbouring countries along the Black Sea coast and the Eastern Neighbourhood Countries met to exchange experiences and lessons learned on integrated river basin management planning and approaches to project identification and financing. They also obtained fresh updates on IFI priorities. The guidance documents prepared and the meeting proceedings are available online.

10 10 RENA in progress The Regional Environmental Network for Accession (RENA) project is in full swing. Two of the many RENA sub-groups are relevant to the work of DABLAS: Environmental Investment Planning; and Water Management. Environmental Investment Planning A combined training on approximation cost assessment and identification of environmental investment projects, held in September in Dubrovnik, Croatia, was the first in the series of regional workshops foreseen in the work plan of the Environmental Investment Planning sub-group. Before this training, seven national workshops were held in all RENA beneficiary countries belonging to this sub-group. The first day of the workshop focused on the assessment and upgrading of environmental costs, while the second day featured discussion between beneficiaries, RENA experts and other stakeholders (such as KfW, the Western Balkans Investment Framework/ Infrastructure Projects Facility [WBIF/IPF] and the IFI Coordination Office) included in the environmental investment project lists. During the workshop, participants were acquainted with the methodologies for approximation cost assessment. This included the exchange of experiences in applying approximation cost assessment in accession and negotiation processes. Furthermore, capacities were strengthened and regional cooperation in identifying and preparing environmental investment needs was assured. Roundtable discussions concentrated on major institutional capacity problems related to investment planning and on the role of environmental investment project lists. Acknowledging that, from the viewpoint of environmental investment project development and financing, there were no regional (or, in other words, transnational) projects, it was decided to focus on investment projects producing the greatest regional environmental effect. The training material and workshop report can be found on the RENA website:

11 11 The next combined training workshop will be held in the middle of December. The major topic, as defined in the work plan, will be the planning of environmental investments, and discussion will focus on the formats of investment plans. Discussion on the lists of environmental investment projects will be continued. The regional environmental effects of potential projects will be added to the format of national lists of investment projects and also discussed. Water Management The Water Management sub-group held its second training event: River Basin District Characterisation. The workshop took place on September 26 27, 2011 in Podgorica, Montenegro, and covered the delineation of water bodies; analysis of pressures and impacts; and economic analysis, as required by the WFD. Trainers and participants alike used examples from the Drin River basin. Four groups of participants performed practical tasks related to the various steps of river basin district characterisation, based on data from the Drin River basin. The training was organised back to back with the Drin Dialogue meeting held on September 28. The training material and workshop report are available on the RENA website. The next combined training workshop will be held at the beginning of December. The major topic, as defined in the work plan, will be heavily modified water bodies and new modifications. The workshop will be held in the territory of the Drina River sub-basin, and data from this sub-basin will be used for practical exercises.

12 12 News in brief Helping to remove obstacles to investment project preparation: Workshop on the Environmental Impact Assessments Directive Recent consultations with IFIs active in the Western Balkans indicate that the application of environmental impact assessment (EIA) and nature-related directives for EC co-financed projects raises serious issues concerning the lack of full transposition into beneficiary counties legislation. This has caused delays in the implementation of projects and the disbursement of planned investments. The IFI Coordination Office brought together IFI environmental specialists and the European Commission (DG Enlargement and DG Environment) on November in Brussels for a workshop on EIA and nature-related directives in order to identify the most critical obstacles and initiate discussions on how to best overcome these problems. It is hoped that the event will spark greater dialogue on the matter and that outcomes will be disseminated more widely to beneficiaries and other interested stakeholders in the Western Balkans in the coming months. For more information, please contact: claire.chretien@ificoord.eu Horizon 2020 workshop on project preparation The Horizon 2020 initiative (H2020) is working towards de-polluting the Mediterranean by the year 2020 by tackling pollution sources that account for around 80 percent of the overall pollution of the Mediterranean Sea namely municipal waste, urban wastewater and industrial pollution. DABLAS representatives attended the H2020 workshop Project preparation and implementation at county (sub-national) and local level, held in Zagreb, Croatia on October 19 21, The workshop is part of the H2020 Capacity Building/Mediterranean Environment Programme (CB/MEP) that aims to support the implementation of the H2020 Road Map and Work Plan. In particular, the programme strives to promote environmental integration and mainstreaming into sectoral policies. For more information, please visit:

13 13 GEF IW:LEARN Creating a dialogue for transboundary water management in South Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean The International Waters Learning Exchange and Resource Network (IW:LEARN) of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) aims to strengthen transboundary water management (TWM) by facilitating experience sharing, learning, dialogue and targeted knowledge dissemination. The IW:LEARN programme uses an approach by which successful related initiatives and services are scaled up. For instance, projects in the GEF portfolio are replicated to increase the efficiency of other IW:LEARN initiatives. The IW:LEARN portfolio comprises 170 projects to date and consists of USD 1.2 billion in GEF grants invested in 149 different countries globally. The third phase of the IW:LEARN programme is being implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and involves all GEF agencies during the period January 2011 to June One of the activities focuses on creating a regional dialogue on transboundary water resources management in South Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean region, and aims to demonstrate innovative and feasible approaches by deepening multi-stakeholder dialogue and experience sharing among the countries, and by sharing these experiences globally. For more information, please visit: New publication The publication Turkey s Water Policy: National Frameworks and International Cooperation was compiled by Turkish and international authors, practitioners and academics. The book provides broad insights into water management in Turkey. Approximation to the EU requires Turkey to adopt an extensive body of EU water legislation. In addition, the current water regime in Turkey faces growing environmental and social concerns, as well as international criticism regarding transboundary water cooperation.

14 14 For more information about the newsletter, please contact: Ruslan Zhechkov or Ellen Baltzar All photographs in this newsletter are used courtesy of: WWF-Canon/ Anton VORAUER.