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From 18 to 25 May, the World Water Forum took place in Indonesia. Dutch Water Authorities (DWA) and the Blue Deal attended the forum with a small delegation. Luzette Kroon, Chair of the Blue Deal Steering Committee, led the delegation. She closely coordinated her agenda with Meike van Ginneken, the Dutch Water Envoy. They participated in various sessions and made arrangements with (potential) new cooperation partners.

Kroon: “During the World Water Forum, the Netherlands was able to convey the necessity of joint action. Drought, extreme rainfall, and water pollution pose significant challenges worldwide. We have positioned ourselves with the Blue Deal programme, as a strong partner to address international water challenges.”

She continues: “We discussed the importance of cooperation across the entire water (supply) chain and sustainable financing for operation and maintenance. During various sessions, we also emphasised the importance of preventing pollution at the source, local implementation, and the execution of the Water Action Agenda (the outcome of the UN Water Conference last year). I look back on a successful forum.”

Blue Deal contributes to continuity of regional water management

We spoke with Blue Deal staff from the Palestinian Territories, South Africa, Peru, and Indonesia. They all emphasised how much the Blue Deal, often in combination with the WaterWorX programme of the Dutch drinking water companies, meant to them. The long-term relationship is considered crucial, and the substantive cooperation significantly contributes to the continuity of water management.

Improving and protecting watersheds

Regarding sustainable financing for management and maintenance, we have called for attention to climate-resilient watershed investments. These are investments aimed at improving and protecting watersheds to make them resilient to the effects of climate change, often in the form of nature-based solutions, such as reforestation and planting vegetation to prevent erosion and retain water. Recently, we entered into a collaboration in this area with The Nature Conservancy, VEI (WaterWorX), and NWB Fund. We officially announced this collaboration during the forum.

Potential cooperation with development banks

The delegation also met with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Islamic Development Bank. These development banks aim to promote the economic development of Asian and Islamic countries. During the discussions, it became clear that the approach of climate-resilient watershed investments aligns well with their goals. Additionally, there is growing interest in investing more in water governance. The approach of the Dutch water authorities has also attracted the interest of the banks. The Blue Deal and the development banks will further discuss this during International Water Week in Stockholm at the end of August.

Compensating water footprint

During the UN Water Conference in 2023 in New York, Blue Deal was involved in the launch of the Water Footprint Compensation platform. During the World Water Forum, there was renewed attention for this. The Water Footprint concept aims for a ‘water-safe’ world where water users take responsibility for restoring a healthy water cycle. For example, companies that use a lot of water can compensate for their water footprint. This money can be used for investments in water-saving or restorative measures. This is actively pursued by the Blue Deal in the Palestinian Territories (with BluElephant) through a pilot. Discussions are also underway with Blue Deal South Africa. Additionally, there is significant potential within other Blue Deal partnerships.

One of the Blue Deal’s solutions is in the OECD Handbook of What Works. This handbook is all about actionable solutions for improving water governance.

This handbook was presented on May 23, during a session at the World Water Forum in Indonesia. Luzette Kroon, Chair of the Blue Deal steering committee, was one of the speakers for this session.

The Blue Deal’s solution is featured at #52. Here you can find more information about monitoring the progress in water governance

> Read the handbook

From 18 to 25 May, a delegation from the Dutch Water Authorities (DWA) and the Blue Deal programme will attend the World Water Forum in Indonesia. The goal is to emphasise the importance of collaboration within the entire water (supply) chain in the international water sector.

What do we aim to achieve?

During the World Water Forum, stakeholders from the entire international water sector come together. They collectively determine the global water agenda and share knowledge with each other. The Forum takes place every 3 years, each time in a different country. The delegation of DWA and Blue Deal highlights the importance of cooperation within the entire water cycle. This means that all partners in the water chain within a specific catchment area collaborate to address the broader interests of water. Local service providers (utilities, water authorities, municipalities, etc.) play a particularly significant role in this. It is therefore crucial that their technical, organisational, and financial capacities are in order. Only in this way can the goal of SDG6 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations be achieved by 2030.

Sustainable financing for operation and maintenance

In addition, the Blue Deal will meet up with various financiers within the water sector. The delegation emphasises the importance of long-term cooperation and sustainable financing for operation and maintenance. In this regard, the Blue Deal has recently entered into a collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, WaterWorX, and the NWB Fund. Together, these parties are exploring ways to finance projects around nature-based solutions. In Indonesia, the collaboration will be officially confirmed.

Engaging with international water partners

The delegation will participate as speakers in various sessions, including those organised by the OECD, The Nature Conservancy, UNESCO, The Water Footprint Implementation, and the High-Level Panel Navigating the Source-to-Sea Journey. The delegation will also hold discussions with the Islamic Development Bank and The Asian Development Bank. Additionally, there will be ample opportunity to further strengthen the network of the Blue Deal.

Luzette Kroon represents the delegation of DWA and Blue Deal. She is board member of the Association of Dutch Water Authorities and chair of the Blue Deal steering committee. She aligns her agenda closely with Meike van Ginneken, the Dutch water envoy.

Representatives from the partnerships

Representatives from Blue Deal partnerships will also be present as speakers in various sessions. For example, one of the Young Experts from Blue Deal Peru has been selected to join the 6th General Assembly of the World Youth Parliament. She was selected from 640 applicants worldwide. She will also present her work within Blue Deal Peru in a couple of sessions.

Aiming to increase our impact by joining forces! The Blue Deal teams up with The Nature Conservancy, NWB Fund and WaterWorX to work on water security, water safety and water quality. We’ll explore the possibilities for climate-resilient watershed investments for our projects and for mainstreaming nature-based solutions.

The water sector is challenged by too much, too little and too dirty water. Nearly half of global (drinking) water sources are significantly degraded, threatening the quality and quantity of water for communities, cities, farmers and business.

Nature as foundation for water security

Nature is the foundation for water security. Nature-based solutions are a promising avenue to address our twin crises of water and climate. Watershed investment programmes result in climate resilient infrastructure and operations of water catchment authorities and water utilities but are complex and require cooperation and substantial expertise to organize.

Joining forces

Therefore, we team up. The watershed experts of The Nature Conservancy and NWB Fund, and the operational experts of the water authorities of the Blue Deal and drinking water utilities of WaterWorX join forces and pool their resources to develop, implement and finance Nature-based Solutions for water security.

Mainstreaming nature-based solutions

The cooperation between The Nature Conservancy, NWB Fund, Blue Deal and WaterWorX aims to mainstream nature-based solutions and anchor these projects in water institutions to ensure sustainability of the impact. Together we have the expertise and resources to support water service providers to develop, finance and implement nature-based solution projects.

On April 15, Esther Janssen conducted the training Working with Other Cultures, as part of the Blue Deal learning programme. 11 participants from various Dutch water authorities took part in the training. Janssen remarked: "Culture is a critical success factor for collaboration."

Janssen, owner of Culture-Inc., shares her experience from a work trip to Ethiopia last year. At the beginning of the trip, Ethiopian and Dutch colleagues made agreements regarding their collaboration. “Openness in communication is key,” they concluded. “But what does that mean exactly?” Janssen asked. “Does it mean I can say whatever I want?” The Ethiopians looked surprised, replying: “No, of course not!” This is just one example of how communication styles or meanings can differ among people.

Understanding cultural differences

This is why it’s crucial for colleagues in the Blue Deal partnerships to have insight into cultural differences for effective collaboration. Hence, it’s mandatory for all Dutch experts traveling abroad for work to undergo the Working with Other Cultures training. Many partnerships also organise similar activities with their entire team in the country where they operate.

Impact of one’s behaviour on others

What do the experts themselves want to learn during this training? One participant asks: “What should I absolutely avoid doing? Where do I cross the line? And why do I sometimes get no response at all when I ask a question during a presentation?” She recounts a workshop she conducted in Ethiopia where she received no response to questions posed to the group as a whole, whereas in the Netherlands she would have. “It’s like there’s an invisible barrier that I don’t see, but they do.” Other participants in the group also want to be more aware of the impact of their own (Dutch) behaviour.

What is culture?

Janssen first explains what culture actually entails. “Think of it as a computer’s default settings. It’s the habits, manners, and norms instilled since childhood. Within that group, everyone understands what you mean.” She continues: “Culture is essentially solidified history. To understand a group’s culture, you have to look at everything that came before it: the history, geography, defining moments.”

Different types of cultures

She also explains the different types of cultures into which countries can be categorised. For instance, the Netherlands belongs to the group of linear-active cultures. These cultures are characterised by direct communication style, trust in institutions, and little importance placed on hierarchy. In multi-active cultures, people often have a very active and emotional communication style, and status is based on charisma and connections. In reactive cultures, people often express themselves less, avoiding loss of face is crucial, and connections are incredibly important. Most Blue Deal countries fall under multi-active or reactive cultures.

Avoiding offenses

And this, in turn, affects how you communicate, collaborate, what’s respectful, or what isn’t. While a Dutch person might feel offended if the other party doesn’t make eye contact during a conversation, in another culture, it might be considered respectful. And who do you greet first? In many countries, it might be considered respectful to greet the eldest or the leader first. How do you greet that person anyway? And what questions do you ask or avoid? Numerous examples of (minor) cultural differences that are still significant in collaboration.

Don’t be too direct

What does this mean concretely? How do you deal with this? Janssen explains how important it is to give feedback in the right way. Dutch people can often be very direct, sometimes too direct. “Always start by mentioning the positive. And frame the aspects that are not going well differently. For example, as: what points do we still want to achieve or where do we see possibilities for further improvements.” Often, it helps if the partnership involves someone who can act as an intermediary. Someone who has grown up in the local culture but is also accustomed to working with Dutch people, so that this person can prevent any miscommunication.

Cultural buttons

“How far should you go in adapting to the other culture?” one of the participants asks. Because completely pretending to be someone else is obviously not the goal. Janssen responds: “And that wouldn’t be possible anyway. You can’t suddenly become entirely Chinese as a Dutch person, nor should you. But you can see what works. Which cultural buttons can you press to collaborate as effectively as possible?”

Join a training

Are you an expert from Dutch Water Authorities and would you like to participate in this or another training from the Blue Deal learning programme? Please contact the partnership manager of your partnership or send an email to info@bluedeal.nl. These are the upcoming trainings:

• May 16: Introduction into the Blue Deal, in Amersfoort
• June 24: Working with Other Cultures, in Amersfoort

In Phase 2 of the Blue Deal, we've initiated a new method to gauge progress in water governance: the Water Governance Ladder. It involves self-assessment by the partnerships, allowing us to identify areas of advancement and where improvements are needed.

This new method is grounded in the OECD Principles of Water Governance. It provides insights into areas requiring improvement in water governance and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). Simultaneously, it serves as a tool for partnerships to engage in discussions about existing challenges and to highlight areas of success. “An overview-generating tool,” as described by one of our partnership managers. It has also sparked meaningful discussions and insights at the partnership level.

Strengths

Upon reviewing the outcomes of this initial self-assessment at the complete Blue Deal programme level, we observe the following strengths:

• Engaging stakeholders;
• Task allocation, and clear roles and responsibilities.

Areas for Improvement

On average, Blue Deal partnerships perform least effectively in the following 3 areas:

• Managing trade-offs (determining priorities for funding and decision-making processes);
• Financing water;
• Maintenance and management.

This knowledge provides valuable input for our learning program and program-level strategy.

On March 22 it is World Water Day. This is always an extra special day for the Blue Deal. Today, we celebrate our anniversary! Because it all began on March 22, 2018.

And how far we have come, and at the same time: how much more we aim for! In our Phase 1 Report, we have summarised what we have achieved, what didn’t go so well, and where we can achieve even more success.

What was Phase 1?

In 2018 the official documents for the Blue Deal were signed and we started working on forming the partnerships. In 2019, the partnerships really started their work. Phase 1 is the period of 2019-2022.

What can we conclude from Phase 1?

• The first success was evident from the size of our programme. We were supposed to start with 6 partnerships. Now we have 17!
• The pandemic led to setbacks and delays. But it also brought some benefits. We became better at hybrid working, and the focus shifted away from mainly work visits. We also realised the importance of individuals being ‘on the ground’. Therefore, we have further invested in local capacity.
• Our learning programme has been professionalised with, among other things, 6 Communities of Practice and regional meetings between partner countries. And, a Blue Deal YEP batch started in 2022, which allowed our partnerships to both accelerate their work as well as accelerate learning from each other.

Progress

Overall, we conclude that we have made significant progress, particularly in the area of knowledge exchange on specific water topics. Examples include trainings on wastewater treatment, working together on Water Allocation Plans, and setting up participative monitoring of water quality.

We have also worked on strengthening water institutions, for example in the area of water pricing, or in specifying roles and responsibilities within water authorities. In this area, we see progress, but naturally, these are slow processes. This is why it is so important that the Blue Deal is there for the long run. In terms of relational management, such as actively involving stakeholders, this is something that happens more and more in the areas where the Blue Deal works.

Onwards to clean, safe, and sufficient water for 20 million people around the world by 2030!

The kick-off of the Blue Deal Community of Practice (CoP) Social Inclusion & Stakeholder Management took place on February 8. Online of course, so that colleagues from all partnerships worldwide could participate.

Social inclusion and climate adaptation are the 2 crosscutting themes for the Blue Deal. This means every partnership should include these topics in their annual plans. Social inclusion is also an important part of the Sustainable Development Goals, to which the Blue Deal contributes. With funding from the NWB Fund, a Focal Point for Social Inclusion for the Blue Deal is installed, together with a Leading Group, to help partnerships take social inclusion to a new level. The Focal Point and Leading Group are meant to take the topic social inclusion even further within the framework of the Blue Deal. One of their tasks will be to help the members of the CoP to learn more about social inclusion.

Catalyst for positive change

The session was presented by the chairs of the CoP: Tanah Meijers and Harmke Berghuis. During the session, there was an emphasis on social inclusion as a catalyst for positive change in addressing water related challenges. Action is needed to make use of the impact and power of diverse perspectives in problem solving.

What is social inclusion?

Social inclusion is a broad and contextual topic, for which many definitions are used. For the Blue Deal we look at it like this: Each individual has the ability, resources and opportunity to participate and influence. However, we should not dwell too much on semantics and definitions: this can paralyse efforts for positive impact in our partnerships. However, it makes to still have questions about what social inclusion is really about. The Focal Point (Tanah Meijers) and Leading Group are happy to think along and share thoughts with you.

Why is social inclusion important for water authorities?

Traditionally, within the water authorities, challenges in our field are often approached from a technical and practical standpoint. Water experts seek solutions, preferably as concrete as possible. However, we operate within a context that is highly complex. Focusing only on the technical solutions, can actually cause unanticipated impacts that can even disrupt the livelihoods of marginalised communities. When we look at the social ecosystem of which our projects are part, everyone has a piece of the puzzle that can solve the issues we are dealing with.

Chances and challenges

One of the participants mentioned the challenge that the communities they work with are often mainly concerned with their daily survival, instead of discussions about whether everyone is involved. While this can be a challenge, it can also be an opportunity. Because social inclusion is not so much about the discussion, but rather about the solution that works best for these communities. Other participants also mentioned challenges they faced. And that is exactly the reason for the CoP, the Focal Point and the Leading Group. Together we can identify these challenges and see how we can deal with them to increase the impact of our programme.

Of course there were also some inspiring examples of attempts to take steps in the field of social inclusion and socially inclusive stakeholder management. See some examples in this article.

Want to join?

This year, there will be 3 more CoP’s on social inclusion. The next will be on April 2, 14:00 – 15:30 CET via Teams. Want to join? Send an email to info@bluedeal.nl.

On December 11, 2023, the Blue Deal organised a workshop about scaling up nature-based solutions during the congress of the International Water Association (IWA) in Kigali, Rwanda.

The aim of the session was to further explore upscaling of nature-based solutions (NbS), and to discuss with the participants how to secure inclusive sustainability of NbS. In the partnerships, the Blue Deal pays a lot of attention to this topic, since it is one of the important ways to work on climate adaptation, which is one of the crosscutting themes of the Blue Deal.

What are nature-based solutions?

NbS for water management are approaches that work with, rather than against, natural systems to manage water resources and ensure social inclusion. The solutions are designed to enhance the ability of natural ecosystems to store and purify water, while also providing a range of co-benefits, such as biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration and improved livelihoods.

Main takeaways

The session emphasised on important criteria for long-lasting scaling of these solutions. The Blue Deal, together with the NWB Fund, aims to promote NbS to improve sustainable water management and improve the quality of water resources worldwide. In the workshop several international experts, mainly working in Africa on water management projects, participated. A main takeaway participants mentioned was better knowledge on how to scale up NbS and to improve the communication on the quantitative benefits and results to the political class and community.