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On 1 October, Marieke van Nood started as the new Programme Manager for the Blue Deal. Van Nood has extensive knowledge and experience in working internationally within the water sector. In the past years, she also gained experience with the Blue Deal, working for several Blue Deal partnerships as Regional Director East Africa and Asia for World Waternet.

This is what Marieke says about the Blue Deal:

“Over the past 6 years during my work at World Waternet, I have often been proud of my water colleagues when they showed solutions for sustainable water management. In Kenya, it turned out that the private sector was very keen to help the water authority with their tasks and with funds for that. In Ethiopia, operational training proved to be enough to actually start using donated vacuum trucks. Small interventions, but with a huge impact.”

Missing piece of the puzzle

“Strong water organisations are often the missing piece of the puzzle in sustainable water management. And the Dutch water authorities enable strengthening these organisations with the Blue Deal programme. That’s why I’m so excited to lead the Blue Deal programme on the way to 2030! The Blue Deal opens doors.”

Human relationships

“The human relationships make the Blue Deal programme unique. I look forward to meeting everyone who makes the work of the 17 partnerships possible. And to hear what is on your minds and where you see opportunities.”

Increased collaboration

“Strengthening public water organisations in our partner countries is increasingly seen as that missing piece of the puzzle by other major players in the water field. Increased collaboration with these partners is a huge opportunity for the Blue Deal programme. Together with the programme office and the 17 partnerships, I am committed to this increased collaboration in the coming years.”

Meet the team

Want to get in touch with Marieke van Nood or one of the other members of the team? Reach out to info@bluedeal.nl. Or get in touch with one of the individual members of the Programme Office:

• Marieke van Nood, Programme Manager, mnood@uvw.nl
• Liesbeth Wilschut, Partnership Coordinator and responsible for Monitoring and Evaluation, lwilschut@uvw.nl
• Rosanne Meilink, Programme Secretary, rmeilink@uvw.nl
• Nienke Swagemakers, Policy Advisor Knowledge Management, nswagemakers@uvw.nl
• Harmke Berghuis, Communications Officer, hberghuis@uvw.nl
• Rachel Nasierkhan, Management Assistant, rnasierkhan@uvw.nl

From 9 to 21 September, a group of Young Experts from Blue Deal partnerships visited the Netherlands. This was the kick-start of their 2 year programme as Yeppers, as they are called.

What is the Young Expert Programme?

The Young Expert Programme (YEP) offers young professionals the opportunity to join a training programme for 2 years, to learn in an international environment. For the Blue Deal, a tailor-made programme was created, co-financed by the NWB Fund. Young professionals from all 17 partnerships will work in the water authorities in their countries for the Blue Deal, while also following a programme for personal and professional development. They also receive coaching through this programme. This way, they can strengthen the water management in their countries.

Water management and personal development

These Yeppers started their 2-year programme in the Netherlands and will continue their programme while working for the water authority in their own country. In the next 2 years, they will join several (online) trainings dedicated to water management and their personal development.

Visit to the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the group attended various workshops on topics such as water governance and personal development. They also visited water authorities and went on field trips, such as to the Hondsbossche sea defence and to a water treatment plant.

Building networks and sharing knowledge

Setsabile Thwala from Eswatini is one of the people who were selected to join the YEP for the Blue Deal. “We come from different cultures and I believe we can learn a lot from each other. YEP is also about building networks, interactions and sharing knowledge. I think it’s something we will gain a lot from as the whole batch and I look forward to the experience.”

Tools for achieving goals

Aditya Darmawan is also one of the Yeppers, from Indonesia. One of the reasons to join the YEP is for the lessons on personal development: “This week, I already learned a lot about myself, about who I am and what my goals are professionally. In the workshops, they gave me the tools on how to achieve these goals.” He also speaks about the professional lessons he learned from his visit to the Netherlands. For example about the use of nature-based solutions.

Knowledge exchange

Maricielo Cruz Mogollon, one of the Yeppers from Peru, also speaks about what she learned from her visit to the Netherlands. “From my visit to some of the Dutch water authorities, I noticed how they all work together and support each other. I like how they use the nature and the environment. And also how they are open to learn from other countries and that they give me the opportunity to learn from them, to exchange knowledge.”

From 8 to 11 July, a Regional Meeting took place in Mombasa, Kenya, gathering Blue Deal partnerships from 7 African countries. They discussed and developed their knowledge on sustainable financing of Integrated Water Resources Management.

The 4-days programme covered topics on Integral Water Resources Management (IWRM): water pricing, finances, and nature-based solutions, which were discussed during workshops, interactive sessions, plenary discussions, break-out groups and a field visit. Furthermore, the cooperation focused on bringing in external funding for water management.

Why an African Regional Meeting?

The African Regional Meeting was organised to further exchange knowledge after a few African Blue Deal partners discovered their mutual challenges in sustainable financing at the first Blue Deal Congress in June 2023 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The seeds were planted for the idea to further explore possibilities to share knowledge to improve their current strategies on sustainable financing of IWRM. As a result, the African Blue Deal Regional Meeting was drawn up. 

7 countries

Blue Deal partnerships from 7 countries all over Africa joined the meeting: Burkina Faso, Eswatini, Ethiopia Abbay and Ethiopia Awash, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa. Representatives of Nature for Water, the Global Water Partnership, and the international Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNGi) were present as partners during the event and shared their expertise.

Results

During the week, the 40 participants shared their best practices, creative ideas, common challenges and important lessons that they learned in establishing their own route towards sustainable financing. Some general conclusions and valuable insights are drawn up from the African Regional Meeting in Kenya, Mombasa, that covered the discussions on sustainable financing of IWRM. These are, among others:

• Insight in and knowledge of water users, regulations, licensing and enforcement are essential to achieve sustainable financing of catchment management.
• In-country funding and fundraising experts and expertise are needed in the Blue Deal partnerships to attain external funding.
• We cannot realise water management on our own: we need the community, the partnerships and other institutions outside of the water sector to join forces.
• The employees of the Dutch water authorities who attended gained knowledge about community-based working, involving the public in decision-making processes and they gained insights in working methods around water pricing.

Plans for improvements

The partnerships that were present are committed to improve their actions when it comes to:

• stakeholder engagement (water users) in the pricing concept;
• the exchange of data collection and working methods between countries, as it is essential to set tariffs and fees;
• awareness creation and communication in a social inclusive way, around the advantages and the value of water;
• lobbying within the countries: to become more visible at national and local government level to advocate for water within overlapping sectors/policies.

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