Voice of the Danube
This is the final 2025 edition of the Voice of the Danube newsletter, and we take the occasion to reflect on a year of momentum, resilience, and encouraging progress. In a turbulent world and a challenging environment, the going wasn’t always easy - but thanks to our committed members, strong partners and dedicated team, IAWD made strides that will carry us into the future with purpose. We passed numerous milestones, and celebrated encouraging sucesses.
This year, IAWD celebrated its 100th Board Meeting in a two-day event that brought together current board members, incoming members for the next term, and distinguished guests to reflect on the association’s journey and discuss its future. The meeting also brought the appointment of Secretary General Katerina Schilling, underlining IAWD’s commitment to strong leadership and continuity in guiding the association into its next chapter.
IAWD kept growing, with the introduction of new membership categories proving quite successsful: 21 new members joined, among them seven new Young Water Professional chapter members. The year also brought helpful consolidation of the YWP structures with the establishment of a YWP committee and the election of a YWP chair, who will also join the IAWD Board.
The congress circuit was buzzing in 2025. Among the highlights were the first Central Asia Regional Water and Sanitation Utilities Conference in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the 6th edition of the Global Water Operators Partnership Congress in Bonn, Germany, and, of course, “Looking Back, Looking Forward”, the 2025 Danube Water Conference. It drew 216 participants from 27 nations, including 15 Danube region countries, and, for the first time, representatives from Central Asian nations for a memorable three-day event.
Capacity building and benchmarking were high up on the list of priorities this year. Our Danube Learning Partnership (D-LeaP) expanded further, consolidating lessons learned and scaling up quality assurance across the region: 12 Hubs ran 6 programs, with around 100 utilities trained.
2025 was an election year for the D-LeaP Committee Council, and we welcome Teodora Pakuleva from the Bulgarian Water Association as Chairwoman and Vesna Muslic of Aquasan Network in BiH as Deputy Chair for the period 2026 to 2029.
On June 10-11, IAWD hosted the kick-off meeting of “D-CLEAN: Improving Water Quality in the Danube River Basin: Nature-Based Solutions for Sustainable Wastewater and Stormwater Management in Small Settlements” in Vienna. This three year project, supported by the Interreg Danube Region Program and co-funded by the European Union, aims to introduce sustainable, nature-based wastewater and stormwater management solutions to small and/or remote off-grid communities in the Danube region.
Here’s a glimpse at what made this year special, through the eyes of our IAWD colleagues:
Katerina Schilling, Secretary General: 2025 has been an incredibly exciting year for us! We significantly expanded our membership base and now proudly count 74 members across the region. In 2026, we look forward to welcoming even more. A personal highlight was the establishment of the YWP Committee and the election of Albert from YWP Kosovo as the new chair, who will represent YWP at the IAWD Board level. We also launched several new initiatives, including the D-CLEAN project under the Interreg Danube Program and a water sector reform project in North Macedonia. Under D-LeaP, we successfully delivered our UBP Danube Hub and kicked off the third cycle of UMT, while our partners—the national associations—delivered a total of 10 Hubs. Given the growing workload and number of projects, IAWD has expanded to a team of six, and it is my great pleasure to lead this incredible group in serving our members. Finally, we are proud to announce that the Danube Water Program will enter its fifth phase in January 2026—a fantastic way to start the new year!
Elisabeta Poci, Association Development Manager: 2025 was another very dynamic and productive year for D-LeaP, the Danube Learning Partnership. We had a total of twelve Hubs delivered, including the two Danube Hubs. The Water Safety Planning and Crisis Management program stood out as the most popular program in 2025, with a total of four Hubs. This year also marked the launch of three new Hubs: two focused on Access to Financing, delivered by SHUKALB in Albania and ADKOM in North Macedonia, and one on Water Safety Planning and Crisis Management, delivered by BWA in Bulgaria. Another major highlight was the start of the project “Further Support in the Implementation of Reforms in the Water Sector, North Macedonia” where we proudly serve as one of the implementing partners under a consortium led by our member Hydrophil. Our role centers on capacity building, allowing us to leverage the expertise we have developed over the years and contribute meaningfully to the success of this initiative.
Ana Badhofer, Benchmarking and Partnerships Manager: A personal highlight of 2025 was the UBP Danube Hub Workshop, which for the first time included a dedicated Seminar on Management Practices delivered in collaboration with NewIBNET. Management practices (defined as the systems, routines, and organizational behaviors that shape how a utility plans, monitors, motivates, and continuously improves its operations) are increasingly recognized as a decisive factor in utility performance. Our region is at the forefront of this agenda, with pioneering research showing that strong management practices can substantially improve operational performance indicators. This evidence is powerful: it demonstrates that utilities can enhance service delivery not only through major financial investments, but also by making relatively small monetary commitments while dedicating time, leadership attention, and capacity-building efforts to strengthen organizational culture and modernize internal processes.
Pietro Antonio La Vena, Project Manager: In 2025, my personal and professional highlight was working on the collaboration between RCDN and D-LeaP, helping connect utilities’ everyday challenges with meaningful capacity development and awareness actions. Among the many highlights, it was particularly meaningful to support the Young Water Professionals as they strengthened their voice and organized across borders. Another key moment was managing the Just Add Water campaign, which brought together skills development, communication, and advocacy to increase the visibility of the water sector. What stood out most was seeing how regional cooperation and dialogue help utilities tackle shared challenges and take concrete steps towards more sustainable and resilient water services.
Lena Schober, Communication and Engagement Officer: I joined IAWD in January 2025 and quickly felt very welcome. A big part of my work was in close collaboration with the Young Water Professionals, whose support - especially at the Danube Water Conference in May - was awesome and made a real difference. Working in such a nice team, and more broadly with motivated water professionals who genuinely want to improve things, has been very rewarding and inspiring overall.
Ermira Vasili, Financial Manager: I joined the IAWD team in January 2025, and the year quickly became a rewarding challenge as I immersed myself in the organization’s wide range of activities across the water sector. The experience has been both intense and fulfilling, and I value working alongside passionate colleagues who are making a meaningful impact, while I keep a close eye on the numbers to ensure the budget stays on track. One of my personal highlights was the 2025 Danube Water Conference in Vienna, an enthusiastically received event that proved it’s possible to think big, make a difference, and still happily keep the finances under control.
Walter Kling, IAWD President: Having built IAWD from scratch throughout many decades, I am immensely grateful to hand the steering wheel to a trusted and proven professsional. Katerina is the perfect choice for IAWD Secretary General in times that are so rich in challenges and chances. I am also proud that Katerina’s journey began in the early days of the YWP program, exemplifying the value and impact of being part of this network.
It has been a busy year, and 2026 will be about accelerating further: With a new Board elected for the period 2026/27 we are specifically looking forward to the upcoming phase V of the Danube Water Program, starting in January and the 2026 Danube Water Forum in Sofia, Bulgaria, with a strong focus on water resilience for the Danube region.
We wish you a happy holiday season and a happy New Year!
