Support for a Sustainable Energy Efficiency Capacity Building Initiative in the Water Sector

The Danube Learning Partnership (D-LeaP) is a joint initiative between national waterworks associations from the Danube catchment region and the International Association of Water Supply Companies in the Danube River Catchment Area (IAWD), whose objective is to establish partnerships that foster sustainable capacity building skills within utilities so they can in turn provide sustainable water and wastewater services.   To deliver its multiple programs in various countries and to attain its ambitious goals, D-LeaP relies on external technical partners whose role is to ensure that the overall program offer is technically and operationally sound and that the stakeholder groups responsible for capacity building (hubs) are supported in their delivery of the program. Therefore, D-LeaP retained Econoler services to develop training curricula and material, deliver train-the-trainer workshops and conduct follow-up activities to enable sustainable training capacity among hubs.

As technical partner, the tasks of Econoler were, as follows:

• Reviewed existing/available guidelines, tools, training materials and manuals for water utility EE programs and drafted a conceptual approach for the EE capacity building program and plan of activities to be implemented by D-LeaP;
• Developed minimum criteria for trainer profiles and accreditation of D-LeaP hubs;
• Assessed proposed D-LeaP capacity building hubs based on established criteria, as well as trainer candidates;
• Trained and certified the new trainers from each accredited hub by organizing two train-the-trainer workshops – one in Bulgaria and one in Albania;
• Oversaw the delivery of capacity building programs implemented by the newly accredited trainers to ensure the training process was consistent with established criteria and standards;
• Followed up with D-LeaP capacity building hubs and trainers to adjust and improve the overall curriculum, tools and training materials. Also provided further feedback and guidance to accredited trainers.

  Econoler developed comprehensive criteria for selecting eligible local trainers, as well as an accreditation grid for regional capacity building hubs. Two distinct train-the-trainer workshops were conducted to train a number of experts and strengthen their capacity building potential. The first of the workshops was held in the first quarter of 2017 covering a more general EE curriculum in water sector. The second workshop was held at the end of 2018 and was focused on pump system EE optimization. Finally, Econoler experts attended training sessions in each of the accredited hubs and worked with the local trainers to provide feedback on further improvements of the in-house training process.