The 8th Utility Platform Networking Event took place in Bonn, Germany, on 29 October 2025, as part of the 6th Global WOPs Congress, organised by UN-Habitat’s Global Water Operators’ Partnerships Alliance (GWOPA).
More than 70 participants from 13 utility partnerships, including 16 German utilities and 13 international utilities from Ukraine, Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia, and Jordan, came together to exchange experiences and strengthen collaboration.
Participants discussed a broad range of topics relevant to their work in operator partnerships, including the SDGs, gender and climate change, Solidarity Operator Partnerships with Ukraine, results-oriented reporting and monitoring, the role of travel in partnerships, public relations, university involvement, integrating partnerships into utilities’ day-to-day operations, and ways to motivate utilities and partners to deepen their engagement (see Chapter 5).
Several partnerships also presented their ongoing work in two dedicated Congress sessions:
- German Operator Partnerships – Case Studies Showcasing the Strength of Embedding Operator Partnerships into Development Programmes (see Chapter 7.2)
- Solidarity Operator Partnerships with Ukrainian Water Utilities (see Chapter 7.1)
In addition, Ukrainian participants joined a field visit to Bonn’s sewage treatment plant and participated in a training on energy efficiency and GIS applications on 28 October (see Chapter 8).
The Network Meeting was held under our Code of Conduct, ensuring an inclusive and respectful environment for all. We encourage others to use this Code of Conduct as inspiration for designing inclusive events that leave no one behind (see Annex).
For more detailed information, please refer to the documentation.
