First European Water Cooperatives’ Meeting – a success

„Private organisations with a public task have hundreds of years of experience“ say Andrea Guerrini (Professor at the Department of Management University of Verona) and Giulia Romano (Professor at the Department of Economics and Management, University of Pisa) in unison, as a result of their studies. 

„In several European countries there is a tradition of water supply, where ownership, responsibility and benefits are in one hand“ knows Wolfgang Aichlseder, Manager of Upper Austria Water. He invited to a first get-together on September 20th and 21st 2018 in Vienna where representatives from five European countries discussed their experiences with water cooperatives and local water organisations. Cooperative’s chairpersons Hermine Wesely (Dingdorf) and Franz Zeilinger (Gramastetten) supported the meeting and Professor Reinhard Perfler (Institute of Sanitary Engineering and Water Pollution Control, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences) coached the workshop.

The committed experts of rural water supply umbrella organisations from Denmark, Ireland, Spain, and the Austrian states Salzburg, Styria and Upper Austria discussed experiences and threats of the draft of the European Drinking Water Directive. They agreed to start common efforts to avoid very expensive and ineffective regulations. An important aim for the future is to activate trans-border cooperation.