Water and Sanitation professionals from Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine spent five days in early February 2026 on the ground in the north of the Netherlands, moving a Ukrainian-Dutch Water Operators’ Partnership from remote coordination into face-to-face, hands-on peer exchange.
Hosted in Groningen, the Netherlands, and surrounding sites, the mission brought colleagues from Kryvyi Rih Kryssbass Vodokanal together with peers from the Dutch water partnership WaterWorX to compare approaches, walk through operational practices and begin shaping concrete steps for implementation.
Launched in August 2025, the partnership is funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and facilitated by the Global Water Operators’ Partnerships Alliance (GWOPA), hosted by UN-Habitat. It is designed to strengthen operational performance and long-term resilience through structured, solidarity-based cooperation between public service providers.
The Groningen programme combined technical sessions with site visits that turned priorities from the diagnostic phase into hands-on discussion points. Exchanges focused on energy efficiency and performance optimisation, including system monitoring, preventive maintenance and infrastructure protection, as well as approaches relevant to Kryvyi Rih’s industrial setting, such as the decontamination of mine wastewater.
Beyond the agenda, the visit created space for frank peer-to-peer conversations about how to keep essential services running in armed conflict. Ukrainian staff shared operational lessons from working through prolonged blackouts and conflict-related damage, while Dutch counterparts discussed tools for continuity planning and crisis-ready operations – a two-way exchange that participants described as both technically useful and professionally motivating.
“This week in Groningen shows what makes Water Operators’ Partnerships work: operators at the table and on the ground – walking facilities together, comparing what’s done on a normal shift and turning a diagnostic into a practical action plan,” said Anne Bousquet, Programme Management Officer of GWOPA. “It’s ‘do with, not for’ in real time – a non-commercial, trust-based exchange that helps utilities strengthen performance and resilience and deliver better services for people.”
With the diagnostic phase complete, the partnership is now pivoting towards implementation, including targeted training sessions and discussions around procuring of selected equipment to support operational improvements and reinforce system resilience. Participants said the Groningen visit also strengthened the personal and working relationships that keep the partnership moving – a reminder that sustainable change is built not only on technical solutions, but also on professional trust.
