"We learn when we are young, we understand when we get old" is a Malian proverb that suits perfectly the various Communities of Practice groups where we are both learning in discussions and understanding in case studies.
The Global WOPs Community unites nearly 2,000 water and sanitation professionals worldwide, creating a dynamic platform for sharing experiences and best practices. Its core mission is to foster direct dialogue and strengthen networks among professionals in the sector. This vibrant community connects various Water Operators' Partnerships (WOP) platforms, programs, and key partners, enhancing knowledge exchange through moderated thematic Communities of Practice (CoPs).
Hosted on the Workplace platform, the Global WOPs Community serves as a hub for the latest updates, news and developments in the water and sanitation sector, with a particular emphasis on WOPs. Representing over 700 utilities across 187 countries, the Community offers a wide range of resources, including training courses like How to WOP, Water Safety Planning, and Low-Income Customer Training. It also hosts regular webinars, online workshops, town halls and case study discussions, alongside live streaming, events, collaborative groups and a comprehensive knowledge repository. GWOPA, in close collaboration with key partners like VEI/WaterWorX, actively facilitates this platform.
Accessible through GWOPA individual membership, the Global WOPs Community offers:
Unlock the opportunity to connect and collaborate with WOP practitioners from around the world, fostering collective efforts towards achieving SDG6 objectives.
Elevate your skills by engaging in peer learning sessions and participating in knowledge exchange events. These resources are available in multiple languages, ensuring accessibility for all.
The community provides a platform that harnesses the power of diverse online collaboration tools, accelerating innovation and fostering co-creation among its members.
Our thematic Communities of Practice (CoP)
The CoP Asset Management discusses methods and tools to improve utilities' daily work by finding the balance between performance, costs and risks.
The CoP Commercial Operations shares experiences and knowledge related to customer subjects, such as complaint management, customer insights, communication, customer surveys, quality checks, customer databases and marketing.
The CoP Enabling Environment aims to respond to the direct needs of utilities to function optimally in complex institutional environments, focusing on topics requiring communication and coordination with external stakeholders to serve the interest of utility operators.
The CoP Low Income Customers is working with water utilities to provide water, sanitation and hygiene with the ultimate goal of leaving no one behind.
The CoP Urban Sanitation covers everything related to Urban Sanitation with a focus of the topic in relation to Utility/Urban Sanitation operators.
The CoP Utility Organisation & Strategy focuses on how utilities can structure its organizational processes and how to develop strategies, including topics such as change management, leadership, human resources Management, ICT and financial management.
The CoP Water Distribution connects practitioners involved in water distribution operations, maintenance and optimization (GIS-based hydraulic modelling and non-revenue water reduction).
The CoP Water Production discusses and exchanges information on water production and treatment-related topics such as water quality and water safety plans.
The CoP Water Resources Resilience and Climate Change addresses best practices in climate-resilient water resources management from the water utility perspective.
The CoP Young Water Professionals aims to support young water professionals and youth ambassadors to facilitate peer learning and sharing of opportunities, ideas, challenges and solutions for the young water and sanitation workforce and thought leaders to shape our water future.
Our Regional Groups
Este grupo tiene por objetivo brindar un espacio de encuentro para los actores del sector del agua y saneamiento de la región, alentando una red de colaboración que contribuya a la mejora del servicio y acompañe el camino hacia el logro de los ODS. Los testimonios de experiencias exitosas y desafíos encontrados, las preguntas aún pendientes de respuesta y la difusión de actividades de interés serán el motor fundamental de este grupo.
Regional CoP LAC está facilitado por el staff del Secretariado de GWOPA y será moderado por especialistas de América Latina.
In this dedicated regional group we aim to bring together all members from Southeast Europe to connect and share experiences and best practices related to water service delivery in all its facets.
In addition, this group will focus on bringing together Young Water Professionals from the region to include the young perspective.
This group is facilitated one the one hand by staff from the GWOPA secretariat and will be moderated by employees from the International Association of Water Service Companies in the Danube Region (IAWD). The association has partnered with GWOPA to help promote Water Operators Partnerships in Southeast Europe (SEE).
WOP Programme Groups
This group is dedicated to the EU-WOP Programme participants and partners. The aim is to share EU-WOP Programme related information, exchange insights, inform each other on relevant news and events, share updates and latest development on the WOP projects, as well as to simply connect and get to know each other.
The purpose of this WOPs programme group is to share updates and latest development on Water Operators' Partnership between the international mentor utility and Ukrainian mentees. The objective is to exchange and inform each other about relevant events and news, get a regular overview in form of a digest from all the theme-specific hubs of this Community, as well as to simply connect and get to know each other
The purpose of this WOPs programme group is to share updates and latest development on Water Operators' Partnership between the international mentor utility, Ethiopian mentor utilities and Ethiopian mentees. The objective is to exchange and inform each other about relevant events and news, get a regular overview in form of ‘digest’ from all the theme-specific hubs of this Community, as well as to simply connect and get to know each other
