Carreer: Marie-Louise Chagnaud has long experience in policy advice, project coordination and international cooperation. Most recently, she worked in the field of European security and defence cooperation in various projects on scientific policy advice. She holds a degree in political science with a focus on international relations.
Language skills: German, French, English, Spanish
Water means to me: Water is the blue colour of our planet. For us humans, it means living space, food and mobility. Its lack means thirst and poverty and its quality ensures a good life.
Vietwater 2022 took place in Ho Chi Minh City from 9 to 11 November. The German Pavilion received the award for the most innovative exhibition stand - thanks to the 13 exhibiting German companies.
“It is difficult for me to summarize my time at GWP in a few words. There were ups and downs, dear colleagues, insanely committed members, great projects and a lot to learn. Especially in the early years, I took advantage of the foreign trade shows I was responsible for to learn more about GWP members and their different, exciting technologies. The technical knowledge I gained was one thing, the interpersonal and intercultural experiences, another. Even though I sometimes shook my head or rolled my eyes, it was this aspect of my work that I always particularly enjoyed.
There is hardly a region that I have not had the opportunity to serve at some point during my time at GWP. However, I will particularly remember my first, then still “country forum” India and the Africa regional forum, which I was in charge of most recently. It is always impressive what GWP members can achieve together. Other highlights for me were the chamber and association partnerships, especially the current one in Abidjan with our lovely and motivated partner, the African Water Association; the organization of the GWP Days in India, Colombia and Zambia; the first editions of the BLUE PLANET Berlin Water Dialogues as well as the various projects and activities with our partner ministries.
I take so much with me from this time, for which I am very grateful. It was real teamwork. So I would like to say a special thank you to all the members, board members, committee leaders, partners, service providers, colleagues that I have had the privilege to work with over the last ten years. Thank you, merci, shukran, cam on, gracias, thank you so much! Without you/you I would not be where I am today.
It is not easy for me to leave, but I am looking forward to the new tasks. What makes it easier for me to say goodbye is that there will still be intersections with GWP as a partner. So the contact will remain and at the end of November we already have a first joint event. So I don’t have to say goodbye completely, but just say “au revoir” – see you soon in Abidjan.”
Natalie Kolbe (c) GWP
A big thank you to Natalie Kolbe
After ten years in various positions at German Water Partnership e.V. (GWP), Natalie Kolbe, who most recently led the GAPWAS project in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire as project director, is leaving us. She will join DIHK on November 1, 2022, and will take over the establishment of the Chamber of Commerce Abroad in Abidjan as a delegate. It is hard to say goodbye, because Natalie will leave a big gap. With great commitment and dedication, she has initiated and implemented international projects in our network over the past years, organized workshops and exchange formats for GWP members, accompanied countless delegation trips and contributed significantly to the success of our chamber and association partnerships in Jordan and Vietnam and most recently in Côte d’Ivoire. With her, we lose an “old hand” with a lot of know-how and a dear and always helpful colleague, but we gain a highly competent future partner under the umbrella of the DIHK. We wish her good luck and success for this next career step and look forward to further close cooperation with her and her team in her new function.
In the column "Women in the water industry - #WomenInWater", German Water Partnership, together with female interviewees from the international water sector, highlights the role of women in the still predominantly male-dominated water supply and sanitation sector. For the third issue of the campaign, we spoke with Dr. Gesche Grützmacher.
During a networking breakfast, the Vietnamese delegation was able to express their country-specific needs related to the water and sanitation sector and meet GWP members.
The Mexican state of Baja California is struggling with water shortages. The governor expressed her desire for more intensive cooperation with German companies.
BLUE PLANET Berlin Water Dialogues is THE global networking platform connecting innovative water management stakeholders from research, business and politics.
German companies presented themselves at the international trade fair "Global Green Event by Pollutec", the largest exhibition for environment, energy and water in Morocco.
On August 19, 2022, another online update on emergency aid for Ukraine took place. The two GWP member companies Siemens AG and Herborner Pumpentechnik GmbH & Co KG as well as the Verband Kommunaler Unternehmen e.V. (VKU) presented the status of their aid projects to a total of 22 interested participants. The focus was on what has already been achieved, how difficulties have been overcome, and the possibilities for further support in the supply of aid. In the discussion that followed, the focus went beyond current emergency aid to long-term reconstruction.
Accelerated deliveries to maintain critical infrastructure
Anja Eimer began by presenting Siemens’ emergency aid program. Together with operators on the ground in Ukraine, they are working to maintain critical water and wastewater infrastructure for residents by accelerating the delivery of urgently needed spare parts. Her colleague Sergey Dvornik (Siemens Ukraine), live from Kiev, gave an insight into the scale of destruction of critical infrastructure and highlighted which cities are in a particularly precarious situation. Siemens practices a special prioritization workflow for the delivery of materials for critical infrastructure and is working with TU Berlin with a digital twin.
Logistical and financial challenges
Vera Polyakova of Herborner Pumps referred to the precarious case of the city of Mykolaiv, whose only two water mains have been destroyed, leaving the 480,000 inhabitants without drinking water. New pumping stations and treatment plants are urgently needed. Herborner Pumpen already provided a mobile water treatment plant for transport to Ukraine 2.5 months ago, but there are major logistical and financial challenges.
“Water Industry helps Ukraine” continues
Following on from this, Dr. Britta Ammermüller from VKU reported on the many hurdles, including bureaucratic ones, which have to be overcome in providing emergency aid to the Ukrainian water industry. Within the framework of the initiative “Water Industry Helps Ukraine“, which is supported by the VKU, for example, duplicate requests from Ukraine have to be bundled or transport routes have to be constantly rechecked. VKU uses Deutsche Bahn’s rail bridge to deliver the required technology. The latter has set up four pick-up stations in Germany where containers are filled with relief supplies that are then delivered to Ukraine via the rail network. Since the containers are not taken away until they are full, there are always severe delays in the delivery of aid. Questions need to be answered here: Where do the aid supplies arrive, where were they originally needed, and can they be forwarded under changed circumstances if they are then needed more urgently elsewhere?
The VKU – with the support of GWP and other associations – has coordinated the emergency aid measures for the Ukrainian water industry to date with great commitment on the part of its employees. Numerous discussions are underway with potential partners such as the Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and federal ministries to shape future emergency aid.
Looking to the future
In her speech, Gunda Röstel, Chairwoman of the GWP Board of Directors, also looked to the future, emphasizing in particular the importance of considering issues such as modernization and European standards in the efforts to rebuild the Ukrainian water sector.
GWP would like to thank VKU and all participants for their great work in the emergency aid for the Ukrainian water and wastewater supply!
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