The Danube Water Program is NALAS' partner that works with regional, national, and local stakeholders to promote an informed policy dialogue around the core challenges facing the sector and to strengthen the technical and managerial capacity of the sector’s utilities and institutions – in a nutshell, smart policies, strong utilities, sustainable services. To learn more about the program, check the brochure below, which describes the Program and its activities, shares some early results of collaboration, presents findings and lessons derived from those activities, and describes its longer-term vision.

The project Development of Cost and Finance Model for Solid Waste Management implemented by the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South East Europe (NALAS) was concluded. The project was financed by GIZ Open Regional Fund on Modernisation of Municipal Services. During its implementation were elaborated tools that will help address some of the challenges in municipal solid waste management in the region. The Cost and Finance Model for Solid Waste Management in SEE is a calculation tool in the format of online application that will help the municipal management identify information on the needs of financial resources in waste management. The Model is based on European standards on solid waste management and was developed with consideration of the specificities of the municipal solid waste management in South Eastern Europe.

On 27-28 July 2012 in Skopje, Macedonia, NALAS organized the workshop “Development of a cost and financing model in Solid Waste Management in South-East Europe” (CFM Project) and a meeting of NALAS Task Force on Solid Waste Management. Participants included CFM Project team, international, regional and local experts, NALAS Solid Waste Task Force Members and members of ZELS Environment Network.

The Network of Associations of Local Authorities in South Eastern Europe (NALAS), supported by the Open Regional Fund for South East Europe (ORF), has initiated a project with a focus on landfill management. At present, many of the landfills in the project region are not operated satisfactorily and cause negative impact on human health and environment. Thus, the project analyzed the current status of waste disposal in the region, and based on the findings developed recommendations for future improvements.

NALAS Task Force on Solid Waste and Water Management met in Sofia, Bulgaria, on the 15-16th September 2011. The meeting was devoted to the TF SW strategic planning based on the changes that occurred in the financing terms of the group’s projects, and the recent projects implemented by the group. The SWIS project dissemination event also took place in the frame of the meeting.

NALAS Task Force on Solid Waste and Water Management Meeting (TF SW&WM) took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia on the 16-17th June 2011. It was organized together with the SWIS Project meeting for reviewing the SWIS Model and the Manual. The meeting was with the logistical support by the Association of Municipalities and Towns of Slovenia. This meeting was about the project activities that are being implemented by NALAS TF SW&WM. The TF SW&WM meeting gathered in total 21 participants. Central points of the discussions were the new project application and implementation framework of ORF/GIZ, and the current status of NALAS projects Development of a Manual for Efficient Sanitary Landfill Management (ESLM) and Development of a Cost and Financing Model in Solid Waste Management (C&M), and the ongoing project Development of a Model/Methodology for the Establishment of an Integrated Information System on Solid Waste Management in SEE (SWIS).

NALAS Task Force on Solid Waste Management Meeting took place in Zagreb, Croatia on the 30th November – 1st December 2010. It was organized together with the SWIS Project meeting for reviewing the First Draft of the Baseline Report. The meeting was hosted by the Association of Municipalities of the Republic of Croatia. Central points of the discussions were the approved for financing NALAS project proposals Development of a Manual for Efficient Sanitary Landfill Management (ESLM) and Development of a Cost and Financing Model in Solid Waste Management (C&M), and the ongoing project Development of a Model/Methodology for the Establishment of an Integrated Information System on Solid Waste Management in SEE (SWIS). Short term TF SW activity planning was done with a view to the soonest upcoming events.

NALAS Task Force on Solid Waste Management Meeting took place in Istanbul, Turkey on the 8-9th of July 2010. This meeting was about the project activities that are being implemented by NALAS TF SW. Central points of the discussions were the approved NALAS Project Development of a Model/Methodology for the Establishment of an Integrated Information System on Solid Waste Management in SEE. It was approved for financing by GTZ ORF-MS and is going to be managed by SCTM. Project proposals Development of a Manual for Efficient Sanitary Landfill Management (ESLM) and Development of a Cost and Financing Model in Solid Waste Management (C&M) were discussed, improved and deposited for approval to GTZ - ORF. Statistics from the TF SW activities evaluation were presented to the participants. Based on the TF SW evaluation, activities and preparation processes will be tuned accordingly so better added value of the meetings is achieved.

The Meeting of the Water Management Working Group was held on 4-5 February in Belgrade, Serbia. Representatives of 11 member associations participated at the meeting. In total, 19 participants were present the meeting, including NALAS and GTZ representatives. The main goal of the meeting was to exchange the experiences and identify common problems and holdbacks. Based on the identified problem, several project ideas were developed, to be proposed to GTZ ORF for funding: Municipal networking in water and waste water treatment sector in South East Europe, Reduction of Water Losses in Municipalities of South East Europe, as well as Public Private Partnership in water sector. Since the last topic was already identified as priority by other Task Forces, the proposal was made to organise a joint workshop with Waste Management Working Group and Fiscal Decentralisation Task Force, with guests from EU.

World Environment Day (WED) was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972. WED is hosted every year by a different city and commemorated with an international exposition through the week of June 5. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), also created in 1972, uses WED to stimulate awareness of the environment and enhance political attention and public action. The host for World Environment Day 2008 was New Zealand, with the main international celebrations scheduled for Wellington. The slogan for 2008 was "CO2, Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy." New Zealand was one of the first countries to pledge to achieve carbon neutrality, and will also focus on forest management as a tool for reducing greenhouse gases.