Funding opportunities for wastewater and flood risk management initiatives for cities in the Western Balkans
As part of the Blue-Green City Dialogues (BGCD), a report has been published that focuses on available funding sources for municipalities and cities in the Western Balkan. These sources can be used for realising wastewater and flood risk management projects. Aim of the report is to offer direction to municipalities looking for funding opportunities for projects in various stages and to help identify potential gaps in the funding sources that are available.
Blue-Green City Dialogues
Blue-Green City Dialogues is an initiative of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP) and the Dutch embassies in the Western Balkans. The initiative follows a bottom-up approach in which the needs of municipalities in the Western Balkans (in terms of wastewater management and flood risk management) are linked to expertise of the Dutch water sector.
The EU is active in the region through Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA), and IPA funding for regional projects is mostly allocated through the Western Balkan Investment Framework. In this framework partner development finance institutions and international finance institutions are responsible for project identification and management. The IPA sector environment (of which wastewater and flood risk management are part) is expected to receive increased attention, amongst others, due to the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans that was adopted in 2020.
The report reveals that funding for the project preparation stage is considered to be the most challenging to obtain, yet most important to unlock funding for the actual construction/realisation of the project. Water actors interested or active in the Balkans can request the report by filling out the form below.