Aqua Publica Europea is pleased to welcome the Collaboration Protocol between its members ABC Napoli (city of Naples) and Acquedotto Pugliese (region of Apulia) to strengthen innovation, sustainability and resilience of the water service.

With over a century of experience in managing integrated water systems, this collaboration is a flag-ship example of Public-Public Partnerships aiming at addressing the challenges water operators face linked to drought and climate change.

Among the main shared priorities are:

• improving maintenance of supply and distribution networks to reduce water losses;
• investing in technological innovation to increase operational efficiency;
• protecting and diversifying water supply sources to make the system more resilient to climate change;
• improving the energy efficiency of facilities;
• promoting awareness campaigns on the proper use of water resources and on the principles of the circular economy.

This type of Public-Public Partnership is not only beneficial in generating economies of scale, but is also a way for public operators to gain knowledge, share innovations and more generally collaborate without the intervention of private actors, upholding the public's interest.

With this agreement between the two APE members, ABC Napoli and Acquedotto Pugliese strengthen their mutual commitment to a water network that is increasingly resilient and capable of guaranteeing citizens and territories a high-quality essential public service, in line with the environmental challenges of the present and the future.