On World Water Day, the members of Aqua Publica Europea celebrated the "value of water" through different events and activities across Europe.

In our Spring 2021 newsletter, we talk about World Water Day 2021, we welcome two new members, we introduce our new Webinar series and public water operators' activities.

World Water Day is approaching and public water operators are joining this year's campaign on the value of water. Furthermore, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation and UN-Water has raised this question "what does water means to you?"

On 26 February 2021, Aqua Publica Europea organised a webinar on the opportunities for the water sector in the new EU research and innovation programme Horizon Europe, with Dr Panagiotis Balabanis, Head of Water Sector at Directorate-General for Research & Innovation of the European Commission and Mattia Ceracchi, Head of EU Liaison Office of APRE – Italian Agency for the Promotion of European Research.

Aqua Publica Europea, the European association of public water operators, had co-signed, with the European Public Services Union (EPSU), a letter to European Commissioners Virginijus Sinkevičius (Environment, Oceans and Fisheries) and Nicolas Smit (Jobs and Social Rights) calling for concrete proposals for the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation through a rights-based approach. , calling for concrete proposals for the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation through a rights-based approach.

On 16 December, the public operator managing the sewage network of Barcelona and the Catalan Association of municipalities for public water management (AMAP) – both members of APE - organised the high-level conference on “Human right to water: risks and challenges for the future” to discuss the latest report of the United Nations.