Regional benchmarking programmes

EBC Foundation facilitates benchmarking activities across Europe and beyond.

In addition to offering a comprehensive benchmarking programme for European water utilities, EBC Foundation is and has been actively involved in several other regional benchmarking initiatives, developed in close collaboration with local partners.

In most cases, these regional benchmarking activities were structured according to the EBC Hub Concept. This concept has been developed jointly with the Romanian Water Association (ARA) in response to the demand for local ownership of benchmarking programmes. This model enables water- and wastewater utilities to engage with peers from their own region, in the local language and at local cost levels.

Under the EBC Hub Concept, local partners and EBC Foundation closely work together to offer professional benchmarking services. The local partner – typically a national water utility association – acts as ‘programme owner’ and co-ordinates the benchmarking activities using EBC’s approach and methodology, with room for local customisation.

EBC Foundation acts as a central knowledge centre & facilitator, providing the local partner with:

access to a large international network of water utilities for sharing experiences, good practises & innovations
training on the benchmarking process and capacity building
a sound performance assessment model
joint use of the EBC IT platform
benchmarking helpdesk support.

Key benefits of the EBC Hub Concept are:

no need to reinvent the wheel again - a proven framework is readily available
capacity building at the level of utilities ánd at the facilitating associations
ensuring more sustainable benchmarking activities
opportunities to exchange results & good practices between regional and international water utility benchmarking networks

EBC Hubs