We are pleased to announce that the EBC Foundation, in collaboration with aquabench, will organise the 2026 Knowledge Picnic on Sustainability Reporting on 24–25 June 2026 in Hamburg, Germany. The event will be hosted by Hamburg Wasser.
This topic is timely, as water and wastewater utilities are facing increasing regulatory requirements, and rising stakeholder expectations are driving the need to enhance non-financial reporting to ensure transparent, data-driven, and sustainability-oriented operations. This upcoming Knowledge Picnic will bring together experts and practitioners in an interactive format that facilitates discussions, knowledge exchange, and hands-on learning. Rather than focusing on theory alone, the Knowledge Picnic provides a practical, experience-driven platform where professionals can share and learn from real experiences and explore workable solutions.
The EBC Foundation is delighted to announce that registration is now open for the 20th edition of our international benchmarking exercise for drinking water and wastewater services — IB2025 (2026). This milestone year celebrates two decades of collaboration, peer learning, and shared commitment to strengthening water services across Europe and beyond.
Every year, water utilities join our European benchmarking and improvement programme to gain a clear, objective view of their performance and to identify meaningful opportunities for progress. In a world of rising expectations, increasing risks, and rapid change, our community continues to grow stronger — built on trust, transparency, and the belief that we advance further when we move forward together.
From November 19 to 21, 2025, the European Benchmarking Co-operation (EBC) hosted its annual International Benchmarking Workshop IB2024 in the Netherlands, bringing together water sector professionals from across the globe to share knowledge, tackle challenges, and shape the future of the industry.
<source src="/style/custom/ebc/images/video.mov">
We are delighted to invite programme participants to the 2025 International Benchmarking Workshop – a unique opportunity for representatives of participating utilities to meet in person, exchange insights with colleagues from across Europe and beyond, and engage in meaningful discussions on key issues facing the water industry.
We are excited to announce that this year EBC Foundation again organises an International Benchmarking Workshop – a unique opportunity for representatives of participating utilities to meet in person, network with colleagues from across Europe and beyond, and engage in meaningful discussions on actual water industry issues.
Organised by EBC Foundation and hosted by CMPEAE – Empresa de Águas e Energia do Município do Porto (Porto water and energy utility), the Knowledge Picnic on Sustainability Reporting took place on May 14–15, 2025, in Porto, Portugal. The event brought together representatives from European water utilities for a focused exchange of knowledge, challenges and best practices.
In view of the upcoming retirement of Mr. Peter Dane, Managing Director of EBC, the Board of the Foundation has decided to appoint Ms. Viktoria Iskova, currently EBC's Programme Coordinator, as his successor.
The EBC Foundation is pleased to announce the opening of registration for the 19th edition of its benchmarking exercises for water services, IB2024 (2025), and invites water supply and wastewater utilities from across Europe and beyond to participate.
This year, the annual meeting of the EBC-programme participants was held from November 27 to 29 in Turin, former capital of Italy and city of Baroque. EBC’s annual event brought together more than 75 representatives from participating drinking water supply and sanitation utilities.
On May 14, 2024, the EBC team took part in the Tri-national (D/PL/UA) Workshop on standardization in the Water sector at IFAT Munich, the world's leading trade fair for water, sewage, waste and raw materials management.
We are pleased to inform you that the EBC Public Summary Report of the 2023 benchmarking exercise (IB2022) is now available to explore the key results.
EBC is preparing the 18th edition of its benchmarking exercises for water services (IB2023) and invites…
This year the annual benchmarking workshop of the EBC-programme took place on November 15-17 in the beautiful city of Porto, Portugal. Over 80 representatives from participating utilities attended the event.
On 16 May 2023 a group of experts from 11 frontrunner utilities from across Europe gathered in Hamburg for a Knowledge Picnic on Sustainability Reporting.
Based on active discussions and interest shown by participants in sustainability reporting during the workshop in Krakow, it was decided to hold a third Knowledge Picnic on Sustainability reporting: SDGs & CSRD on May 16, 2023 in Hamburg, Germany.
After three years of waiting, 71 representatives from 18 different countries in Europe and beyond, gathered on 17 & 18 November 2022 in Kraków, Poland for the IB2021 benchmarking workshop.
The 2022 benchmarking exercise (IB2021) so far has attracted 47 water utilities, which is about 15% more participants than in the year 2021. Data collection is in full swing.
In view of the Russian military aggression in Ukraine, EBC has decided to no longer admit Russian water companies to its European benchmarking programme. Existing participants have been disconnected from the programme with immediate effect.
Earlier this year, the European Union launched a Water Operator Partnership (WOP) Programme to leverage the demonstrated capacity of utilities to help one another reaching the SDGs.
Last June EBC was invited to present at an internal workshop of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Luxemburg.