About Us
Experience
A success story
In the last three decades Portugal has implemented an integrated and consistent public policy in the water sector, with a very positive impact on society, the economy, public health and the environment. The creation of an effective regulatory framework and the improvement in the management of entities providing water services also contributed to these results. The knowledge and experience gained from this success story make it possible to share this learning with other countries. LIS-Water’s experience builds on that experience.
The particular characteristics of the country, with geographic, orographic, hydrological and social diversity (mainland and islands), diversity of governance models (state, municipal and private) and diversity of adopted technologies, make it an even more interesting case, with many successes and some mistakes, from which important lessons can be learned.
A story of cooperation
Portugal has historically a culture of openness to the world, facilitating the connection with many nations on all continents, regardless of their cultures and beliefs. It has also demonstrated a strong capacity to establish international connections and implementation, some examples of which are given.
WAREG – European network of water regulators
ERSAR founded and co-chaired, together with the Italian regulator, in 2014, the European network of water services regulators, currently made up of 25 regulatory authorities from western and central European countries.
European Regional Process of the 8th World Water Forum
In 2018, Portugal coordinated the European Regional Process of the 8th World Water Forum, organized by the World Water Council, in a broad participatory process at European and national level.
Porto Water Innovation Week
Portugal held the Porto Water Innovation Week, bringing together more than 1,250 participants from 60 countries.
A country of culture and modernity
Portugal combines special characteristics such as culture, tradition, leadership, security and language. Portugal is the heart of Lusophony, with more than 260 million people worldwide who speak Portuguese, the 5th most spoken language in the world. It is among the 10 countries in the world with the best science education, according to a recent OECD study. The Portuguese National Health Service is considered the 12th best in the world, according to the World Health Organization. It ranks as the 3rd most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a stable unitary semi-presidential republican form of government (The Global Peace Index, by the Institute for Economics and Peace, 2017).
We want to share our experience, improving together.
