Milestone in the European Water Initiative Plus project
First EUWI+ partner laboratory holding new ISO standard
Monitoring provides the objective evidence necessary to make sound decisions on managing water quality today and in the future.
To achieve high monitoring standards, comprehensive water monitoring, well equipped laboratories and competent personnel are required. The EU Water Initiative plus (EUWI+) supports the European Eastern partnership countries to achieve these requirements and to bring water resources management closer to the European level.
Accordingly, laboratory accreditation is an important goal along the way to sustainable water management: it gives laboratories liability, quality standards, an easier market entry, competitive advantages and it strengthens consumers' confidence. Georgia has already reached this important milestone: The laboratory, which is responsible for water analysis and in charge of the National Environmental Agency, recently has been accredited to the new ISO standard used by testing and calibration laboratories (EN ISO/IEC 17025:2017) - with the help of EUWI+ expertsBelarus will achieve the status in May 2020.
From 16 -17 October 2019, experts of the Umweltbundesamt (Environment Agency Austria) travel to Kiev to hold a training workshop for internal audits for Armenian, Azerbaijani and Ukrainian laboratory personnel. Internal auditing is an essential tool of any management system for continual improvement. The aim of the workshop is to improve the knowledge of audit techniques and reporting as well as the implementation of audit findings. Furthermore, the workshop should help laboratory personnel to implement and professionalize audit principles and practices in their daily work.
In the Ukraine, in Armenia, Azerbaijan the Austrian experts supported their laboratory partners in the preparation for their accreditation. They assisted in the development of quality management documents, held trainings for the local laboratory personnel and delivered useful tools and templates for quality management.
About EUWI+
The aim of the transboundary project European Union Water Initiative Plus for the Eastern Partnership is to improve sustainable management of water resources in six countries of the European Eastern Neighborhood Policy. Management plans for river basins and transboundary rivers in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine have been developed and will be implemented, based on the requirements of the Water Framework Directive. Experts from European Union member states institutions, together with their partners, are building water monitoring systems on-site which will be tested in model regions. For the consortium French and Austrian experts (mainly from the Environment Agency Austria, the Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism and the Austrian Development Agency) are working on the spot in these countries.
Project funding is provided by the European Commission (DG NEAR), the European Union support programme for improved cooperation in the eastern European Union neighbourhood region and the EU Water Initiative Plus (EUWI+). On a national level, financial support comes from the Austrian Development Agency, the Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism as well as from the French Office International de l’Eau.
