ERSAR – The Water and Waste Services Regulation Authority http://www.ersar.pt/en Organization The organizational and functional model of ERSAR is composed by the Board of Directors, by the operational services (Waste Systems Department, Water Systems Department, Contract Management Department, Direct Management Department, Legal Department and Quality Department. The technical and administrative support services are made up of the Administrative, Financial and Human Resources Department and the Technology and Information Management Department. The organization chart is completed with the advisory board and the statutory auditor (both required by law). Historical Evolution There are four relevant periods in the regulation of the water and waste sector in Portugal: 2000 – 2003: IRAR was the regulation authority for water and waste services of a growing number of concessionaires. At the end of 2003, there were about 50 regulated operators. 2004 – 2009: Besides regulating these 50 operators, IRAR assumed the role of national authority for drinking water quality. In this respect, IRAR had more 400 operators to regulate. Since 2009: ERSAR replaced IRAR and is now the regulation authority for the entire water and waste sector, with over 500 regulated operators, keeping its mission as national authority for drinking water quality. In 2014, ERSAR became an independent body with more autonomy and strengthened sanction and regulation powers. Purpose of Regulation Regulation has as main objective the protection of users’ and consumers’ interests by promoting the quality of service provided by operators and ensuring socially acceptable pricing, since water and waste services must have the following characteristics: essentialness, indispensability, universal access, equity, reliability and cost-efficiency associated with the quality of service. However, this should be done considering the financial viability and the legitimate interests of the operators, regardless of the responsibility for its provision or management model, and also considering the promotion of the rest of the economic sector, through the reinforcement of the business framework while also contributing to the application of the policies defined by the government. ERSAR is guided by the principles of competence, fairness, impartiality and transparency, comprehensively considering the technical, financial, legal, environmental, public health and social ethics, which should characterize the water and waste services. Scope of regulation ERSAR must assure two distinct, although complementary duties: - Regulation authority for the drinking water supply services, urban wastewater management services and municipal waste management services; - National authority for drinking water quality. Concerning the first duty, ERSAR, aims to ensure the quality of the services rendered by drinking water supply systems, urban wastewater and municipal waste systems, supervising the creation, execution, management and operation of those systems. ERSAR also ensures the stability of the sector and the financial sustainability of these systems. As a regulator, ERSAR has to act over all 500 operators of the water and waste sector. In 2003, ERSAR was nominated the national authority for drinking water quality. Currently, the regulation of drinking water quality includes all 400 drinking water supply operators. Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) https://www.apambiente.pt/index.php?ref=x178 The Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) is a new public institute, within the scope of the Portuguese Ministry of the Environment, Territory Management and Energy. Our mission is to propose, develop and monitor, on an integrated and participated manner, the public policies for the environment and sustainable development, in close cooperation with other sectoral policies and public and private entities. APA counts nowadays with more than 800 highly skilled employees and consultants. Organization Areas of Intervention: • Air • Water • Waste • Climate changes • Chemicals • Noise • Protection of ozone layer • Genetic Modified Organisms • Sustainable development • Citizen participation • Environmental assessments • Environmental economics and green growth • Environmental risks Strategic goals: To increase the level of protection, recovery and enhancement of ecosystem To increase the level of protection of people and goods in risk situation To improve the knowledge and information about the environment To reinforce public participation and to ensure the involvement of the institutions To guarantee the excellence of performing in all assignments APA in the international fora APA works in close cooperation with the European Environment Agency, mainly through the EIONET network, for which it is the National Focal Point (NFP). As a NFP, APA is responsible for developing and maintaining a national network of reference organisations and experts working and researching environment and sustainable development issues, identifying national sources of information, collecting data and information resulting from monitoring activities and, finally, supporting the EEA in communicating its activities in Portugal. Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil (LNEC) http://www.lnec.pt/en/ MISSION LNEC's mission is to undertake, coordinate and promote scientific research and technological development, aiming to the continuous improvement and the good practice of Civil Engineering. It is also LNEC’s responsibility to pursue the public interest, by providing services of Science and Technology to public and private, national and foreign entities, contributing to innovation, dissemination of Knowledge and technology transfer. It is also LNEC’s mission to assist the Government in the pursuit of public policies, and to provide technical support to the entities that constitute the Authority in the various sectors of Public Administration, in particular with regard to: o Quality and safety of works, persons and assets; o Protection and requalification of the natural and built heritage; and o Modernisation and technological innovation, particularly in the building sector. Since its early days, LNEC has been establishing networks and partnerships with national and international entities, giving it the ability to promote and foster the globalization of Science and Knowledge, positioning LNEC as an important partner in its area of expertise. History NEC was created in 1946 from two different institutions: a Laboratory for Testing and Study of Materials, active since 1898, which had a solid experimental side, and a Centre for Studies in Civil Engineering, a scientific research unit created in 1942 under the name of Centre for Studies in Applied Mechanics, whose founder and leader was Eng.º Manuel Rocha, one of the greatest names of Portuguese engineering of the twentieth century, was also and one of LNEC’s first Directors. Since its early days, LNEC has had in its genesis this double perspective - research and experimentation - that continues today, as one of its main characteristics and asset. Until 1952, the year of the inauguration of LNEC’s campus at Av. do Brasil, the Laboratory (until then simply called "Laboratory for Civil Engineering") was spread over several buildings in Lisbon: the Customs Building (where the Laboratory for Testing and Study of Materials was installed), the Instituto Superior Técnico (where the Centre for Studies in Civil Engineering operated) and the Pavilion of the Hydraulics Division, at Av. do Brasil, which remains to the present day fully operational. Built upon a culture of research and transfer of knowledge and technology, LNEC was, since the beginning, called out to assist on the pursuit of national objectives, such as the first public works programs, which began soon after World War II (dams, roads, fluvial and maritime hydraulics, large structures). About the same time, LNEC also began its activity around the world, supporting the development of the Portuguese Overseas provinces and carrying out studies and expert reports worldwide, some of them emblematic, as the study for the enlargement of Copacabana beach, activity that, even today, results in participation in dozens of international projects in association with other national and foreign institutions. Organization Aguas de Portugal (AdP) http://www.adp.pt/en/ The AdP – Águas de Portugal group plays a structural role in the environment sector in Portugal and spanning the fields of water supply and wastewater sanitation. Through its holdings, the AdP Group operates nationwide, right from the north to the south, providing services to the municipalities that are simultaneously shareholders in the companies managing the multi-municipal systems (“upstream” systems) and directly serving their populations through municipal level services (“downstream” systems) for water supply and sanitation. Over the course of the last two decades, the AdP Group has invested over €6.3 billion which, in conjunction with its planning and implementation capacities, its operational and financial management experience, the development of innovative solutions and the great commitment and dedication of its members of staff, has enabled a major improvement in these essential public services. This has resulted in positive and concrete impacts on the quality of the environment, public health, service standards and the overall sustainability of the sector. Mission The AdP - Águas de Portugal group manages its socially held companies in accordance with its mission to design, build, operate and