In 1997 the first World Water Forum in Marrakesh took place. They noticed that a lot of organisations worked past each other. When NGO's, knowledge institutions, business companies, and the government combine their forces they would have more impact. There the NWP arose. They are founded in 1999 with the aim to let the Dutch water sector collaborate more by international activities. In 2000 there was the second World Water Forum in The Hague and the first ‘Holland Pavilion'. Holland Pavilion is promoting the Netherlands as a country with knowledge and skills in the field of water management, sustainable energy, milieu technology and offer members of the partnership the opportunity to profile them internationally. In 2004 there were a lot of events who have taken place in the water sector to share knowledge.
In 2005 there became a shared future vision and the Partners for Water programme emerged. The Partners for Water programme is one of the implementation tools to realize the International Water Ambition of the Netherlands. RVO and the NWP jointly implement this programme. But it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.
In 2006 a lot of countries all over the world filed requests for help from the Dutch water sector. In 2007 the NWP signed the ‘Schokland' agreement. By signing this agreement, they commit to cooperate with the Dutch cabinet with the aim of contributing to the achievement of Millennium Development Goal 7: halving the percentage of people in developing countries who do not have sustainable access to clean drinking water and sanitation. More programs were founded, like the Water OS programme. The Water OS program supports Dutch embassies in 11 partner countries in the implementation of their water program. The aim is to involve the Dutch water sector and the sustainable linking of the sector with the local water sector in the partner country.
In 2010 there established a second shared future vision, about more impact abroad. Also, the YEP programme was founded. The goal of the programme is to offer young Dutch professionals the opportunity to gain experience abroad and to offer young local professionals the opportunity to gain experience with working in an international environment through Dutch organisations. A cross-sectoral cooperation was created with the Nutrient Platform and the Dutch Risk Reduction Team (DRR Team). From 2010 to 2014 the NWP created more programmes which got high visitor numbers.
2.2 Reason of existence and mission
The foundation NWP is a public-private partnership. As the previous chapter says it is founded by sector and government parties with the aim of better cooperation internationally and work together as a sector. The network has around 181 affiliated organisations, both government and business, knowledge institutions and NGOs. All kinds of water expertise are represented, as well as other sectors, from the view that complex water solutions known different types of expertise and organisations. The NWP office supports the participants and the sector. The public-private partnership within the NWP is the cradle for many developments in the sector such as the innovation program Water Technology, the joint Netherlands Water Pavilions at events, the AKVO Foundation and the first joint future visions of the water sector.
Their slogan is ‘to create more impact abroad'. By working together with their network, the Dutch water sector can offer solutions for complex international water issues. That could be their mission and vision, but curiously enough they do not have a specific mission or vision. They are working on it and the draft document says this will be a part of their mission. You can notice that they have worked without a mission and vision since the founding because everyone who is working at NWP tells you another story with his or her own perspective. And also external people describe NWP in a different way, it is not clear what kind of organisation they are. This is because they are doing a lot of different projects and activities and not everyone mentions all those different activities.
2.3 Context in which NWP operates
NWP stimulates cooperation and coordination between the relevant parties in the Dutch water sector and beyond. This enables the Netherlands to make a greater contribution to solutions for international water problems. Moreover, the Netherlands strengthens its position in this way on the international water market. To achieve these goals NWP organises various activities within the Netherlands, at European level and worldwide. NWP brings Dutch parties interested in a particular country together by facilitating country platforms. Participants can gain knowledge, coordinate activities, get acquainted with interesting (international) parties and form promising business cases. The Netherlands is still seen worldwide as the water country thanks to the Delta Works. NWP is committed to position the Netherlands as 'World leader in water'. Visibility and recognisability are central. Their expertise extends over several watercourses.
The water sector can be broken down in four main pillars, water technology, delta technology, water and agriculture and maritime. Besides those main pillars they also focus on water and agri-food, circular economy and resilient cities.
The main goal of NWP is networking in these sectors and between the companies to create more impact abroad and offer solutions for complex international water issues.
2.4 Target groups
NWP has different target groups because they are the general networking organisation for the Dutch water sector. These target groups can be divided into different aspects: financing, members, potential members and international collaboration.
The NWP members are a very important target group. Financially they play a small role, this will be more explained in chapter 3 (inputs). But what is most important, their desire for collaboration within the sector. They can be a partner for collaboration with NWP and other parties. That is the intention of the NWP, to be a network organisation for the whole Dutch water sector and give access to knowledge- and business partners where they can develop projects with. The NWP bureau offers 4 elements in one package of services; knowledge, network, visibility and influence. As a member, you have an account manager from the NWP bureau and together you will decide what your focus points are and what you want to achieve with the partnerships. This makes the members a specific target group and it requires some attention to keep the members interested and satisfied with their membership.
Another group is potential members. These can be targeted through different channels,
such as online and offline targeting, but mostly through the positive reviews of existing
members, who often tell their business partners to also become an NWP member.