• As Ecuador’s main port and economic centre, Guayaquil is a bustling city facing tremendous challenges (booming population, fast-growing economic activity, environmental pressures, threats related to climate change…)

• National and local public authorities joined efforts to create favourable conditions for a win-win public-private partnership with Interagua, the company currently in charge of the sustainable management of the city’s water and sanitation services.

• Through Proactiva Medio Ambiente, a leading European-based operator of environmental services, Interagua is leveraging the benefits of North-South cooperation including technology transfers and capacity building.

• The access rate to water and sanitation services rose from 61% and 45% (2001) to 84% and 60% (2008), with a reduction of the potable water tariff (24%) and no additional pressure on natural resources, thanks to an efficient operational management.

• To go beyond its local impact at the service of the UN Millennium Development Goals, Interagua fosters experience sharing and accompanies the city to accomplish its international commitments, e.g. the Istanbul Water Consensus (5th World Water Forum).

• To increase environmental awareness among future generations, Interagua launched with UNESCO and the Charles Darwin Foundation a major educational event for 20,000 children in Latin America on tomorrow’s solutions to environmental challenges