NIRAS International Consulting

Andreas Brogaard Buhl exemplifies that it is never too late to pivot or enhance your skills. At 59, with a brand-new MBA and graduation hat in hand, Andreas is set for the next chapter in his career. 🎓🌟 Since earning his biology degree from the University of Copenhagen in 1990, Andreas has dedicated his career to environmental projects, working on climate, water and sustainability initiatives both locally and globally. 💧🌳 Joining NIRAS in 2019 as chief consultant, he leads international investment projects, such as Investment for Employment for the German development bank KfW. In 2021, Andreas embarked on an MBA journey at Aarhus University, supported by NIRAS through a gross salary scheme and an education grant. Recently, he celebrated this achievement at a grand graduation reception. 🎉 "I have gained new perspectives and competencies in sustainable finance, including ESG and impact investments as well as EU taxonomy. With my new education, I am even stronger in terms of bidding on new projects and strengthening the relationship with customers in international investment projects," says Andreas. 👏 His career has been anything but conventional. Andreas has held various leading roles at the Investment Fund for Developing Countries and DHI A/S, served as a political advisor and Danish diplomat and developed sustainability policies. He has also been a bridge between research institutions, businesses and public authorities. 🌉 Congratulations, Andreas! Your commitment to lifelong learning and the environment inspires us all. 🌿📈 #HereWeGrow #SustainableDevelopment #NIRASProfiles

Due to a pressing need to boost Kenya’s private sector, initiatives that enhance innovation and productivity are crucial for the country’s economic growth. Consequently, since it began nearly four years ago, the Kenya Industry and Entrepreneurship Project (KIEP 250 ) has been giving comprehensive business improvement support to over 250 eligible small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) across the East African nation. 💪🏾 One of the first SMEs to benefit from the initiative is Instaveg Ltd, a Kirinyaga-based business that processes and packages fresh vegetables (e.g., french beans and baby corn) for local and export markets. We want to share their story as they are a great example of the good work KIEP 250 is doing. 🌱 At its core, Instaveg focusses on sustainable farming practices and collaborates with smallholder farmers in the provinces of Kirinyaga, Meru, Nyeri and Laikipia to maintain a sustainable supply chain. This makes the enterprise particularly relevant for Kenya as agriculture is vital to the nation’s economy, contributing about 20% to its GDP and employing over 40% of its population. 📈 With support from KIEP 250 and the project’s business development service provider Tom Sherrie Solutions, Instaveg successfully developed standard operating procedures, reducing inefficiency in their operations and post-harvest losses. They were also able to diversify their clientele and formulate marketing and sales plans that will enable them to attract their new target markets. 🧲 For more success stories resulting from KIEP 250 , visit their page and read all about the participating enterprises, as well as updates on the project. (Images from: KIEP 250 ) #NIRASProjects #KIEP250 #KIEP250Plus #InstavegLtd #SustainableAgriculture #Kenya

We are thrilled to announce that our long-running Swiss-Serbian collaborative project E2E Education to Employment has entered phase III. 🎉 Expected to end in 2028, this new phase will continue its work of creating job opportunities for young women, men and vulnerable groups in Serbia by enhancing employment support services and providing industry-led training programmes. 👩🔧👨🍳 Dedicated to improving the labour market in Serbia, the project focusses on giving young people in the country a chance to find sustainable livelihoods by modernising employment policies, delivering comprehensive career guidance and counselling (CGC) services and developing a skilled workforce that meets private sector needs. ✅ Among its local goals, E2E aims to standardise Job Info Centres in more regions by integrating its services with different providers – including the National Employment Service, private employment agencies and even schools. Nationally, E2E is making sure local innovations are adopted into national employment frameworks (e.g., supporting legislative revisions aligned with the project’s goals). 📜 Phase III is expected to see more individuals benefiting from enhanced CGC and training, companies improving their HR practices and policymakers promoting a supportive employment environment. As E2E moves into this final phase, its commitment to creating better job opportunities is stronger than ever. 👉 Stay tuned to our page for more updates on the project. To learn more about the recent developments in E2E, feel free to visit their latest newsletter in the link below! #NIRASProjects #EducationtoEmployment #CareerGuidance #Serbia

When we announced NIRAS’ big win in November last year — bagging 12 of the 17 Lots in the EU's Contracts for Services for External Aid Framework Contracts (FWC SEA 2023) — the results for the winning bidders in one of the Lots (Lot 2) was postponed. Today, it is with pleasure (and a little tooting of our own horn) that we announce NIRAS received the highest technical score for Lot 2! 👏🎉 To be led by Antonello Esposito, Team Leader for NIRAS’ Framework Contracts Unit, Lot 2 contributes to the European Green Deal, focussing on sustainable natural resources management. 🌳 With a strong background in land, water, forestry and waste management, our organisation is well-equipped to take on projects under this initiative. 💪 SEA 2023 aims to support various European Commission Directorates-General in executing external action policies and projects. 💡 Our dedicated Framework Contracts Unit, led by Karen Soboleosky, consists of 30 employees across Europe and South America, all committed to delivering sustainable environmental solutions. 🌐 📝 If you would like to be considered for a role in the technical teams for the upcoming projects, register your CV with us today at cv.niras.com! Together, we can build a greener future for our planet. 👉 You can read a full account of this news story by visiting this link: https://lnkd.in/gRwikBDn #NIRASProjects #NIRASWins #FrameworkContracts #EU #SustainableNaturalResourcesManagement

As our “community-based spirulina aquaculture” project has come to an end, NIRAS, alongside the non-profit organisation YAPEKA, recently held two final training sessions on spirulina's nutritional value, culminating in the launch of two spirulina aquacultural farms, one in North Minahasa and Yogyakarta, Indonesia in late June 2024. 🌿 With funding from the United Nations Environmental Programme, the community-based spirulina farms aim to generate livelihoods by broadening income opportunities for locals while promoting dugong (a marine mammal — Google it, a very cool creature) conservation. Currently, both farms produce daily dry and fresh spirulina in the form of paste with only two or three full-time workers. 👩🏽🌾 During the project, over 50 community members have either been trained on capacity identification for spirulina production, developing and running social enterprises or spirulina nutrition to ensure the farms' sustainability. Despite spirulina’s nutritional value, not many people know about what it can do for the body. And so, NIRAS and YAPEKA conducted final community workshops — attended by micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, entrepreneurs, non-government organisations, government officials, community welfare groups, prominent community members and professionals in academia — with the aim to increase awareness on spirulina's nutritional benefits, enabling the local community to have a wider view on possible spirulina usage in their daily lives or businesses. Tasting sessions were even conducted during the workshops, which participants enjoyed. 👅 “It is a source of pride for me and the people of Sitimulyo to have a Spirulina farm that is fully operating to produce wet and dry spirulina products,” shared Fudin Hananto, the Yogyakarta Spirulina Farm Manager. “The Yogyakarta Spirulina Farm has managed to process its own special product, ‘Bakso Spirulina’, which hopefully can be a delicious and nutritious food solution.” 🌱 The North Minahas Farm Manager, Adrian Adiwinata, also shared that the Marine Protected Area Community in Tarabitan was part of the farm's construction. They also participated in various training sessions to operate the Spirulina Farm in Tarabitan Village. “Through participatory planning and bottom-up planning, it is hoped that the community will have a deep sense of ownership of this farm, ensuring its sustainability as a new alternative livelihood for the community, without relying on the sea.” 🌊 This project’s impact on the farms, alongside the communities’ passion to learn, is proof our efforts these past years have paid off and will have a positive effect on the community in the long run. The next phase will be carried on by our national partner, but the farms are open to receive funding from organisations that are interested. Feel free to contact Britania Rohanauli Manik if you are interested. Thank you Britania for this story! ✨ #NIRASProjects #SpirulinaFarms #Aquaculture #Indonesia

At the 12th WaSH Multi-Stakeholders Forum early in July in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, key discussions focused on addressing Ethiopia’s WaSH sector challenges and potential solutions. Tesfaye Mekonnen, NIRAS’ WaSH Finance Lead for the FCDO-funded Strengthening Climate Resilience Systems in Water Sanitation Hygiene (SCRS-WaSH) project emphasised the urgent need to bridge the financing gap in Ethiopia, noting a USD 1 investment in WaSH can yield a USD 7 return (about EUR 0.90 in investment yielding over EUR 6 in return). 🌍 Supported by FCDO and with technical assistance from NIRAS, the WaSH Finance Strategy sets out three strategic directions for securing sustainable financing for the sector, Tesfaye says. These are maximising existing investments through increased efficiency, attracting more funding to boost sector appeal and enhancing repayable financing by promoting loans and private capital. The ultimate goal is to address the annual ETB 65.2 billion (over EUR 1 billion) finance gap through climate finance, water tariffs, institutional loans, the reduction of non-revenue water (NRW) and solar-powered pumping systems. 💡 Some of the key lessons learned were: - The necessity of early stakeholder engagement; - Securing climate finance through NRW reduction and solar power adoption; - Establishing a strong WaSH finance system is critical for investing in sustainable WaSH infrastructure; - Ethiopia WaSH Finance Strategy has the potential to mobilise EUR 1.16 billion in low and high case scenarios. The following day of the forum, Tim Grayling, NIRAS Team Leader for the same project, presented key insights and recommendations from three years of supporting 30 rural Multi-Village Schemes (MVSs) across Ethiopia. These schemes face challenges like long supply pipelines, high operational costs, poor design and costly diesel-dependent pumping systems. To address these challenges, he noted the importance of diversifying water sources, transitioning to professionally managed MVSs and implementing Climate-Resilient Water Safety Plans (CR-WSPs). Best practices highlighted include visits to high-performing MVSs, customer forums for improved service delivery and tariff setting and addressing the impact of poor-quality household water metres on revenues. ✅ A few key recommendations Tim also discussed were: - Improving the design and construction quality of water infrastructure; - Transitioning from diesel to solar power; - Ensuring reliable supply chains for essential equipment. - Strengthening capacities of water supply administration at central and regional levels is essential for sustained success. Implementing these, as well as the other strategies tackled at the forum, are essential for continuous success, driving progress towards resilient and sustainable water systems that effectively serve all communities. Thank you to Taylor Martin for this story! #NIRASProjects #WaSH #ClimateFinance #WaterSecurity #Ethiopia #SDG6

In the community of Doukhania in Tunisia, a mini football pitch built a year ago has already left a big impact through the project Active Participation of Tunisian Citizens (PACT)! 👏🏽 After several discussions during community forum sessions in 2022, citizens in the Krib municipality identified a need to provide young people in the locality of Doukhania a mini football pitch. 🏈 This need arose from a lack of leisure, sports and cultural activities in the area. Today, the project team looks back on the beginnings of this mini football pitch, sharing the ways this has positively impacted the region. 🌍 Not only is this pitch now accessible to the youth of Doukhania, it is also used by kids from neighbouring towns like Douga and Téboursouk. Funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, PACT is an initiative that sets out to support Tunisia’s transition to democracy and a decentralised government. Currently in its second phase, the programme aims to increase citizen participation in public decisions, improve elected officials’ capacity to carry out good governance and provide civil society actors with greater control and monitoring of local government’s performance. 📝👩🏽🤝🧑🏽 Essentially, it aims to better the lives of citizens, building a sustainable and harmonious relationship between them and local authorities. The mini football pitch is a great example of cooperation between the citizens of Doukhania and local government officials, and we are sure there will be more PACT stories like this in the years to come. ✨ Take a look at some of the photos of this project milestone below! Photo credits to PACT Participation Active des Citoyennes et citoyens Tunisiens 📸 👉🏽 If you want to read more about PACT, visit this link: https://lnkd.in/eZbRtm4w #NIRASProjects #PACT #SuccessStories #CitizenParticipation #Democracy #Doukhania #Krib #Tunisia

We are happy to announce another project we have started working on! 👏🏽 NIRAS has been contracted to be a consultancy partner on a project aimed at significantly improving sanitation in Siem Reap City, Cambodia. 🌏 Under the Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Project (WaSSIP), this collaborative effort between NIRAS, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, the Siem Reap Sewerage and Wastewater Treatment Unit (SR-SWTPU) and the World Bank is addressing a critical need for the city's growing population through provincial sanitation improvement. In Siem Reap, drainage and sewage have started to separate from each other. This new system could help reduce environmental pollution and reduce daily pump and filtration operation costs. It would also elevate sanitation standards. 🚰 NIRAS is leading the design of a behaviour change campaign (BCC) to educate property owners on the benefits of connecting to the sewer system and utilising proper faecal sludge management (FSM) services, building SR-SWTPU's capacity to effectively manage the sanitation programme for long-term sustainability. The project has ambitious goals: 1️⃣ Increased sewer connections by achieving a significant rise in the number of properties connected to the city's sewer system; 2️⃣ Improved sanitation practices via the BCC campaign that will encourage widespread adoption of proper sanitation practices; 3️⃣ Enhanced local authority capacity by building SR-SWTPU's expertise to ensure the programme's long-term sustainability. Promoting responsible sanitation solutions is directly addresses the critical challenge of untreated wastewater discharge, which poses a serious threat to public health and the environment. 🚨 Currently we have completed the project's inception phase, established the workplan and gathered initial data to prepare the team in moving forward with the design and preparation of the BCC campaign. Below are photos of the team during the initial stages of WaSSIP — at the wastewater treatment plant, wastewater treatment pod, the the SR-SWTPU team with NIRAS and more. 📸 Thank you for these pictures and for the update, Vansonita MEN! ✨ We have more updates to share with you in the future. To receive more news on this project and the work we do at NIRAS, stay tuned to our page. ✅ #NIRASWins #NIRASProjects #WaSSIP #WASH #WastewaterTreatment #PublicHealth #SiemReap #Cambodia

We are thrilled to share that we will be continuing the project “Institutional and Policy Reform for Smallholder Agriculture” (IPRSA I) in Ukraine under the new project “Continued Support to Align Ukrainian Legislation, Policies and Institutions with EU Acquis in Agriculture and Rural Development” or IPRSA II! 🌱👏 Amid Russia's war against Ukraine right now, food insecurity, property destruction and negative impacts on the rural economy are only a few of the pressing problems the country currently faces. To help counter these issues, IPRSA I and IPRSA II are supporting central government and decentralised municipality entities in encouraging private sector development in rural areas – particularly in agriculture – and improving smallholder farmers’ livelihoods. 👩🌾👨🌾 This is being done through the promotion of good agricultural practices and support of ongoing reforms in both the fisheries and forestry sectors. 🌾 IPRSA II has similar components to IPRSA I. Among others, some of the future project’s expected outputs are the revision of primary and secondary Ukranian legal framework in the areas of agriculture and rural development (ARD) 📝 and the carrying out of capacity building activities to improve standards and policies needed to implement EU approaches for ARD. ✅ If you want to know more about IPRSA I and II, as well as NIRAS’ projects in the sectors of agriculture, education, energy and more, stay tuned to our page for updates. 💻 #NIRASProjects #SmallholderAgriculture #GoodAgriculturalPractices #IPRSA #Ukraine

Because young people are the future leaders of our world, they have the greatest potential to make it a more peaceful place. 🌐 So today, on World Youth Skills Day, we want to stress the importance of giving the youth the tools and opportunities they need to build better and more stable societies. At NIRAS, we are committed to making these opportunities available. This can be seen in the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) projects we implement and the results they have produced. 🔑 One such project is the Skills Initiative for Africa (SIFA). 🌍 An African Union Commission (AUC) programme supported by the German Government, SIFA aims to strengthen the occupational prospects of young people across the African continent, doing so through capacity building efforts and a financing facility for skills development. NIRAS has been supporting the management of the facility since 2018 for the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), which is AUC’s implementing agency. Dire Diwa Polytechnic College, a grantee under SIFA, has rolled out training courses for those interested in hardware and networking services with the help of the programme. 👩🏾💻👨🏾💻 Another grantee is the Ecolé Canadienne de Tunis, an international school in Tunisia, which launched a SIFA-supported bridging programme to help students reach a level of education equal to that of Canadian college diploma holders in IT. 💻🎓 The skills learners gain at these institutions contribute to far more than individual development; they pave the way for an equitable and sustainable world where no one is left behind. TVET institutions and projects like SIFA give people access to good practical education, as well as hope for young professionals eager to spark change in their communities. 💚 💡 If you want to read more about SIFA, you can visit this link: https://skillsafrica.org/ Happy World Youth Skills Day from NIRAS! 🌱 #NIRASProjects #WorldYouthSkillsDay #TVET #SIFA #Africa