Enhancing Peer Learning – Water Services Master Classes #3

The WSMCs aimed to draw from local case studies and better practices, with an emphasis on “practitioner to practitioner” exchange. Key elements of the WSMCs include: (1) Free participation by all, (2) Technical overviews, (3) Case studies, (4) Best practices, (5) Share common issues/challenges faced, (6) How did they do that?, (7) Performance measurement (PIs), and (8) Networking. All municipalities (regardless of maturity of participation level) were invited to attend these benchmarking events.

Master Class 3 was hosted in March 2014 in Durban (5 – 6 March 2014), Worcester (13 – 14 March 2014) and Bloemfontein (19 – 20 March 2014), and attended by a total of 103 persons, with municipal participation 93% of total attendance. In particular attention is drawn to District and Local municipal participation, with Durban having 55% participation by DMs, Worcester having 67% participation by LMs, and Bloemfontein having 67% participation buy LMs. All six benchmarking modules were covered in the WSMC with invited municipal experts facilitating discussions of benchmarking performance measurement outputs. As in the past, Municipal feedback was that WSMCs were very worthwhile, informative and enjoyable. Discussion regarding draft MBI Scorecard results (as illustrated by PIs) was generally positive and most participants noted that they would check and verify associated MBI Scorecard data. The feedback obtained showed that the general sentiment from municipal participants was overwhelming positive in terms of content and professional development, and that future events are indeed desirable. The project team aims to build on this success and continue to produce MBI events that both interest municipalities, and help them improve performance.

If you would like to find out more about getting involved with the MBI or attending a future Master Class, please contact us.