VSA is the Swiss association of wastewater and water protection professionals. It has been founded in 1944. The core activities are (see also the website in German, French or Italian):

• Vocational training for professionals on WWTP: VSA provides training programmes for the professionals on WWTP. Dependent on the size of the utility and the job of the participants, they attend 3 (short education) or up to 10 (long education) training modules. Each module has a duration of one week. With the short training programmes (3 training modules and passing two exams ) the participants can reach a VSA-certification . With the large training programmes (up to 10 trainings modules) they can attend a federal exam and graduate as specialist of WWTP operation. The latter certificate is issued by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) and is internationally valid. Which certificate is required in which case is regulated in the water protection legislation.
• Continued training for specialists in the entire sector: VSA provides a variety of trainings for engineers, operators, people working in sewer maintenance and so on. These trainings have a duration of half a day up to an entire week. Some can be booked as entire training programme with exam which lead to another VSA certificate. In 2021, 2816 participants have participated in one of 68 training modules. An overview on all upcoming trainings is given on the website. In the paragraph Project man-agement one example is given how such a training is designed. In the part about Institutionalisation, it is explained how the trainings are delivered.
• Knowledge transfer takes place in all activities of VSA. It is part of the trainings, in working groups, network events and if a need is detected in a CC (see paragraphs below) workshops can be organised. Also, the working aids are part of the knowledge transfer.
• Publications, setting technical standards: VSA provides working aids which support the work of its members. This can be technical guidelines or recommendations to clarify technical details or best prac-tice to meet legal requirements or means of information, such as a leaflet and sticker to inform people about what should not be thrown into the toilet (see next bullet). Setting technical standards also includes a special certificate for renovation of sewer with Incliners. This certificate can be issued by VSA for a company after an in-depth examination of their work, the used materials and the quality standards of the company and is valid for three years.
• Advocacy and lobbying activities, inform public: At the political level, VSA takes a pointed stand on water protection issues. It approaches politicians and explains its views to them. This is mainly a duty of the board members (see paragraph on Organisational set-up).
• Young Professionals: The goal is to bring the young together, to connect them with experienced professionals and to moti-vate them.