Institutional Environment and Determinants of Project Management in Water Sector

Joint integrated management of use and conservation of natural resources takes place in the water sector through the development and implementation of projects. Project management creates prerequisites for more flexibility and opportunities for providing more competitive quality services, creating sustainable innovations. In the context of Bulgarian reality, the management and financing of water projects is faced with a number of challenges and difficulties, which are the subject of interest from different scientific fields. The aim of the article is to analyze and evaluate the project management environment in the water sector and on this basis to make conclusions and recommendations on how to improve it. The content of the paper is structured as follows: 1) Literature review of the institutional environment for the management and financing of projects in water sector; 2) Analysis and assessment of the environment for management and financing of water projects; 3) Discussion of results and recommendations. The last part summarizes conclusions and recommendations for improving the management and financing of projects in water sector related to the transition from a traditional project management approach to a more sustainable one, the construction of a multidisciplinary team of specialists, the introduction of innovations and creativity during the design phase, increasing the awareness and participation in training.