Bremen Overseas Research and Development Association (BORDA) is a non-profit expert organization that was founded in 1997 by a network of urban planners, development experts, public institutions, private sector stakeholders, and other professionals. Its mission is to improve the living conditions of people in developing and emerging countries by promoting sustainable water and sanitation solutions. One of its core goals is to contribute to capacity building by making knowledge from Germany and worldwide available to partner countries.Since 2008 BORDA is operating in Laos, and starting 2013, BORDA Laos has been cooperating with the Department of Housing and Urban Planning (DHUP), Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT). Several towns and provinces have been facilitated to develop demonstration projects on polycentric integrated solutions including decentralized wastewater treatment solutions (DEWATS).The joint action plan of DHUP and BORDA Laos is to improve service provision of towns and cities on environmental health in schools, communities, hospitals, real estates and overall in cities and towns especially through capacity building including trainings focused on planning, construction, and the legal framework. Moreover, BORDA advocates on quality demands for construction supervision, operation and maintenance management, impact evaluations and progress monitoring.