SuSanA Releases Compilation of 13 factsheets on key sustainable sanitation topics

From SuSanA web page:

FACTSHEETS

1. Capacity development for sustainable sanitation
2. Financial and economic analysis
3. Links between sanitation, climate change and renewable energies
4. Sanitation systems and technology options
5. Productive sanitation and the link to food security
6. Planning of sustainable sanitation for cities
7. Sustainable sanitation for schools
8. Integrating a gender perspective in sustainable sanitation
9. Sustainable sanitation for emergencies and reconstruction situations
10. Sanitation as a business
11. Public awareness raising and sanitation marketing
12. Operation and maintenance of sustainable sanitation systems
13. Sustainable sanitation and groundwater protection

The  document is available as a single 116 page  pdf   or  two pdfs breaking the dock in half.  

It is filled with hot links to a wealth of reference material. This alone will make the document invaluable. All urls are written out so links retain their value in a paper copy.

The list of contributors is is huge. A nice thing is the main authors  provide hot email links  at the end of each of the 13 sections so you can easily contact them. 

The  only problem with such a beautiful document is there is no traditional table of contents or index.  

Executive summary from  the pdf

“The target audience for this document includes a wide range of readers who are interested in aspects of sustainable sanitation and their links with other environmental and development topics. Possible readers include practitioners, programme managers, engineers, students, researchers, lecturers, journalists, local government staff members, policy makers and their advisers or entrepreneurs. The emphasis of this document is on developing countries and countries in transition.

The Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) is a loose, informal network of organisations such as NGOs, private companies, governmental and research institutions as well as multilateral organisations that aim to contribute towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by promoting sustainable sanitation.

Sanitation generally refers to the provision of facilities and services for the safe disposal of human excreta and domestic wastewater. Personal hygiene practices like hand washing with soap are also part of sanitation. Sanitation also includes solid waste management and drainage but these two aspects are not the focus of this publication. In order for a sanitation system to be sustainable, it has to be economically viable, socially acceptable, technically and institutionally appropriate, and protect the environment and natural resources.

SuSanA contributes to the policy dialogue towards sustainable sanitation through its resource materials and a lively debate amongst the members during meetings, in the working groups, bilaterally, through joint publications and via various communication tools like the open online discussion forum. This publication showcases the broad knowledge base and state of discussions on relevant topics of sustainable
sanitation. All of the working groups have published one or two factsheets providing a broad guidance relating to their specific thematic area.

The 11 working groups of SuSanA have the following titles:
WG 1 Capacity development
WG 2 Finance and economics
WG 3 Renewable energies and climate change
WG 4 Sanitation systems, technology, hygiene and health
WG 5 Food security and productive sanitation systems
WG 6 Sustainable sanitation for cities and planning
WG 7 Community, rural and schools (with gender and social aspects)
WG 8 Emergency and reconstruction situations
WG 9 Sanitation as a business and public awareness
WG 10 Operation and maintenance
WG 11 Groundwater protection

Due to the inter-relationships between the working groups, the factsheets are inter-related and where appropriate, are cross-referenced. The factsheets relate to different parts of the “sanitation chain”, which consists of user interface, conveyance, collection/storage, treatment, reuse or disposal. We have attempted to visualise the linkages between the different working groups and the sanitation chain in the following schematic. There are some working groups which are dealing with overarching themes and these have been placed inthe centre of the schematic.”

Publisher:

Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) and GIZ, Germany

Related articles

• SuSanA – Compilation of 13 factsheets on key sustainable sanitation topics (sanitationupdates.wordpress.com)
• Humanitarian crises and sustainable sanitation: lessons from Eastern Chad (washafrica.wordpress.com)
• Time to Get Our Sh*t Together (sanitationupdates.wordpress.com)
• Sanitation at the 4th Africa Water Week, 14-18 May 2012, Cairo, Egypt (sanitationupdates.wordpress.com)

Water and Health Conference: 29 Oct – 2 Nov Details

Science, Policy and Innovation

Bringing together academic research with policy, practice and networking events

The 2012 Water and Health Conference: Science, Policy and Innovation, jointly organized by the Institute for the Environment and the Water Institute at UNC, will consider drinking water supply, sanitation, hygiene and water resources in both the developing and developed worlds with a strong public health emphasis.

The 2012 Water and Health Conference: Science, Policy and Innovation is accompanied by several exciting events before and after the conference. Don’t miss the opportunity to network with and learn from the unique array of national and international professionals!

  Keynote Speakers 

• Bai Mass Taal- Executive Secretary of the African Ministers Council on Water
• Tessie San Martin- CEO of Plan International USA
• William G. Ross- former North Carolina Secretary for the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources and Visiting Professor at the Nicholas Institute for the Environment
• Letitia Obeng – Chair of the Global Water Partnership
• Charles Fishman- author of The Big Thirst
• Tom Earnhardt – producer and host of Exploring North Carolina

2012 Main Conference Themes:

• Monitoring and Evaluation for Sustainability
• Ecosystem Protection and Drinking Water Safety
• WaSH and Child Health
• Southeastern US Water Challenges
• Beyond 2015: Realizing Universal Access and Human Rights
• Water, Energy and Climate
• Making Sanitation Benefits Achievable and Sustainable for All
• Household-centered WaSH

Conference Links

• Conference Home
• About the Conference
• Call for Papers
• For Registrants
• Sponsorship
• Archives
• Questions?
• Institute for the Environment
• Water Institute

sources for content  – conference email announcement  and conference web pages

PATH Commercialization Toolkit – for Water focused Organizations

“PATH has developed a core set of user-friendly tools and approaches to assist organizations as they seek to identify market opportunities, devise strategies to address these markets, and develop the capacity in their organizations to ensure successful execution of each strategy.”

All  details below  found on the  PATH site:

OVERVIEW

For the past five years, PATH’s Safe Water Project has worked to identify, evaluate, adapt, and develop appropriate products and strategies that enable social enterprises to sustainably produce, distribute, and support household water treatment and safe storage products for low- and middle-income populations. As a component of this program, [Path has] worked extensively with developing country small- and medium-sized enterprises and social organizations (such as local nongovernmental organizations or NGOs) to build commercial capacity and create, test, and refine social business models that can have a meaningful impact on important health issues.

While the organizations with whom we work are frequently well-positioned to have a health impact on their communities, they may lack the necessary commercial tools and expertise to do so in a sustainable or scalable way. To address this gap, PATH has developed a core set of user-friendly tools and approaches to assist organizations as they seek to identify market opportunities, devise strategies to address these markets, and develop the capacity in their organizations to ensure successful execution of each strategy.

As these tools and approaches took shape, PATH began to recognize universal themes and applications across the many diverse countries, environments, and products where  PATH works and have assembled them into a Commercialization Toolkit.   PATH’s hope is that they can be of use to future PATH partners and other social entrepreneurs and NGOs. more…..

• contents of  extensive toolkit (BETA at time of POST)
  

  • Home
  • Landscape
  • Product and service
  • Operations
  • Key opinion leaders
  • Sales
  • Marketing
  • Reporting
  • Financing
  • Glossary
  • Tools
  • Site map
  • Contact us

   

  WASHLINK notes:

• It is an ambitious endeavor that is to be commended.  I am sure they would love any feedback  you can provide.

  PATH – facts sheet

 

 

The Butterfly Effect, a coalition of international NGOs, which advocates effective local solutions that have a sustainable impact on water & sanitation, launched their messages.

PRESS RELEASE – 12 March 2012

Civil Society groups from across the world unite to urge governments to implement the human right to water and sanitation

Launch of the Butterfly Effect messages at the 6th World Water Forum followed by walk for water to demand action to address the world’s largest crisis.

Marseilles – Leading international and national civil society organisations urge government delegations and other actors present at 6th World Water Forum to implement the human right to water and sanitation for all people.

Some 900 million people have no access to safe drinking water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation. Today, the first day of 6th World Water Forum, the Butterfly Effect, a coalition of international NGOs, which advocates effective local solutions that have a sustainable impact on water and sanitation, launched their messages.

Made up of over 90 civil society organisations, NGOs, networks and womens’ organisations, the Butterfly Effect is an open movement that’s growing fast. Their solutions are based on human rights principles and communities’ experience, and relate to policies, projects, information campaigns and empowering stakeholders. Crucially, these solutions are local, sustainable, adaptable, innovative, equitable, accountable and people-orientated.

They consulted with NGOs for over a year to bring their experience and expertise together in a common set of messages for the Forum.  Diverse and inspiring representatives from all over the world brought the messages to life at the press conference by sharing their stories from the ground reality to demonstrate how civil society holds constructive solutions on how to tackle key challenges related to water and sanitation.

“We believe that good governance of water and sanitation will only be brought about through a human rights based approach which requires adequate investment in informed and effective civil society participation” says Maggie White from the International Secretariat for Water, who introduced the messages.

“We greatly welcomed the 2010 UN resolutions recognizing the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation as legally binding” explains Doreen Wandera of UWASNET, a network of NGOS working on water and sanitation in Uganda, “We now urge all actors to support national governments to implement this right for all people and to recognise and effectively support local knowledge and community management as important contributions to implement this right.”

Directly after the conference, the group staged a mass walk around the conference to raise awareness of the all the people around the world who still walk for miles every day to access safe water.

Butterfly Effect members are involved in formal and informal sessions throughout the Forum where they will be sharing their experiences and pushing their messages. Among the calls from the Butterfly Effect are to integrate equity, participation and accountability dimensions of a human rights-based approach in water governance, increase access to water and sustainable sanitation services to fulfill the human rights criteria and to recognise the value of local knowledge and ensure that local voices are taken into account in policies and their implementation at all levels.

Printed copies of the Butterfly Effect messages in English, French and Spanish and more information about all of the sessions in which members are participating, ongoing updates, photographs and videos can be found here: http://butterflyeffectwwf.blogspot.com

Interviews with experienced spokespeople from all over the world available on request. contactpress.butterflyeffect@gmail.com, Muriel Benarroche, +33 (0) 6 12 42 61 93 , Paul Garwood paul.garwood@gci.ch , mobile; +41797760454

Butterfly Effect official sessions:

Session 1: Solutions from civil society: Inspiring change through a human rights based approach; BE members will encourage discussion on how human rights standards and principles are contributing to equitable and sustainable solutions on the ground. Tuesday, 13 March, 11-13 pm, Venue: PC 8 – Callelongue, Palais des Congrès

Session 2: Occupy the 6th World Water Forum: Building inclusive human rights-based water and sanitation governance and management from the bottom-up!
Thursday, 15 March, 11-13 pm, Venue: PC 8 – Callelongue, Palais des Congrès

Q-Drum re-invents the wheel by adding water to solve a water transport crisis for the world’s poor.

http://www.qdrum.co.za/
Water is essential to the survival of all forms of life and a clean and accessible supply is a basic need that millions of people around the world do not have. In disadvantaged and rural communities, the trouble of fetching water invariably over long distances by cumbersome and far too often, unhygienic means is all too evident.

The Q Drum is the simple, durable, effective and user-friendly solution to this problem. A device designed to ease the physical burden and reduce the time spent collecting water; thus ultimately improving the lives and well-being of countless people around the world.

Directed/Produced by Aaron Straight, Senior Producer- Kim Lawrence, DP – Ian Jay, DPII – Guido Ronge, Edited by Miles Lippold/Doug Lyons/Todd Mueller, Executive Producer-Mark Dickison, Music composition by David Schommer. Many Thanks to the woman of the Nama Village in Steinkoft, South Africa. For more information, please go to http://www.trifilm.com

TEDx HOW NEXTDROP IS USING CELL PHONES, CROWDSOURCING TO GET WATER TO THE THIRSTY.

 

notes from the site:
In many cities in developing countries, residents have piped water supplies. But there’s a catch: the water is only available through the pipes for a few hours at a time, and people have no way of knowing when that will be. As a result, residents (mostly women and the poor) spend their days just waiting for the water to arrive. Anu Shiridharan from NextDrop, one of the speakers at TEDxGateway, has a solution.

Anu Sridharan graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in December 2010 with a Master’s degree in Civil Systems engineering, and received her Bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley in 2009 as well.

During her time there, Anu researched the optimization of pipe networked systems in emerging economies as well as business models for the dissemination of water purification technologies for arsenic removal in emerging economies.

Anu also served as the Education and Health director for a water/sanitation project in the slums of Mumbai, India called “Haath Mein Sehat” where she piloted a successful volunteer recruitment and community training model.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

http://www.tedxgateway.com
http://www.ted.com

Solve for X: Rob McGinnis on Global Water Scarcity

from  solve for X site:

“Global water scarcity presents a grave challenge to continued human development and sustainability. The answer, however, is to use more water, not less. In order to do this, a dramatic technological breakthrough in desalination is necessary. This presentation describes the beginning of that effort.

Rob McGinnis is Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer of Oasys where he’s developing forward osmosis desalination technology.

Learn more about Rob’s tech in the following article: http://goo.gl/FVB2F“

Urban Water Movie Contest from TU Delft

TheWaterChannel NewsFlash: February 8, 2012

Half the humanity now lives in cities. While you read this sentence, six more people would have joined them. Keeping up with this rapid urbanization is a big challenge for urban water and sanitation services.

Have you spotted a solution? Have you come up with one? TU Delft invites you to capture it in a short film, and enter its Urban Water Movie Contest. The best film will win 1000 Euros, the best three will be screened at TU Delft’s Water Week and at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).  (Deadline: May 15, 2012)

For inspiration and ideas, check out videos in the Urban Water Management category on TheWaterChannel.

With Regards,
TheWaterChannel Team.
www.TheWaterChannel.tv

source: Taken from email from the waterchannel  related link  http://www.thewaterchannel.tv/en/contests

Ted talk: Sonaar Luthra: Meet the Water Canary

From site: “After a crisis, how can we tell if water is safe to drink? Current tests are slow and complex, and the delay can be deadly, as in the cholera outbreak after Haiti’s earthquake in 2010. TED Fellow Sonaar Luthra previews his design for a simple tool that quickly tests water for safety — the Water Canary. “

http://www.watercanary.com/Water_Canary.html

Call for papers: World Water Week in Stockholm 2012

press release:

World Water Week in Stockholm 2012

Submit your event proposal or abstract before 15 February

Organisations and individuals are invited to submit proposals for organising a seminar or side event at the 2012 World Water Week, or to send in abstracts for oral or poster presentations for the scientific workshops.

Submitting proposals for seminars or side events

Submitting abstracts for the scientific workshops

The deadline for proposal and abstract submission is 15 February.

This year, the World Water Week in Stockholm will take a closer look at global “Water and Food Security”. Increasing imbalances in the world’s water and food security situation are unfolding. Economies of countries as well as businesses are becoming restrained by the availability of water, leading to a rush for resources beyond national territories. Increasing floods and droughts together with volatile food prices are having direct effects on political stability and national security. At the same time there are great untapped synergies in the management of food and water. The management of these basic resources will have enormous effects on our future.

About the World Water Week
The World Water Week in Stockholm, organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute with FAO and the CGIAR as Key Collaborating Partners for 2012, provides a unique forum for the exchange of views, experiences and practices between the scientific, business, policy and civic communities. The Week focuses on new thinking and positive action toward water-related challenges and their impact on the world’s environment, health, climate, economic and poverty reduction agendas. In 2011, more than 2600 participants from nearly 130 countries attended the World Water Week and some 180 leading international organisations collaborated with SIWI in arranging the event.

The 2012 World Water Week will take place August 26-31.

For more information on the World Water Week in Stockholm visit www.worldwaterweek.org  or download the first announcement.