International Training on Tools and Approaches for Citywide Water and Sanitation Management

Part II: Sustainable Sanitation in Cities: Assessment, Planning, Reuse, Recover and Safety

Date: July 30 – August 03, 2018     
Venue: Anil Agarwal Environment Training Institute (AAETI), Nimli, Rajasthan (301405) 

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), India, as part of its School of Water and Waste initiative, organised a 10-day international training programme on “Tools and Approaches for Citywide Water and Sanitation Management” from 24 July to 3 August 2018.  Part II of this training was conducted from July 30 to August 3, 2018 at AAETI campus. It introduced a number of sanitation technologies, tools and approaches for sustainable sanitation management in cities.

The aim of this training was to create change-agents in the water and sanitation sector, who will have in-depth understanding of key tools and approaches for urban water and sanitation management. Twenty six (26) individuals from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Australia, Kenya, and Ghana participated in the training programme. The group was a combination of experienced professors, students, researchers, consultants, and engineers representing different organisations. The participants were from a range of disciplines and have cumulatively worked extensively across both South Asia and Africa.

The training programme included a mix of theory and practical exercises – the pedagogy encouraged peer-to-peer learning, cross-country sanitation experiences and examples, role plays, documentaries, group activities, and interactive class room sessions which usually began with questioning the fundamentals (double-loop learning approach).

List of Participants (click here)

Day 1 of the programme commenced with a fully guided tour through the sustainable technologies on the AAETI campus for the participants. These included the Decentralised Wastewater Treatment Systems and Soil Biotechnology system. Following this, Dr Suresh Rohilla, Academic Director, School of Water and Waste, addressed all our participants and set the scene with a crisp overview of the state of sanitation management around the world. He was joined by Dr.MahreenMatto. Mr.Rudresh Kumar Sugam then illustrated various concepts and perspectives regarding tools and approaches for sustainable sanitation in India. Ms.ChhaviSharda illustrated various sanitation information systems available to practitioners who work in this sector. These sessions were interactive as participants discussed sanitation situations and information systems prevalent in their countries.

Day 2 was devoted to sessions on Shit Flow Diagrams (SFD), an advocacy and situation assessment tool. Mr.BhitushLuthra and Mr.Bhavik Gupta conducted these sessions. The day began with introductory sessions on SFD - how to read it and understand terms and variables used for its preparation. This was accompanied by group exercises to provide practical experience of data collection methodology. Later, participants were introduced to Graphic Generator and were asked to prepare SFD for the given city as exercise. The day ended with an overview session on the FSM Toolbox.

Sessions on City Sanitation Plan (CSP), spanning the third day, involved interactive sessions on what a CSP is, why do cities need it, different national/local initiatives which might discuss it in India and abroad. Stakeholder engagement, a crucial component of the CSP, was discussed and understood elaborately through a stakeholder role play exercise, facilitated by Dr. Saakshi Joshi. The participants also did exercises to point out key issues and gaps for different sanitation sectors for a given city, and develop goals and related visions. After the training wrap up, the team and participants gathered together for an evening of myriad performances; including a flute solo, an aboriginal Australian protest song, and the Kenyan national anthem among others.

Day 4 began with an early morning yoga session conducted by one of our participants from Gujarat. The following sessions introduced the Sanitation Safety Planning tool, which has been developed by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The day also involved a session on Geographic Information System (GIS) by Mr.Shubham Mishra to show how spatial mapping can be used for sanitation management.

Day 5 began with the wrapping up of SSP in the first half, followed by an introduction to the SaniKit for CSP preparation by Ms.Ridhima Gupta. The day ended with Dr.MahreenMatto presenting CSE’s urban water sustainability template, and giving participants a detailed knowledge of various tools, templates and indices used worldwide to help states and cities turn from ‘water wasteful’ to ‘water sustainable’. The participants did group exercise based on the template to understand the significance of various indicators identified for estimating the water sustainability of an area.

The training concluded with a feedback session to understand the areas of improvement and identify participants who would be willing to be a part of long-term network with CSE.