Knowledge Exchange on CSPs @ FSM4

In order to address the looming challenge of “faecal sludge management” (FSM), the global platform for discussion (FSM4) was conducted in Chennai, India in February, 2017. The event focused on innovative and practical solutions that can be scaled up and included three tracks- research, case studies and industry and exhibition. CSE took part in various events (coveyor/co-convenor, oral presentations, poster) and was that as a key leader from India with global presence as well.

Some of the key events are listed below for further details-

1. Oral presentation on “Institutional Capacity Building of Ganga Basin Cities for Their Journey Beyond ODF”- S.K. Rohilla, R. Gupta and R. Sardar.

The presentation talked about CSE’s novel five stage handholding process for ten select cities from the Ganga basin to capacitate and execute FSM interventions via the implementation of city owned city sanitation plans. The trainings have made selected cities embark on their journey beyond ODF cities by recognizing the objectives and benefits of national programmes for citywide sanitation by focusing on national, state and city level convergence and effective stakeholder involvement to achieve improved urban sanitation interventions. Hence, cities have realized that innovative solutions are required for achieving this objective which not only focus on technical options but also to create an enabling environment for local governments to attain the FSSM goals.The session wasattended by approximately 60 global and national partners.

2. Poster on “SFDs in ten Ganga basin cities”

CSE also took part in presenting a poster which showcased the SFDs for ten select cities India which can be used as an integral part of city wide sanitation planning. The first step to develop the CSP is to make a status report of which SFD would be an integral part. Partners who visited the poster were informed of the methodology used for data collection for developing an SFD as well as the challenges and opportunities of using the tool at city scale. The generated SFDs then become a part of CSP and are analyzed by CSTF (City Sanitation Taskforce) to propose necessary interventions in the CSP.SFDs are proving to be good evaluation and advocacy tool. The CSTF gets a better idea of critical points of failure in the provision of urban sanitation services in given city or town. The task force is in a better position to decide and prioritise the interventions, after analysing the SFDs of the cities.

3. UNESCO-IHE Workshop

CSE in collaboration with UNESCO-IHE delivered India's first online course (OLC) on Faecal Sludge Management dated from June to August 2016. The course was successfully completed with a total of 42 national and international participants who are now part of the Global Faecal Sludge Management e-learning alliance. The objectives of the workshop were to promote networking among alumni in the region and to identify alumni success stories and define new ways for future engagement.

4. 23rd SuSana Meeting

The workshop was organised by the India Sanitation Coalition, Ecosan Services Foundation, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Madras) and the SuSanA Secretariat. The 23rd SuSanA meeting took place on 18 February. More than 150 sanitation professionals, experts and enthusiasts from India and abroad joined the meeting to discuss India's pathway to sustainable sanitation, challenges and opportunities for knowledge sharing in the (Indian) sanitation sector and planning approaches and implementation of urban sanitation in India. Dr Suresh Rohilla (Programme Director, CSE) presented a session on “ SFDs and Septage Management in Indian Cities” (hyperlink: http://www.susana.org/files/Session3_Suresh.pdf). The session mainly discussed the importance of mapping excreta flow in select Indian cities and how SFDs can be used for septage management and hence citywide planning.

For more information, kindly contact:

Ridhima Gupta
Programme Officer
ridhima@cseindia.org

Bhitush Luthra
Deputy Programme Manager
bhitush@cseindia.org

Suresh Rohilla
Programme Director
srohilla@cseindia.org