Pan-Africa Roundtable cum Workshop on ‘Water – Wastewater and Sanitation Sensitive Planning for Climate Change Resilience Building in African Cities’

Date: February 15, 2022
Platform: Zoom
Time: 11 AM to 1 PM (CAT) | 2:30 – 4:30 PM (IST)

Background

Today cities in the Global South face the enormous task of dealing with future growth, water scarcity issues, climate change impacts andequitable access to essential health care and better water management. In addition to this, cities are currently grappling with a pandemic; and while we tackle the widespread impacts of COVID-19, it does seem clear that this disruption will make cities (re)-think how we can integrate water and sanitationsensitive urban planning(WSSUDP)in our development scenarios in wake of climate change.

WSSUDP allows cities to mimic the natural water cycle and helps to address local and city level concerns on water supply management, pollution abatement and urban flooding, that can not only restore the water cycle in urban areas but also help build urban resilience in the wake of climate change. Strategies with onus on rain/stormwater harvesting, decentralised wastewater treatment and local reuse, lake and wetland rejuvenation, etc. provide an opportunity for equitable access to resources and develop resilience for climate change.

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), India under its global water programme has over the past 5 years trained more than 200 practitioners from African countriesand has developed long-term partnerships with various institutions to mainstream sustainable urban water management practices. As we work towards achieving our SDGs, it is important that we develop mechanisms for action research, knowledge-sharing, capacity building and implementation of model/pilot projects.

Aim & Objectives

The overall aim of this workshop is to connect with key water sector players and practitioners (including training courses alumni) and discuss opportunities for developing regional partnerships for mainstreaming sustainable urban water management practices in African cities. The key objectives are to:

• Engage in a multi stakeholder dialogue and experience sharing on key water-wastewater and climate change issues and challenges.
• Understand existing water and sanitationenabling frameworks – Policy, Planning, Programmes and Projects
• Identify opportunities and challenges in implementingwater and sanitation sensitive interventions in African cities
• Identify target areasand sectors for regional partnerships for water-wastewater and climate change issues and challenges. 

Workshop Coordinator

Dhruv Pasricha
Programme Officer - Urban Water Management
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), India
Email: dhruv.pasricha@cseindia.org

For more information, contact:

Dr Suresh Kumar Rohilla
Senior Director, CSE, India
Academic Director, School of Water and Waste - AAETI, India
Email: srohilla@cseindia.org