Training programme on: Decentralised Wastewater Treatment including local reuse at Accra, Ghana

Date: March 14th – 16th, 2016

Venue: Oak Plaza Hotel, Accra, Ghana

Language: English

Introduction
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in collaboration with Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, MLGRD (local host &partner) is organising a three days training programme on “Decentralised Wastewater Treatment including local Reuse. 

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ghana exists to promote the establishment and development of a vibrant and well resourced decentralized system of local government for the people of Ghana to ensure good governance and balanced rural based development. The Ministry of Local Government, through the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate is the Government Agency with the mandate for environmental sanitation in Ghana with oversight responsibility for developing policies and legislation; supervising and monitoring; facilitating and coordinating the plans and programmes implemented by District Assemblies. 

CSE is geared towards building larger societal support for policy, practices and implementation and form a south-south partnership with a particular focus on Africa in 2015-2016. The need for support on capacity building for state and non-state actors involved in urban water management in Africa was identified during the India-Africa experience sharing Workshop (New Delhi, India) and the training programme on “Sustainable Urban Water Management” (Colombo, Sri Lanka) that was organized and hosted by CSE in early 2015.

Ghana, one of the participating countries for these workshops, presented the sanitation profile of the country and indicated an urgent need for capacity building initiatives in sustainable decentralised wastewater management.
 

About the Training
To meet the scale of challenges in the area of integrated urban water and sanitation management, a cadre of professionals that can plan, design and implement sustainable wastewater management solutions in urban areas of Ghana is required. 

The thematic focus of the present training is on decentralised wastewater treatment including local reuse. This theme will contribute substantially in the abatement of pollution in various sources of water –both surface water and groundwater. 

This training is part of efforts been made by the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) and the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area Sanitation and Water Project (GAMA SWP) Capacity Building Team to develop the capacity of the 2012/2013 batch of Public Health Engineers.

Aim:
To build the capacity of Public Health Engineers in Ghana to implement best management practices (BMPs) for sustainable wastewater management.

Objectives:

• To provide knowledge, skill development and attitude change of participants towards sustainable decentralised wastewater management.

• To build capacity ofparticipants in the area ofplanning, designing and implementing low cost decentralised wastewater treatment systems at different scales.

• To share experiences on existing and upcoming policies and practices from India and South Asia on wastewater management.

• To build south-south network of practitioners for mainstreaming sustainable wastewater management practices. 

Mode of Training
The training is conducted based on state of the art teaching – learning tools consisting of interactive sessions, experiential learning using detailed case studies, working in groups on planning and designing and class room lectures/instructions. 

The three days training programme will have two days of classroom sessions that will focus on improving understanding on the need of decentralised wastewater management, planning and designing of decentralised wastewater treatment (DWWT) structures and will provide hands-on experience to do so. The training will also talk about enabling policy framework including probable reuse options.

Following the classroom sessions, one day field exposure visit (optional) is planned that will demonstrate decentralised waste-water management at residential or institutional scale. The visit will provide an opportunity to interact with implementers.

The Centre for Science and Environment is organising an international training programme jointly with Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) as local partner and host institution at Accra, Ghana.

Target Participants
The main target audience for this training programme are Public Health Engineers in the various Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies of Ghana. The Public Heath Engineers in the Assemblies are the professionals tasked with development and implementation of sustainable wastewater management practices. Invitations will be extended to few professionals from other government agencies supporting various initiatives in the country on urban water management to participate.

Local contact (Ghana):-

Ing. Henrietta Osei-Tutu
Env. Health & Sanitation Directorate,
Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development
Accra, Ghana
Phone: +233 206021605
Email: henriettaot@gmail.com

India contact:-

Ms. Chhavi Sharda (Coordinator)
Senior Research Associate
Water Programme
CSE, New Delhi, India
Phone: +91-11-40616000,
+91-11-40616000 (Ext: 257)
Email: chhavi@cseindia.org


For more information on the training programme kindly contact:

Dr. Suresh Kumar Rohilla
Programme Director- Water Programme
CSE, New Delhi, India
Email: srohilla@cseindia.org