Training Programme on Water Sensitive Urban Design and Planning

Date: June 4- 6, 2018
Venue: Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), India in collaboration with Water Research Commission (WRC), South Africa and Water Research Unit, University of Cape Town (UCT) conducted a three day international training programme on “Water Sensitive Urban Design and Planning (WSUDP)” from 4^th June – 6^th June, 2018. 

The 3 day training programme included a mix of theory, practical sessions and it was 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. 

The programme included diverse group of around 19 participants from different background and different organisations including representatives from NGOs, private companies, universities, entrepreneurs etc. The training also included 5 Pan- African participants from Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda while others were practitioners from PE, South Africa.This was the first such training on WSUDP highlighting nature based solutions that was organised in this city where 30 percent of participants came from Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (Port Elizabeth Municipality).

List of participants (click here)

The programme started with introduction session along with representative’s from UCT , South Africa (Research Coordinator, Future water research institute Urban Water Management Research Unit, UCT) and Centre for Science and Environment (Mr. Rudresh Kumar, Senior Programme Manager, Water Management Unit) who spoke about CSE-WRC and UCT partnership and work in South Africa. Dr. Carden also gave an overview of the training with the purpose for implementing WSUDP for sustainability in water management.

Dr. Kirsty Carden (Research Coordinator, Future water research institute Urban Water Management Research Unit, UCT) exposed the participants to the issues and challenges in managing water resources in urban areas and solutions of managing storm water at source, local and regional scale. This was followed by the session by Dr. Neil Armitage (Head of Department, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Cape Town(UCT) who talked about the aim of SUDS system to reduce velocity and peak flow and improve quality of urban runoff in order to move away from typical victorial drainage design. Subsequently, Ms. Shivali Jainer (Deputy Programme Manager, CSE) and Ms. Chhavi Sharda(Deputy Programme Manager, CSE)took sessions that shifted the training focus on WSUDP at different scales: Storm water managementand recycle/reuse of treated wastewater through decentralised as part of a water sensitive design.

Day 2 started with sessions showcasing case examples of best management practices of various aspects of WSUDP through documentaries. The sessions focused on planning, designing and implementation strategies for sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS), Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) and Decentralised waste water treatment systrems (DWWTs). This was followed by showcasing best management practices in African context by Dr. Neil Armitage. The day ended with a session by Mr. Jay Bhagwan, WRC on different sanitation options.

Day 3 started with introductory session by Dr. Suresh Kumar Rohilla (Director, Water Management Unit, CSE) where he discussed global south issues highlighting nature based solutions. After that the participants received hands-on experience in designing water sensitive areas (including concepts of SUDS, RWH and reuse through DWWT) and gained better understanding of the need for decentralised approach. This was followed by a feedback session in order to understand from the participants if the training was useful and its way forward.

 

For further information please contact:

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

 
Local host and partner:
Mr. Jay Bhagwan
Water Research Commission, South Africa
Email: jayb@wrc.org.za