I have good news today for anyone who cares about this Discussion Forum, SuSanA, knowledge management and collaborative action in the sanitation sector. The posts above this one in this thread tell you the story about two grants that we (Stockholm Environment Institute) had received from the Gates Foundation in the past; we had Phase 1 starting in November 2012, followed by Phase 2 starting in July 2014 and ending in April of this year.

Now we have received approval for Phase 3. This third phase of the project starts this month and is for three years. Phase 3 is quite a bit bigger and more complex than the previous two phases. The title is: "Supporting sustainable sanitation through knowledge management and collaborative action within SuSanA". The funding is for a consortium of organizations and people consisting of SEI (lead), GIZ, Oxfam, WaterAid, and some additional consultants like Diane Kellog (located in Boston, USA), Steffen Eisser (Germany) and myself.

We'll put up a more formal announcement soon but I thought I would share this news already now in this informal way.

Edit on 8 November: Read the formal announcement and reactions from Forum members here on the Forum:
forum.susana.org/component/kunena/10-ann...dge-platform-2#19454

There will also be a recruitment of some people (like a project manager employed by SEI but located in Nairobi, and a consultant employed by SEI but located partly in Eschborn, Germany and partly in Stockholm, Sweden). These positions will be advertised soon, you'll see them on this Forum in the jobs section.
Jonathan Parkinson has already advertised for a position that Oxfam is recruiting for this project, please see here on the Forum:
forum.susana.org/component/kunena/20-job...h-specialist-int2838

I look forward to contributing my part for this project over the next three years together with a team of dedicated people and led by Arno Rosemarin from SEI!

Regards,
Elisabeth


Further discussions about this grant are here on the Forum:
forum.susana.org/component/kunena/10-ann...dge-platform-2#19454

I thought it would be helpful to provide a summary and update about this project.

The project was carried out in two phases:

• Phase 1: Nov. 2012 - Apr. 2014; budget size: USD 233,345 (see here in BMGF grant database)
• Phase 2: July 2014 - Dec. 2015 (extended until April 2016); budget size: USD 249,953 + USD 55,205 for the extension (see here in BMGF grant database)

Documents about the project are available in the SuSanA library:
www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/2042

Short description of Phase 1 (Title: "Expansion of the Sanitation Network into the SuSanA Community"):

The purpose of this project is to transfer ownership and control of the existing Sanitation Network currently managed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) Water, Sanitation & Health (WSH) Team to the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) as part of a broader publicly available discussion forum.


Short description of Phase 2 (Title: "Supporting online knowledge management, dissemination and peer discussions of the BMGF WSH projects"):

The project is aimed at contributing to the knowledge management and dissemination that the BMGF is carrying out for its sanitation and hygiene projects. These services include launching each project on the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance webpage and Discussion Forum and to provide outreach capacity in order for the project to be seen and understood by targeted individuals and organizations that work within the WSH sector.

Main achievements:

• The project database is a convenient entry point to find information for nearly 200 sanitation projects funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: www.susana.org/en/resources/projects
• The discussion forum received a "front door page" with useful links and orientations for people who are new to the WASH sector: forum.susana.org/index.php
• Reports from the grants, as well as other consultancy reports for the BMGF are available in the SuSanA library here: www.susana.org/en/resources/library?vbl_...5D=&vbl_7%5B79%5D=79
• The SEI project team organised seven webinars since 2013, during which a total of 20 grantees presented their research projects so far, see Playlist on Youtube here: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0gMdVBup...ymOPomtqL_XYT5YtLTSK
• At the Reinvent the Toilet Fair in Delhi, India, in March 2014, the SEI project team filmed interviews and tours of exhibits of 17 sanitation research projects; see Playlist on Youtube here: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0gMdVBup...H-6zco4XpTjxKcsB7UDW

More information about the 7 webinars which took place in Phase 1:

Webinar 1: Biogas systems (4 July 2013, 4 presenters)
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/171-fo...mgf-grantees-in-2014

• Increase of biogas production using low-cost nano-particles and production of sanitized compost from digested materials, Toni Sánchez, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
• Biogas Generator Powered by Self-sustaining Mixing Mechanism, Jianmin Wang, Frontier Environmental Technology, USA
• Enhanced Anaerobic Digestion: A Sanitation and Energy Recovery Technology: The ModAD Process, Temesgen Garoma, San Diego State University Foundation, USA
• Energy recovery & waste treatment with floating biodigesters, Gabrielle McGill, Live & Learn Environmental Education, Cambodia

Webinar 2: Innovation in toilet designs and waste treatment technologies (Part 1) (12 September 2013, 4 presenters)
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/105-pr...mgf-grantees-in-2013

• The Toronto Toilet, Yu-Ling Cheng, University of Toronto, USA
• Self Sustained eToilet with Sewage Treatment, Bincy Bab, Eram Scientific Solutions, India
• Diversion for safe sanitation, Tove Larsen, Eawag, Switzerland
• Effective Sewage Sanitation with Low CO2 Footprint, Aaron Forbis-Stokes, Duke University, USA

Webinar 3: Innovative Sanitation Solutions for Urban Areas (7 November 2013, 3 presenters)
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/180-ur...mgf-grantees-in-2013

• Communal Sanitation Solutions for Urban Slums, Ayush Chauhan, Quicksand Design, India
• Catalyzing Sanitation Businesses. Sherina Munyana, Water for People, Uganda
• Mobile Sanitation Services for Dense Urban Slums, Kory Russel, Stanford University, USA

Webinar 4: Innovation in toilet designs and waste treatment technologies (Part 2) (26 November 2013, 3 presenters)
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/105-pr...mgf-grantees-in-2013

• Nano Membrane Toilet, Alison Parker, Cranfield University, GB
• New concepts for on-site sanitation based on bio-additives and pit design Jeroen Ensink London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, GB
• Sol-Char Toilet, Richard Fisher, University of Colorado, USA

Webinar 5: Resource recovery and reuse (21 January 2014, 3 presenters)
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/98-res...mgf-grantees-in-2014

• VUNA - Valorisation of Urine Nutrients in Africa, Kai Udert, Eawag, Switzerland
• Modeling the next generation of sanitation systems, Luiza Campos, University College London, UK
• Structuring of the fecal sludge market for the benefit of poor households in Dakar, Mbaye Mbeguere, ONAS, Senegal

Webinar 6: Productive sanitation (25 February 2014, 3 presenters)
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/98-res...mgf-grantees-in-2014

• Large scale production and commercialization of "Fortifer" - a fertilizer manufactured from faecal sludge - in Ghana, Olufunke Cofie, IWMI, Ghana
• When flies are the good guys: can black soldier flies (BSF) efficiently reduce faecal sludge from pit latrines?, Ian Banks, LSHTM, UK
• Vapor-permeable membranes: Three potential uses in faecal sludge management for safe sanitation and resource recovery, Steven K. Dentel, University of Delaware, USA

Webinar 7: Adding missing links in sanitation value chains (29 April 2014, 3 presenters)
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/98-res...r-with-bmgf-grantees

• Is a power auger "Excrevator" a suitable tool to empty pit latrines in South Africa and septic tanks in India?, Francis de los Reyes (North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA)
• A compact water recycling and energy harvesting system for off-grid public toilets in low-income urban areas: The NEWgeneratorTM anaerobic membrane bioreactor ready for field testing in India, Daniel Yeh (University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA)
• Community-scale facility to process faeces and faecal sludge into safe biochar by pyrolysis – field testing this year with Sanergy in Nairobi, Brian von Herzen and Laura Talsma (Climate Foundation, California, USA)

Webinars in Phase 2:
Note: Webinars 8 and 9 were organised under the Knowledge Management initiative (www.bdskm.net/) of the Building Demand for Sanitation (BDS) program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. These webinars were moderated and supported by Euforic Services and hosted by Stockholm Environment Institute and the SuSanA secretariat.

Webinar 8: Results-Based Financing (RBF) for sanitation (29 April 2015, 5 panel members)
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/164-fi...follow-up-discussion

• Minh Chau Nguyen and Per Ljung of Thrive Networks, speaking on the East Meets West (Vietnam) Community Hygiene Output Based Aid (CHOBA) Program in Vietnam. Minh Chau is now with Results for Development Institute
• David Ehrhardt and Wil Goldenberg of CASTALIA Strategic Advisors speaking on their review of Results Based Financing in WASH.
• Robert Chambers, Institute of Development Studies offering his view from a wider development perspective on Results Based Financing.

Webinar 9: What constitutes success for CLTS? – Measuring community outcomes and behavior change (22 July 2015, 4 panel members)
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/5-clts...-on-wed-22-july-2015

• Ada-Oko Williams, Technical Support Manager, Sanitation and Hygiene, WaterAid UK.
• Darren Saywell, Senior Director, Water, Sanitation and Health, Plan International USA (information about their CLTS project is available here)
• Hans-Joachim Mosler, Head of Environmental and Health Psychology, Eawag (information about their CLTS project is available here)
• Jonny Crocker, Research Assistant at The Water Institute at UNC, Chapel Hill

Webinar 10: Linking community initiatives for sanitation and health (28 Januaray 2016, 2 presenters)

• Juliet Waterkeyn – Africa Ahead, speaking about community hygiene and health clubs for improving family health at scale
• Mohammad Monirul Hasan - ZEF, University of Bonn speaking about the agriculture water, sanitation and hygiene (AG-WATSAN) nexus and improved health in Bangladesh

If you have any questions please put them into this thread.

I have good news for the SuSanA Discussion Forum today: You might have already seen it on the Sanitation Updates blog and e-mail alert: our application to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for follow-up funding for our grant that brings sanitation grantees to the SuSanA discussion forum has been approved! I am personally very happy about this, because I will now continue to be part of the SEI team to deliver this project, like I have been since the end of 2012. The other team members for this Phase 2 are Arno Rosemarin (he is the project leader) and his colleague Kim Andersson.

You can read about Phase 1 of the grant in this thread if you scrol up to the previous posts or you can also see an overview here:
susana.org/lang-en/research/funded-by-bi...nda-gates-foundation

Reports from Phase 1 are also available here:
www.susana.org/en/knowledge-hub/resource...library/details/2042

Information about this new Phase 2 (running from now until April 2016) is in this information release on Sanitation Updates:

Further co-funding for the SuSanA Discussion Forum
Full article: sanitationupdates.wordpress.com/2014/07/...na-discussion-forum/

I copy here a part of it:

Phase 2 of this project is aimed at increasing the level of awareness, knowledge dissemination and sharing of research and implementation results in the areas of sanitation science and technology, urban sanitation businesses, demand creation, policy and advocacy. It will contribute to the knowledge management and dissemination that the Gates Foundation is carrying out for its innovative sanitation and hygiene projects.

The activities of the grant will support the following outputs:

1. Make the SuSanA Discussion Forum into a highly accessible, comprehensive and authoritative workplace for the sanitation, water and hygiene community around the world.
2. Ensure that the kernels of knowledge arising from the many innovative projects funded by the Gates Foundation’s Water, Sanitation & Hygiene strategy are put into the hands of the professional community with the aim to disseminate, implement and scale up.
3. Catalyze communication among professionals within the sanitation community in order to enhance learning and exchange of experience.

The more detailed information release by SEI is attached below.

What does this actually mean for you, as a forum user?

• I will remain as the chief community moderator (if this title fits) for another year and a half. So expect to see more posts and "moderator's comments" as well as e-mails from me (and from Arno and Kim) in the future. I will continue to do this work in close cooperation with the SuSanA secretariat at GIZ, i.e. Trevor Surridge and his team . It is my firm belief that good moderation is key to a successful discussion forum. See also this paper on reader-focused moderation which we can get some hints from: journal.km4dev.org/index.php/km4dj/article/view/96
• We plan to implement some of the (IT related) improvements that people suggested here on the forum: forum.susana.org/forum/categories/148-yo...orum-software-issues as well as here: forum.susana.org/forum/categories/148-yo...quality-of-the-forum . Any suggestions that you have for improving the forum, please continue to place them here on the forum:
  forum.susana.org/forum/categories/148-yo...vements-of-the-forum .
• In the near future we will run a user survey to collect hopefully lots of feedback and suggestions for improvements from a large sample of users (the survey will be sent out to all 3800 registered users).
• We will bring to your more information - and discussions! - about the sanitation grants in the science & technology section (e.g. Reinvent the Toilet Challenge) but also from the other programmatic areas of the Gates Foundation's WSH strategy, namely urban sanitation businesses, demand creation, policy and advocacy.
• We might change around the forum categories and icons a bit; the previously separate category for the Gates Foundation grants (forum.susana.org/forum/categories/96-inn...ience-and-technology) we might weave into the rest of the categories. This is something we still need to look into very carefully.
• We have plans to make the forum more user friendly for beginners, e.g. by providing links to "beginner readings", putting up videos on "how to navigate and search", making the search options more visible and alike.
• We plan to run more webinars with grantees and SuSanA members, as well as bring to you more recorded interviews at sanitation conferences or major events such as these: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0gMdVBup...H-6zco4XpTjxKcsB7UDW.

Finally, as I wrote for the statement on Sanitation Updates - and I hope you have a similar sentiment:
We are proud of the fact that the work that SuSanA members and the SuSanA secretariat have collectively put into this network since 2007, and into the Discussion Forum in particular since 2011, is being recognised by an important actor, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation!

Kind regards,
Elisabeth
(and Arno Rosemarin)

P.S. You can see the grant (Phase 2) here in the Gates Foundation grants database:
www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quic...s/2014/07/OPP1111498

We recently carried out a small survey amongst the sanitation grantees of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to find out how they rate using the SuSanA discussion forum to disseminate and discuss their research results.
With this post I want to share the findings from this little survey (it contained 10 questions, was sent to 135 grantees, 61 of whom responded - response rate of 45%).

Overall results of the survey, interpretations and way forward: (see attached report for more details):

• The interest in the Discussion Forum can be summarized as filling two vital functions: participation using a networking tool to keep in touch with others and a content-driven or knowledge management tool (in conjunction with the SuSanA library).
• The relevance and importance of the Discussion Forum in the work of the grantees comes out clearly.
• The relevance of the webinars to the grantees is also obvious, with many stating that they have participated in or viewed them or would like to participate in future webinars.
• The survey revealed relatively good participation and interest. The survey shows clearly that SEI has accomplished the phase one very well and met all the project objectives.
• Hurdles for engagement of some grantees with the SuSanA Discussion Forum were found to be lack of time, unwillingness to use “social media” (such as an open discussion forum), preference for traditional ways of disseminating research results (e.g. by publishing peer-reviewed journal papers) and uncertainty on behalf of some grantees regarding who is going to be addressed in the Forum.
• Regarding the need for site improvements, these varied from no need at all, to navigation and more tailor-made e-mail digests.
• Improvements in navigation have been requested by some people; therefore this could be something to work on in Phase 2. People did not specify what they meant though, so we will have to delve into detailed discussions with the grantees to understand what they find difficult about the Forum (it could be the case that those who use the Forum only rarely find it difficult to navigate around. But once one uses it more regularly one gets used to it and finds it easy).
• It would be useful to segment the users into categories. For example, practitioners like to maintain social contact while some researchers are more interested in disseminating their results. There are also lots of new students and other people entering this field due to the BMGF funding options and publicity. They all have different information and knowledge needs, and certain trade-offs will be required (more detail / less detail; more frequently / less frequently, etc.). Once user groups and their needs are better understood, the next task is investigating how to satisfy the different categories within a single site without losing the effect of catalyzing exchange and mutual learning in between those distinct user groups.

One example result for Question 7: "What do you like about the SuSanA Discussion Forum? Check all that apply":

---

Relevance of content to my work 65% 36
Variety of content, i.e. wide range of topics 51% 28
It helps me to be in contact with others (researchers, practitioners) who have the same focus and interest. 47% 26
The friendly and supportive atmosphere 45% 25
Richness of content i.e. detailed information 38% 21
High quality of posts, discussions are well deliberated and balanced 20% 11
Easy to navigate 20% 11
Easy to collaborate 20% 11
I get high quality feedback, comments and answers from others 15% 8
None of the above (I don't like the SuSanA Discussion Forum at all) 11% 6

---

Maybe some of you find the survey results interesting. For us at the SEI team who have the task to help/encourage grantees with using the forum, the results were very interesting - and generally very positive.

Regards,
Elisabeth

P.S. Personally, I quite enjoy running surveys for the feedback that they provide and I also enjoy taking part in them. I could envision a larger survey amongst all SuSanA members one of these days to get feedback on certain aspects of the discussion forum so that it can be improved further.

Dear all,

We have recently published a paper in the journal Sustainable Sanitation Practice which we would like to bring to your attention.
It explains the progress of the work that the team of 5 which I lead (+ SuSanA secretariat) carried out in the last year. This work is done under a grant by the BMGF. The project’s aim is to introduce and discuss the large number of sanitation grants by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (current total is 85). This work would not have been possible without all the great inputs to the discussions which have come from YOU, our fellow SuSanA members! So thank you for that, and please keep this engagement going! You also appear in this paper in the forum of numbers/statistics…

So if you want to know more about the rationale, progress and difficulties with this project, please take a look at the attached paper. I also copy the content of the first page below:

+++++++++++++++++
Sustainable Sanitation Alliance members take a closer look at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s sanitation grants

This paper explains how 85 sanitation research grants awarded by the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation are being discussed on the open Sustainable Sanitation Alliance
discussion forum in order to link these innovative sanitation science and technology
research projects to the wider international sanitation community.

Authors: Elisabeth von Muench, Dorothee Spuhler, Trevor Surridge, Nelson Ekane, Kim Andersson, Emine Goekce Fidan, Arno Rosemarin

Abstract
In late 2012, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded a grant to the Stockholm Environment Institute to showcase the Foundation’s significant investments in sanitation science and technology. The aim of the project is to engage a broad range of experts, practitioners in developing countries and sanitation enthusiasts in an open discussion on the outcomes of the Gates Foundation’s sanitation science and technology grants. The platform for this discussion is the open discussion forum hosted by the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) since July 2011. The discussion forum enables convenient and efficient exchanges of information, experiences and practical problem solving ideas. So far, 61 of the 85 sanitation research grants awarded by the Foundation have been introduced and discussed on the SuSanA discussion forum in five thematic categories. The category with the highest number of grants is “Resource recovery from human excreta or faecal sludge” followed by “Processing technologies for excreta or faecal sludge”.

Key facts:
• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) recognised the importance of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) and its discussion forum and library. They have therefore decided to utilise this platform to increase the level of awareness, knowledge dissemination and sharing of research results (fundamental and applied) on advances in sanitation science and technology which have come about as a result of grants awarded by the BMGF.
• The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) team which consists of SEI staff as well as SuSanA community members has so far introduced and facilitated discussions on the SuSanA discussion forum of 61 of the 85 sanitation research grants awarded by the BMGF under the grant schemes “Grand Challenges Explorations” (GCE), “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge” (RTTC) and “Others”.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Enjoy. And don’t hesitate to ask questions if you have any.

Regards,
Arno Rosemarin and team

Dear all
The website of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation now provides two links to the SuSanA forum. See here: www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Globa...nitation-and-Hygiene (left hand under "QUICK LINKS").

By the way, SEI has also a page about the discussions on Gates foundations sanitation research on the SuSanA forum: www.sei-international.org/projects?prid=1994

And not to forget the background information on research projects on the SuSanA webpage (www.susana.org/lang-en/research) and in the library (www.susana.org/lang-en/library?showby=ye...s=7&vbl_7=79&vbl_0=0).

Cheers

Dorothee

Dear Ms. Elisabeth,

That was an interesting and useful post of yours. While, there would be many organizations, working in the field of sanitation, I wonder if SuSanA has compiled a list of such organizations. A few, that I know of, are (water component is also included in the portfolios of some organizations): Sustainable Sanitation and Water Management (SSWM); Watersanitationhygiene.org; The Operation and Maintenance Network; SamSamWater Foundation; and sustainablesanitation.info

Regards,

F H Mughal

Dear all,
For the benefit of those readers who only joined this forum this year, and in case you are wondering what's the deal with all these research grants that are being discussed on the forum:
The thread above this post explains it, and we have now added basic information about all the sanitation grants by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (current count is 77) to the SuSanA website, please see here:
www.susana.org/lang-en/research/funded-b...on/resource-recovery

(they are grouped in 5 categories, select from the menu on the left hand side to access the different categories)

Within each category we have grouped it by continent where the lead organisation is based.

With this information, you can now easily see which grants have already been introduced on the forum and which ones are yet to come in the next months. I hope it's not all too overwhelming but that you are finding this a wonderful opportunity to really find out what top researchers worlwide are twisting their brains around to advance the sanitation sector a little bit! I am finding it fascinating and am learning a lot.

Also interesting, when you look at the categories and continents that a lot of the research is being carried out in the US of course (fair enough, as that's where the BMGF is based and where the money is coming from), but when it comes to Europe, the UK-based organisations have done really well to be part of this. And no German organisation is in the lead for any of the research grants (being German myself, I noticed this of course). I guess there is not so much of a tradition at German universities to do research on sanitation in developing countries. Maybe this will change!? In Switzerland, there is Eawag and Eawag-Sandec who is doing this kind of work.

Anyway, I hope you find this little update on the status useful. It is an amazing level of insight, openness and willigness to share that we are seeing here, don't you agree?

Regards,
Elisabeth

Dear all,

I also see it as very good news for the SuSanA community and am excited to see how it all develops!
I am attaching here the presentation I gave at the FSM-2 conference in Durban on 30 October which explains a bit more about this discussion forum: why it was established, the spirit in which it is run, what other forums there are, the moderators behind it, what the moderators do, what the plans for the future are and briefly what the mentioned involvement of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation entails. The presentation was called "Accelerating learning in sustainable sanitation" and also explains the other resources of SuSanA for learning.




Am happy to receive any questions or comments on this.

Heinz-Peter Mang from China remarked that in China Youtube and Flickr are banned and requested if a DVD could be made by the secretariat that contains the videos on SuSanA's Youtube channel and the photos on Flickr.

Kevin Wall from CSIR asked if whole DVDs full of documents could be uploaded to the SuSanA library. My answer was, in principle "yes".

Perhaps Trevor, who was also in attendance, remembers other questions that were asked on that day (or we can watch it on the video of the presentation once the videos have been made available).

Regards,
Elisabeth

Dear Carl & Arno,

This is just a short note to say thank you for this very wonderful news. It looks like exciting times are ahead of us SuSanA members and I am really looking forward to seeing how the transition will take place. This is a great opportunity for us to further learn from each other, to collaborate and to keep up with the innovations and technologies for onsite sanitation systems.

I look forward to further details!

Best regards,

Doreen

(This is to corroborate Carl Hensman's message here on the forum.)

Stockholm Environment Institute and the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (that means you!) have been chosen by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to engage a broad range of experts (yourselves and others soon to join in) in taking the results from the Sanitation Science and Technology Programme to the next level.

Sanitation is a neglected chapter in human development. But it has an important role in the story of economic and social development. As sanitation services have become second nature, productivity has benefitted from healthier populations. Without it, disease and death take a large toll, and hinder progress. Right now, 2.5 billion people are without basic sanitation services and over 4000 children die every day from disease caused by inadequate sanitation and hygiene.

The sector is currently riddled with various levels of dysfunction due to inappropriate and unsustainable approaches. The risks can become even more apparent in cases of disasters such as flooding and earthquakes. Making sanitation services widely available, affordable and resilient requires a collective effort from sanitation experts and professionals from fields as diverse as architecture and urban planning, social marketing, sociology, agronomy, biochemistry and economics.

To bring together this collective effort and share knowledge on the new sanitation solutions, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) has been selected by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to lead a knowledge sharing and discussion project surrounding their Sanitation Science and Technology Programme. The Programme has over 80 sanitation science and technology projects. The programme now wants to share the results from these in an open public forum engaging a broad range of experts and the general public to source innovative and sustainable sanitation solutions.

Over the next 15 months SEI will work with the Programme Grantees of the Foundation in order to broaden understanding and discussion about their work. The grantees will be encouraged to work through the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) that has about 200 institutional members and some 2000 discussants on its Discussion Forum (www.forum.susana.org).

For more information, please contact:
Anna Löfdahl – Press and Communications, Stockholm Environment Institute. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Phone: +46 73 460 7693

The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) is an international non-profit research organization that has been engaged in environment and development issues at the local, national, regional and global policy levels for more than 20 years. Its goal is to bring about change for sustainable development by bridging science and policy. SEI has seven centres worldwide, in Stockholm; Oxford and York, U.K.; the United States; Bangkok, Thailand; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and Tallinn, Estonia.

www.sei-international.org

Follow us on Twitter: @SEIresearch

Best wishes
--Arno Rosemarin/SEI