Dear Max,

Has there been any additional thought put into this Knowledge Exchange approach? I feel it commenced on a very good note and had quite great potential for growth. I tend to reflect on this experience when I read about this recent trending topic: 'Decolonisation of WASH Sector Knowledge.' here: forum.susana.org/196-capacity-developmen...ash-sector-knowledge

Such interventions do prevent an opportunity for sector players within the global south to be able to share relevant sector knowledge and seize opportunities within their different experiences and their work. I recall a lot of positive outcomes emerged across the different countries that were involved in this Knowledge Exchange experience. 

Regards,
Chaiwe

Much appreciated Max. Looking forward to the SIWI sofa chat on the KEx Subject at the upcoming SWWW. This effective approach to learning has in the case of Lusaka provided the necessary confidence needed by partners in the sector at all levels to take the once daunting steps towards addressing the sanitation challenge knowing that it is being successfully done in a neighbouring city similar to theirs.

All presentations delivered at the KEx Green Sanitation Cities that was held in May in Lusaka are now attached for your reference. The KEx in Lusaka was attended by representatives from the GIZ Sector Programme in Germany, representatives Sanitation for Millions (Uganda, Jordan and Germany), Partners from the regulator in Tanzania ERUWA and the Local Authority in Kampala KCCA in addition, Lusaka was represented by the Utility LWSC, the Local Authority LCC, GIZ, BORDA, WSUP and other key supporting partners. The link to the KEx Video can be found here:

Dear Chaiwe,

thank you very much for your summary and input.
And thank you a lot for already providing the presentations of the KEx Dar es Salaam.
There is one more document available. It is the presentation of the excursus to financial incentives and subsidy.

I took the liberty and attached it to this post.

Kind regards,
Maximilian Schneider
on behalf of the SuSanA Secretariat

Lusaka, Dar es Salaam and Kampala are three cities in Sub-Saharan Africa facing similar sanitation challenges as most inhabitants of these cities rely on OSS facilities. However, progress in the provision of improved city-wide OSS services vary from one city to the other. Each city has recorded experiences, successes and challenges worth sharing across boarders as they all strive towards operationalising city-wide OSS/ FSM service provision. The three cities came together in April 2018 to share knowledge and learn from each other on how different experiences and lessons learnt in OSS/ FSM service provision can be applied in the respective city contexts.

The Climate Friendly Sanitation Services in Peri-urban Areas of Lusaka (CFS-Lusaka) Project under the Deutsche Internationale Gesellschaft für Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Water Sector Support Programme in Zambia in conjunction with GIZ offices in Kampala-Uganda and Dar es Salaam-Tanzania organised the Kampala knowledge exchange visit on OSS and FSM in collaboration with Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) in April 2018. OSS and FSM stakeholders from Lusaka and Dar es Salaam visited Kampala City in Uganda and shared experiences and knowledge on OSS and FSM interventions in their respective cities.

Read more about the Kampala KEx experience in the attached Report and presentations.

Between December 4th to the 6th, 2018, experts working in the field of on-site sanitation (OSS) and faecal sludge management (FSM) from Kampala, Dar es Salaam, and Lusaka came together in Dar es Salaam to share knowledge, exchange ideas, build networks, and share experiences on OSS/FSM. Building off on the first Knowledge Exchange (KEx) workshop held in Kampala in April 2018, the two KEx visits led delegates from the three cities through the OSS and FSM systems and discussions in order to identify and understand various approaches, successes and limitations in solving their city’s OSS and FSM challenges.

This 3 cities knowledge exchange approach was conceived following a recognized need by GIZ’s Climate-friendly Sanitation Services in Peri-urban Areas of Lusaka Project (Lusaka, Zambia) to take on a knowledge sharing approach in finding solutions to the OSS and FSM challenges being experienced within cities in Africa that share similar water and sanitation challenges, and have similar informal settlement settings. The CFS-Lusaka project works in Zambia in support of the Lusaka Sanitation Programme (LSP), a large multi donor funded sanitation and infrastructure project which is being implemented by partners Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (a water supply and sanitation utility) and Lusaka City Council (a local authority). The CFS-Lusaka project partnered with the GIZ Water Programme (Kampala, Uganda) and The GIZ Water Programme in (Dar es salaam, Tanzania) that work by supporting local sector players in water and sanitation within their cities to realize the KEX approach.

The Knowledge exchange approach was designed to look at business models, community awareness mechanisms, and technical solutions on OSS/FSM service provision cross the sanitation service chain. To encompass and capture the above-mentioned aspects as well as be in a position not only to acquire knowledge but also share knowledge, the delegations from the three cities comprised of participants from various public sector institutions of the sanitation sector who also shared knowledge and understandings of sanitation related challenges in their respective cities. The participants from the three cities comprised members of water, sanitation and environmental regulatory bodies, policy makers, and implementers who shared knowledge and understanding of sanitation-related challenges in their respective cities.

The objectives and expectations of the KEx included:
• To have the opportunity to actively participate and exchange ideas on OSS/FSM in the field and in the conference room.
• To gain knowledge and enhanced understanding with regard to business models, community awareness mechanisms, and technical solutions on OSS/FSM service provision cross the sanitation service chain.
• To gain an understanding on the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholder’s (policy makers, regulators, implementers (utilities and/or municipality), private sector, partners, communities) involved in influencing FSM across the sanitation service chain.
• To explore opportunities of GIS in the delivery of effective and efficient FSM services.
• To establish mechanisms for further exchange and learning between the stakeholders in the three cities. Through online platforms post the city visits.

Since the realization of the Kampala and Dar es Salaam visits, The KEx approach has had a positive knock on effect, specifically in the case of Lusaka where participants who could not physically take part in the KEx visits from the institutions who were in attendance owing to the fact that such learning opportunities do have limitations in attendance taking into account how cost heavy they can, in respect to travel, accommodation and other logistics. Therefore, only a sizable number of participants could attend. To overcome this limitation, Post KEx meetings were conducted in each of the representative institutions with the aim of sharing outcomes and experiences of the KEx visits by the representatives of the various institutions to their peers in their own organizations. This peer-peer learning proved effective, as it facilitated further discussion on a solution-based approach to some of the OSS/FSM interventions at institutional level based on the lessons learned from the KEx visit.

In addition, there has been one-one deliberations by a number of representatives from the different cities and institutions that have facilitated further sharing of knowledge, approaches and documents answering to specific topics that were not limited to the scope of the KEx. One such positive exchange between the National Water Supply and Sanitation Council ( Lusaka) and the Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA) has been seen in the development of sanitation standards for Lusaka with lessons learned from the standards that were developed and are being enforced in Kampala.

In the long run, it is hoped that the KEx approach has fostered the beginning of a long-term knowledge sharing culture, that will allow for further progress tracking, offer a competitive approach towards the attainment of goals in the three cities and sustainable knowledge sharing especially once the online platforms that are under design to accommodate and facilitate continued interaction by participants of the KEx are finalised.