The question Dorothee asked: What task or challenge in my current work would be easier or more efficiently fulfilled in collaboration with other of our group? In order words, what can we do to help each other and join our efforts?

I'm not a sanitation specialist but rather a facilitator, trainer, coach and adviser on #WASH4Dev work. In this context I'm particularly keen on learning and sharing and making information, knowledge and howto available to those that need it at the right moment (namely when they need it). This implies that to the extend possible all players in sanitation at all levels should be able within their context to have overview, access and know-how to use the information and knowledge at their disposal when they need it.

If you recognize yourself and your approach in the above, then this translates here in this Susana community into working towards mechanisms, platforms and related facilities that enable each one of us to have an overview, access and ability to use the information and knowledge each one of us has to offer.

And so this implies that the 'we' here should endeavour to make the above reality, either by pointing to and using existing facilities or start thinking about how we could contribute to make such a facility become available.

Feel free to contact me with your suggestions, questions and comments. Peter @ IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.

Dear all

In order to follow up on the working group capacity development meeting in Stockholm, I would like to invite you all to give a feedback on the following question:

What task or challenge in my current work would be easier or more efficiently fulfilled in collaboration with other of our group?
In order words, what can we do to help each other and join our efforts?

What we already found out is:
- Understand how to better monitor and evaluate capacity development activities (e.g. "what does capacity development for sustainable W&S mean? which aspects should it cover?" - "how can we monitor and evaluate capacity development activities?")
- Update (and complete!) the SuSanA Webpage Training Material section in order to give each other easy access to already existing materials (see here www.susana.org/lang-en/conference-and-tr...terials-of-trainings - but maybe add some search features, thumbnails etc.)

Best regards

Dorothee
___________________

Hi All

Just wanted to share Jack Sim's video message for the 17th SuSanA meeting.



Enjoy.
Rgds
Trevor

Dear All,

It was really a fantastic meeting for me as newcomer. Many resources and knowledgeable persons and experts were around me. I believe these will encourage me to become a global WASH-researcher to save the millions of lives who are suffering due to WASH-borne vulnerability, risk and hazards!!!

I thank you everybody for your inspiration!!

Best regards

Nazim

WORLD WATER WEEK STOCKHOLM 2013
Sayed Mohammad Nazim Uddin
ACF Mongolia/University of Sceince and Technology Beijing

Sunday, 01 September
1. Nature Based Solutions: Opportunities for Cooperation to meet water objective for WASH, Agriculture and conservation:

Recently various bio-diversity organizations are working in the WASH sector such as Conservation international, Ramsar Secretariat, CBD Secretariat. Some practical examples at field level have been shared during this session such as Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR), Wetland International’s approach, shifting conceptual to practice, working with farmer to save water resources etc.

Key Question- What is the motivation to work in WASH?
Response- Natural conservation based solutions can be one of the options to protect water sources and to recharged the groundwater to secure future water supply.

Monday, 02 September

2. Security the future: designing a post-2015 water goal

Several risk based studies have been presented during this session. In fact, a long term strategies were considered to mitigate environmental health risks related to water and sanitation and their services. The main aim of those projects was to develop a methodology to reduce vulnerability for populations from sanitation related hazards. The approaches include development and application of risk-based system analysis, identification of risk reduction strategies, capacity development of stakeholders in these processes.

Key Question: How to define risk, hazard and vulnerability in WASH sector?
Response: No response, I was advised to develop them.

3. Cooperation for post post-2015 water targets and their monitoring

Importance of water quality was discussed and a systematic monitoring system was addressed to develop at local level. Aims and visions were developed for the targets and monitoring indicators. Transboundary river basin management was highlighted.

Key Question/point- If a large community, such as homeless (estimated 100 million to 1 billion), is excluded from the targets and monitoring system how the MDG target can be met?
Response: Homeless will be considered to include in the plan and targets.

Tuesday, 03 September

4. Learning from WASH system failure: resilience and risk reduction

Different failure cases have been discussed in during this session on WASH system. It has been shown that various water-borne, air-borne droplet, and vector-borne diseases have increased after any natural disasters. Various software and hardware based solutions and interventions in WASH were given to prevent and control those diseases. The key message of this session is ‘Risk always depends on the local situations and prevalence of diseases/disease vectors in a specific setting.

Key Question/point: is there any vulnerability in WASH sector done?
Response: Not yet.

Wednesday, 04 September

5. Partnership for financing sanitation services in poor urban areas

It is evidenced that four times return can be possible after investing to the WASH sector. Localized economic evidence motivates decision makers to use it especially with role in its generation. Numerous sanitation service levels can be considered to improve the situation and to generate the economic value. A service delivery framework for sanitation has been shared which include creating demand, ensuring supply, creating an enabling environment, incentives and financial arrangement. The key point of this session is to assess a life cycle cost of sanitation service provision. Insurance companies can also be considered in partnership building for WASHservices. A tool for WASHCost calculator has been developing by IRC. Detailed research was recommended in this sector.

Key Question: Do you think micro-finance can be considered to scale up the sanitation technology and to improve the WASH situation locally?
Response- Yes it is possible but need to coordinate and to motivate them to deliver the services in WASH services. Market based sanitation can be developed.

6. Water and urban development from health perspective

Health issue is largely related to various WASH interventions around the world. Various neglected diseases (Hookworm, trachoma, elephantiasis, roundworm, whip worm, snail fever, and river blindness) were discussed. A proper urban drainage system was proposed to improve the health and environment situation.Other key points- Marginalized groups are not included in the MDG, who need to be included. Linkage of health and natural resources are essential.

Key Question/Point:Is single intervention is better than integrated interventions?
Response: Holistic interventions would be better than to think for the single intervention.

7. Scaling sanitation in slums

Sanitation service chain has been built from fecal generation up to reuse/safe disposal system which can be scaled up in different informal settlement or slums. One of the challenges for slum area is the lack of data on fecal sludge management to provide the proper services including sanitation. Development of tools and interventions are important for fecal sludge management including the slum areas. Cost recovery service fee can be applicable

Key Point- ‘Institutional Open Defecation’ due to the direct release of sludge to the environment and no service chain. Scale up is challenging but not impossible.

Thursday, 05 September

8. Promoting coherence and building bridge in urban sanitation

The exclusion of a part of the urban population of an organized sanitation service implies risks for the health and the hygienic situation of the whole city. Donors’ investments are still largely in large sanitation systems-which increased dramatically in last 2 years.Sanitation chain is needed for bridging the gap of financial recovery. Several important factors have been discussed during this session to apply integrated approaches in urban sanitation. Some limitations of non-sewer-based sanitation for urban areas were discussed. A small-bore-sewer was developed and piloted and delivered. Development banks can play an important role in this sector. Master plan at national level was suggested.

Key Point:‘develop integrated concept for collection, transportation, treatment and disposal/reuse’. The urban situation needs a secure final destination for all by-products of sanitation. In areas without sewer, a proper collection service is a challenge.

9. Country level coordination joint learning in sanitation

Diversified stakeholder coordination mechanism was proposed by global sanitation fund. Stimulating the local collaboration among the local stakeholders was recommended. Identifying and addressing the knowledge gap in WASH sector. WASH human capacity gap has been identified and discussed which is the gap of knowledge delivery between field level and expert level. It was suggested to enhance government led sanitation system where other NGOs and stakeholders can be involved for the btter services.

Key Point- Bottom up coordination and learning process is important to knowledge dissemination and improving the WASH. Aid should help reconstructing accountability through building national capacity.

Friday, 06 September

10. Closing plenary

Human right based approach needs to be catalyzed for improving the WASH globally. Cooperation towards security financing might be useful. Good governance is must to tackle the transboudary watershed management. A modeled communication is important to network various multidisciplinary experts/actors and multi-country policy makers. Holistic approach is needed among the diverse sector for optimal solutions to reduce negative impact by one sector on others.



Key point- WATER= BLOODSTREAM OF THE BIOSPHERE
WATER is a connector/nexus for food, for energy and for women. Closing the science-policy-practice loop.

Next World Water Week Stockholm 2014: Water and Energy!!!
August 31-September 5


PDF is enclosed for you!!!

Thanks to all who encouraged me during the WWW at Stockholm 2013

Nazim

Hi everyone!
Thank yo so much Dorothy for the time you put into for writing notes of our meeting!I read it twice, it is a huge message and I gotta think a bit more.What I can say now is that SuSanA network is huge and need to make the most of it. Of course, the best for the network capacity building is continuous communication between the members that builds trust, community and makes the members feel that they are around real people (which is sometimes a bit hard with the Forum). I remember that I have also suggested to look for single members and attempt building dialogue with them for bringing the voices from within the network to the forum/website. Maybe in the format of short messages and interviews, so others can read about success and failures in terms of capacity building, but not like in case studies, written in academic language.

Happy you could make it to our meeting Babar! Good to have you with us.

Dear all

I hope you had a good week and the ones of you that have been traveling to Stockholm had a safe journey back.
I would like to give you a quick feedback and some minutes from our Stockholm meeting.

After the discussion during the SuSanA plenary meeting on Saturday 31 August, it become clear for all of us, that we are motivated to continue working with WG1 on capacity development. Because capacity development is an important aspect of sustainable sanitation but also becaus besides the exchange and joint learning among group members, this working group has a key role in fulfilling the overall roles and objectives of SuSanA according to the new roadmap. See for instance (forum.susana.org/forum/categories?func=v...4888&limit=1000#5418):

SuSanA shall realise its objectives by pursuing the following roles (as revisited in June 2013):

• Coordination and discussion platform – to connect and bring together actors from the sanitation sector to communicate and debate in an impartial environment on issues related to sanitation.
• Knowledge exchange and learning platform (new) – to promote knowledge exchange and learning amongst members, with knowledge resource on as well as linked to the SuSanA platform (SuSanA library, conference materials, capacity building tools, drawings etc.) and produce case studies on projects around the world.
• Sounding board – to offer a platform for members to receive input and review of their publications from the SuSanA community.
• Contribute to Policy Dialogue – to support members involved in policy dialogue at national and international levels through inputs generated from working groups.
• Promotion (new) – to promote the vision of SuSanA and the implementation of sustainable sanitation systems on the ground.
• Working platform – to create an enabling working environment for members to contribute to SuSanA through tasks forces and working groups.

"Opportunity areas where the impartial strength of the SuSanA can be used to generate collated information from a multitude of stakeholder inputs for the sanitation sector through collaboration and investment by members:

• Knowledge management: in the sanitation sector through overviews of all research, capacity development initiatives and member activity. Promotion and offering of free access to sanitation sector information on current innovations, tools and progress.
• Discussion / collaboration: set-up discussion groups for members needs where collaboration can take place as well as use of existing SuSanA infrastructure such as the working groups (WG) for future member funded initiatives.
• Sustainable sanitation events: the platform can be used to house all online requirements of a sanitation conference with registration forms, pre- and post-conference pages and knowledge management of conference materials.
• Establishing regional nodes: regionally based SuSanA nodes focussed on the regional context and stakeholders, using or adapting the existing infrastructure of the SuSanA platform to enable regional working platforms.

"

Possible activities and how we are going to work together in the future was discussed during the working group meeting on Sunday September 01 from 15:00 to 17:30.
Find an overall presentation at the end of this post.

During the meeting 8 people came together:
John Sauer (water for people)
Indika Gunawardana (Cap-Net)
Imad Agi (Ecoloo)
Katja Bessonova (SEI)
Shauna Curry (CAWST)
Thilo Panzerbieter (GTO)
Denis Desille (pseau)
Dorothee Spuhler (seecon / SSWM Toolbox)
This reflects somehow the nature of this group: We are one of the larger working groups of SuSanA counting over 770, but many of them are member in order to learn from others, while others are motivated to share what they have learned with their members and taking over an more leading role.

PART I: Introduction
We started with a quite long introduction during which we also stated each of us, what are our main current activities in Capacity Development.

Shauna presented the outcomes of the recent study on human resource capacity gaps in W&S. this presentation opened a discussion on the importance of capacity development in W&S in general but also more specific on the ways how to measure impact of capacity development and what should be the "standard" of "capacity development for sustainable sanitation". If you are interested in the presentation: please contact me and I will link you up with her. I hope also to see her soon here on the forum…

We continued with the presentation of the SSWM Toolbox, in particularly training courses we are planning and future specific topic chapters we are looking at. We also have the aim to provide packages with key information to thematic SuSanA working groups such as urban sanitation, school sanitation, etc, but this is still in the brainstorming phase.

As a lead I also felt responsible to shortly mention the outcomes of the discussions I had with the secretariat and Thilo Panzerbieter in preparation of the SuSanA meeting and the discussion on the further of working groups.
Here are some summarized remarks:

• There are probably many members having relevant activities in the scope of WG1
• - but which are not “branded” as SuSanA activity
• - Difficulty: to know about it and coordinate as a lead
• A lot of activities of WG1 are linked to lead with little cooridation (and contribution?) from the wider group (e.g. support of SuSanA secretariat)
• There is a need for a “core group” that ensures communication and coordination among activities and generate new products jointly
• The WG1 on capacity development has two functions:
• - “Servicing function”: supporting the SuSanA secretariat with cap. Development activities “internally” as part of the organisational structure
• - Act as a platform for exchange, commitment and action -> how?

PART II: Possible future activities / products
In order to launch the discussion, we asked ourselves following questions:

• Who are we and what do we want to do?
• Can we still subscribe to our goals?
• How do they fit to the SuSanA roadmap? What adaptions would be needed?
• What do we want to do in the future and how?

We then had a look at the list of possible future activities and tried to identify the ones that we would be able to address in a close future. The criteria for this was; "this issue lies on my desk anyway and spending time on it is justified because it will also benefit my day-to-day work" – we had defined this criteria, because being all quite busy, this is seemed to us the only possibility to get something done in the future based on a voluntary contribution.

Here is the list we started with:

• Database on existing online training and learning tools (i.e. or MOOC opportunities in the field of sustainable sanitation)
• Strengthen (build up?) regional nodes
• Increase collaboration (knowledge exchange) among and in collaboration with other working groups
• Organise open meetings and side events for WG1 members but also of the working groups to exchange on their experiences
• Address knowledge gaps of (sustainable sanitation) of scientific staff and specialist and decision makers
• Factsheets on how to evaluate and monitor capacity development activities
• Provide tips for funding opportunity for capacity development options
• Factsheet and library for Water-Energy-Agriculture Nexus and sust. Sanitation (e.g. in collaboration with SSWM Toolbox and SuSanA library)
• Screen action points to ensure position of cap. Dev. In post2015 process

Here are the main areas we identified:

1) Discussion platform
We all agreed at the end of the meeting, that the most useful immediate product we got out of this working group is the exchange and mutual learning we have, once we come together in the group and discuss our "hot topics" face to face. We want to foster this discussion platform through actively using the forum and continue the discussion there we all other interested WG1 or SuSanA members.

The hot topic of the day was "what does capacity development for sustainable W&S mean? which aspects should it cover?" - and based on this "how can we monitor and evaluate capacity development activities?"
One idea was to start the editing of a Factsheet on "how to do evaluation and monitoring of capacity development initiatives (including basic concepts and tips for practical implementation)". Please reply directly to this post if you would like to join the discussion!

2) Sharing on training material and resources for capacity development
We also discussed on new trends in training material development and how we can share our up to date resources: many of the WG1 members do have libraries and databases with many training materials available; while other WG members might be more interested in looking at this existing information in order to get inspiration and support for the work in the field. We identified two different levels of action:
1. level: sending out an email to all WG members to send the links and documents if relevant to the secretariat in order to update the "training material section" on the SuSanA homepage: www.susana.org/lang-en/conference-and-tr...terials-of-trainings
2. level: screen possible ways of structuring the section (e.g. having a specific area with links to upcoming MOOC material or e-learning programs) and how to make it more accessible,
3. level: disseminate the information of the section to get feedback on its usability and improve it for the future.

Dear all,
I will soon circulate the email in order to request for latest information on available training material.
But even before that, I would like to invite you joining this discussion here and contribute to either activity 1) or 2) mentioned above or inform us if you are looking for a couple of other working group members to partner up for even a third or forth WG1 activity…

Best regards and see you soon!

Dorothee

Please find the video from the World Water Prize Laureate Seminar from 2013
Dr. Peter Morgan and previous World Water Prize laureate discuss scaling sanitation.
Wonderful seminar;programme.worldwaterweek.org/event/stockholm-water-prize-2965

Cheers
Madeleine

Thank you all for such a wonderful, full of knowledge and energy event. Special thanks to Madeleine because of whom i was able to attend the event and connect with like minded professionals.
Proud to be among the group of people who gives a shit about every ones shit for better . With time every thing has been changed, our living, lifestyle,food and the way of communication but for centuries we are using the same design of toilets which is weird.

Best
Babar

Quick feedback on attendance

There were approximately 50 people at the meeting and 85 people tuned in and watched the web-streaming during the day. The twitter chat was great fun, especially when folks tweeted in reaction to something that had just been said in the room and I was able to feed it into the discussion in the room.

Kind regards
Trevor

Dear all,

On behalf of the SuSanA secretariat, we wanted to thank everyone who attended the meeting on Saturday and to those who couldn't be there we hope to see you for the next meeting and have your picture too!



For the first time during the SuSanA meetings, a live stream was conducted to broadcast the event and the outcome was very professional. Congratulations to the Stockholm University technicians for the quality of their work, we are very satisfied with the result!

After certain difficulties at the beginning with the servers down, the technicians found a clever solution to the problem and the webstream was working in no time so it was definitely a success.

We also had very valuable contributions and a vibrant discussion via our live chat on Twitter.

We were happy to try out and harness these technologies in an attempt to reach a broader audience and to innovate our communication channels.

Please watch the recording of the meeting and let us know your opinion about it and help us to get better! As Elisabeth already pointed out, the recording is available here: www.susana.org/lang-en/meetings/17th-susana-meeting-stockholm

Kind regards,

The SuSanA secretariat


[Posted by Hector]