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NGO-Academia Collaboration in Water and Sanitation: Lessons and Opportunities

This session, led by Jenny Lamb from Oxfam GB, explores the critical collaboration between NGOs and academic institutions in addressing water and sanitation challenges globally. Key topics include the urgent need for engineers in the humanitarian sector, practical case studies on successful partnerships, and common pitfalls faced in collaborative efforts. With millions lacking access to safe water and sanitation, this dialogue aims to inspire innovative solutions and foster effective teamwork among diverse stakeholders in the WASH sector.

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NGO-Academia Collaboration in Water and Sanitation: Lessons and Opportunities

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  1. Engineers without borders – academic day OXFAM GB Jenny Lamb Water & Sanitation Engineer Advisor 18th September 2014

  2. Session Objective • To present an overview of the following: • What issues are calling out for NGO-academia collaboration? • What might a successful collaboration look like? • Examples, their failures and lessons

  3. World figures..... • 748 million people in the world don’t have access to safe water. This is roughly 1 in 10 of the world’s population • 2.5. billion people don’t have access to adequate sanitation, 1 in 3 of the world’s population • Over 500,000 children die every year from diarrhoea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation. That’s over 1,400 children a day. • This baseline is further exacerbated in an emergency e.g. Before the Haiti earthquake 80% had no access to safe sanitation, and after Haiti a dire situation

  4. Diversity of Oxfam’s work.... • WASH – water, sanitation & hygiene • EFSL – emergency food security and livelihoods • Protection • Gender • Policy & Advocacy • Campaigning • Trading • Logistics – warehouse in Bicester • Fundraising

  5. Oxfam’s work.....

  6. What issues are calling out for joining of the NGO & academic world • Problem statements such as ‘low cost desalination’ and ‘faecal sludge treatment & disposal’ • Increasing the number of engineers interested in the humanitarian sector (short term & long term) • Diversify our graduate engineering competencies – a combination of civil, structural, project management, self starter, and theoretical & practical minded • Quality assurance • Foster links between the North & South Universities; linked to this development of an ‘Academy for humanitarian WaSH engineers’ • Professional Certification – a bridge between CIWEM/ICE for humanitarian WaSH engineers?

  7. Characteristics of a successful collaboration • Something tangible! e.g. • A technical brief, guideline • An approach • A piece of equipment • Research initiatives: NGO, academics & MSc students • Secondments • Capacity building (2 way) • Technical working group tasked with a particular subject matter e.g. Faecal sludge management, Desalination

  8. NGO & academia collaboration • Day to day professional collaboration: LSHTM, Surrey, WEDC, Cranfield • Uni of Surrey – up flow clarifier, water treatment • WEDC – co authored the ‘Excreta in Emergencies • MSc dissertations with Cranfield & WEDC University • Tsunami – well cleaning / saline intrusion • South Sudan – urban sanitation (sanitation marketing) • Liberia – well chlorination • Bio additives • MSc group work with Cranfield University – no toilet option, and faecal sludge treatment-disposal • Latrine lining prototype with University of Newcastle • No toilet prototype with University of Edinburgh (product designers) • Cranfield University – present at working group with academics, engineering consultants examining student retention, teaching content etc.

  9. Collaboration lessons & failures • How to take the prototypes to the next level developed by the University product designer students? • What next for the students after they have completed MSc – our & their expectations • Fore mentioned research (well cleaning, saline intrusion, urban sanitation etc) – have all led to enhanced knowledge by our field staff, and the WaSH sector • Faecal sludge treatment MSc group work – in hindsight should have had chemical-process engineers involved. Pitching to the right audiences (short term & long term)

  10. Questions.....

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