World economic forum on LInkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jauade_three-major-world-cities-with-unique-ways-activity-6810124764892422144-3Uhn

Executive training for managers from Ghana Water Company Limited held in Kumasi (Ghana) on the following topics: non-revenue water management and innovation application for public services

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvnNsRLsItg

Testimony of Julien Guittet – CEO Bluspark

As you know I am in Kumasi, Ghana this week for an Executive Training of the Ghana Water Company Ltd. officers in digital transformation and water innovations. ?

What a chance to be here and to have very operational exchanges as we love them… Not to mention the pleasure of projecting ourselves with our partners by imagining the construction of a common future! ?

Sustainable investment in infrastructure and innovation is a key vector for economic growth… And that’s why I think our digital platform is the ideal tool to strengthen the “resilience” of all infrastructures, and even that of the Greater Accra water network.

How can we do this? By securing the water supply to industries in this territory and increasing the satisfaction of its 5,000,000 inhabitants while improving the efficiency of resource use ?

Want to know more? You should have come and joined our heated discussions in Kumasi ?
But we promise we will reveal the details of the plan worked out with GWCL managers very soon…and of course Bluspark will have a prominent place!

A big thank you to AgroParisTech – Institut des sciences et industries du vivant et de l’environnement, our partners & the GWCL for the trust they put in us! ?

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/julien-guittet-8817b15_comme-vous-le-savez-je-suis-cette-semaine-activity-6806449309878415360-XbSb

• Since 2009, 300 managers and directors of services trained in strategic management for water and sanitation services from 55 countries on four continents
•  An extensive pedagogical and scientific partnership, awarded the UNESCO label for its work, research and training, responding to the challenge of access to quality water and sanitation
  for all

AgroParisTech, SUEZ, the Fondation SUEZ with the French Development Agency (Agence Française de Développement) and ESSEC Business School, in association with the Agence de
l’Eau Rhône Méditerranée Corse, have committed to establishing a world-class four-year partnership Chair to address the climate and urban challenges faced by emerging countries and
to start building a sustainable environment now. The academic partnership has been expanded with the establishment of agreements with two African institutions (UCAD-ESP in Senegal and
KNUST in Ghana). This educational and scientific project, run within AgroParisTech’s Water Centre and the UNESCO International Centre, offers an enhanced range of training courses,
including the development of distance learning (“e-learning”) approaches.
Providing access to quality water and sanitation for all, while ensuring the sustainable management of water resources, is a considerable challenge for public and private service operators, especially in developing countries.
The AgroParisTech SUEZ-Eau pour Tous Chair, created in 2008, is a unique training and research centre that has already trained nearly 300 managers and executives of water and sanitation services in developing countries. It is a manifestation of SUEZ and AgroParisTech’s commitment to contribute to strengthening the skills of the managers and executives who run these services and thus participate in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN. As the pace of urbanisation and climate change continues to accelerate, AgroParisTech, SUEZ, the Fondation SUEZ and AFD are maintaining their partnership to build a world-class centre to provide training in strategic management of water and sanitation utilities, aimed at senior executives and general management teams, senior managers who are about to take up these positions and operational or functional managers in management roles.
A new academic partnership with ESSEC – a leading management training institution in Europe – with the goal of supporting and influencing ecological and social transition in our societies through training and research, will contribute to enriching the results- and service-oriented education initiative on strategic and project management.

A Chair within the AgroParisTech Water Centre
Firmly rooted in Montpellier’s university research ecosystem, this centre is supported by a regional university dynamic. AgroParisTech is a member of the Montpellier Institute for Water and the Environment, the International Centre for Interdisciplinary Research into the dynamics of water systems under the auspices of UNESCO, and a supporter of the KIM WATERS initiative at the Montpellier University of Excellence (MUSE) i-Site. Montpellier is also home to the France Water Team competitiveness cluster, and is strengthening its links with professionals in
the water sector. The Chair is at the heart of this centre of excellence.

The Chair’s training courses may be introduced on a remote learning basis starting in 2021, consolidating its actions abroad in order to strengthen its international influence.

The Chair offers:
• training on the various different functions of a water and sanitation utility, its overall challenges (infrastructure operation, customer management, human resources management, asset management, cost control, finance, etc.), to enable managers to make diagnoses, set medium- and long-term targets, construct related action plans and manage them;

• training on general management issues: strategic management and planning, scoping and coordination of action plans by function, institutional relations, relations with stakeholders;

• training on project management: scoping, operational diagnosis, design of an action plan, management, approval, methodologies and tools, problem solving;

• international training courses for water stakeholders in situ (particularly in Africa and Asia).

The “Water for All” International Executive Master OpT course offered by the Chair and supported by AgroParisTech is accredited by the Conférence des Grandes Écoles and registered in the Répertoire National des Certifications Professionnelles directory.

The Agence de l’Eau Rhône Méditerranée Corse, a public institution of the French Ministry of the Environment dedicated to the preservation of water in France, partners with the Chair by financing educational grants as part of its international intervention policy for access to water and sanitation.

The Chair promotes training in the Global South, for the improved transfer of know-how to international management schools or African or Asian centres of excellence, in higher education and research, in order to establish a strategy of decentralised training and building the capacity of partner training organisations in the Global South.

A forum for operational staff and researchers
The Chair supports research programmes aimed at promoting access to drinking water and sanitation through the improvement of service management, in particular through the analysis of economic, political, institutional and managerial conditions, and through the analysis of the governance framework. Research initiatives are drawn up in response to proposals from the Scientific Council, whose members are well-known figures in the research field.
The Chair aims to promote the advancement and sharing of knowledge by acting as a forum for water and sanitation managers and researchers. Every two years, it organises scientific meetings for an international audience.

Bertrand Camus, Chief Executive Officer of the SUEZ Group and Fondation Chairman:

“SUEZ and the Fondation SUEZ are proud to renew their commitment to the AgroParisTech Suez-Water for All Chair. Our services are essential for quality of life, health and economic development. Education in the water and sanitation sector is of vital importance to shape a sustainable environment – a process which starts now. The Chair will provide a means of sharing and strengthening skills for services in developing countries, with quality training and international scope.”

Gilles Trystram, AgroParisTech Chief Executive Officer:

“The worldwide issue of water, its distribution and associated services is a key one, and AgroParisTech is proud to be continuing the training activities that have been underway for several years now on an international scale. The partnership with ESSEC, SUEZ and AFD is dynamic, is based on a very open framework, and combines complementary skills. The AgroParisTech SUEZ-Water for All Chair has achieved a certain worldwide profile, and it is our goal to develop it further as well as to spread the advances obtained via this Chair to the other AgroParisTech training courses in the water sector.”

Rémy Rioux, Agence Française de Développement Chief Executive Officer:

“I am delighted that AFD is continuing to support the 6th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on access to clean water and sanitation – an area in which it invests over a billion euros a year for the benefit of several million people, particularly in Africa –within the framework of a partnership with AgroParisTech, SUEZ, and the Fondation SUEZ. This collaboration will
allow stakeholders in this sector to train in a Chair with an extensive range of educational offerings, in a field thatties together numerous SDGs relating to access to quality education, sustainable towns and communities or genderequality. Thisinvestment in human capital is an essential part of ensuring the performance and sustainability of thefunding we provide to water and sanitation management.

Laurent Roy, General Director of the Rhône Méditerranée Corse Water Agency:

“The 6 water agenciescontribute, within the framework of the OUDIN-SANTINI law, to the financing of decentralized cooperation programs dealing with access to water, sanitation and hygiene, drawn up by the local authorities of their basin. In countries where decentralized cooperation programs are being developed, strengthening the skills of water technicians and engineers, as proposed by the AgroParisTech SUEZ Chair, offers the opportunity to develop the sustainable management of water services and resources. In the face of climate change, adaptation strategies must be proposed by water managers, in particular the management of equipment assets, the fight against leaks, and the sanitation and reuse of treated wastewater as alternative resources to be developed.”

Vincenzo Vinzi, ESSEC Business School General Director:

“At a time when environmental crises are humanity’s number one challenge, sustainable access to the fundamental resource of water is an issue we urgently need to address. This partnership between ESSEC, AgroParisTech, SUEZ, the Fondation SUEZ and the Agence Française de Développement is proof of the collective desire to initiate a profound change to support and influence the ecological and social transition of our societies through training and research, by implementing an ambitious strategy that takes account of the diverse nature of stakeholders and geographical areas.”

The Chair since its creation (2008 to 2020)
• 13 cohorts of the MS OpT – International Executive Master “Water for All” (7 French and 6 English speaking);
• 243 students trained in the International Executive Master for the title of “Manager of Urban Water and Sanitation Services” from 55 countries on 4 continents;
• More than 100 water and sanitation companies and institutions from Asia and Africa renew the registration of their managers in the International Executive Master;
• More than 50 lecturers, professionals from the water and sanitation sectors, and some 30 coaches per class, including some 20 SUEZ employees;
• 48 General Managers from 20 countries in Africa and Asia trained in Strategic Management

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6805858634153635840/

Source : Stockholm Environment Institute

This project brings together researchers and practitioners from Sweden, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda to explore the implications of the quality of government on water and sanitation outcomes. Emphasis is placed on understanding how the type and quality of services in different contexts influence citizens’ perception of public and private service providers, their willingness to pay for services and participate actively in development.

Potential Network Partners

• Institute of Human Settlements Studies (IHSS), Ardhi University, Tanzania
• School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg
• Quality of Government Institute, University of Gothenburg
• Program on Governance and Local Development (GLD), University of Gothenburg
• Department of Urban planning and Environment, KTH
• Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD)
• African Minister’s Council on Water (AMCOW)

On May 10,2021 a seminar took place between La Republica Dominicana and France

In the presence of the French Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, the Minister of Education and the Rector of UNAPEC

This was followed by presentations from the water sector competitiveness cluster with its President Anne Ribayrol-Flesch and the UNESCO ICEREWARD International Centre with its Director Éric Servat, two organisations in which the AgroParisTech – SUEZ Chair is a partner.
Many companies came to present their technology.
To conclude this presentation, two engineering/research courses were honoured:
The “Water for All” SPECIALIZED MASTER’S DEGREE led by the Chair in Montpellier and the National School of Water and Environmental Engineering in Strasbourg

TAKING ACTION FOR WATER

From a one-day concern to an everyday concern!

Water scarcity, a global issue

Every 22 March, World Water Day alerts us to the growing pressure on water resources and the ecosystems that depend on them. According to the OECD, 40% of the world’s population will face water shortages by 2050 and, according to the Global Water Institute, 700 million people could be displaced by 2030 due to water shortages!

Ever more alarming forecasts for France in 2050

The DRIAS report by Météo France forecasts absolute record temperatures by 2050, with an increase in average summer temperatures of 6 degrees.

A decrease in groundwater recharge of 10 to 25% on average depending on the region will also affect surface water, with a 10 to 40% decrease in annual river flow. Earlier droughts are already reducing access to drinking water in a growing number of municipalities.

Without decisive action, chronic water scarcity will not be solved

According to the IPCC, the greatest effects of climate change are water-related: droughts, floods, rising sea levels, storms and cyclones, and the disappearance of wetlands. Still marked by the devastating floods in the Alpes-Maritimes, France is facing earlier, more severe and longer low-water periods and rainfall deficits that affect biodiversity, agriculture and the cooling efficiency of nuclear power plant reactors.

The decrease in the quantity of water available generates conflicts of use, to which is added the degradation of water quality.

The place of water in the Climate and Resilience Bill

Voted on first reading in the National Assembly, its examination will continue in the Senate. It represents a real opportunity.

Only Article 19 makes the link between water and climate by specifying the notion of “respect for natural balances” from paragraph 1 of Article L210-1 of the Environment Code. Thus, the protection of water and its sustainable management must respect natural balances: infiltration of water into the groundwater, protection of biodiversity, fight against pollution and the effects of climate change.

This article 19 does not call into question the plurality of uses or the “right to water”. It simply affirms as pre-existing the duty to protect water at its source.

Without prioritising the protection and restoration of environments, water users will have nothing left to share!

We welcome the amendments concerning the management strategy for underground water resources, the positioning of water as a common national heritage, and the compensation of waterproofed surfaces by imposing a minimum share of non-waterproofed surfaces in the PLU. Provisions for diagnostics and work programmes to improve the state of drinking water networks, the restoration of aquatic ecosystems such as peat bogs, riparian forests, mangroves or degraded sea grass beds, and the need to monitor the evolution of water tables remain to be confirmed.

The best way to keep water is to let it circulate and infiltrate. The restoration of the ecological continuity of watercourses must be defended. The major challenge is to protect the resource and access to drinking water, the only use to be prioritised in the law. All other uses must be reconciled on the basis of reliable scientific knowledge.

To be protected, ecosystems must be managed in a balanced way. The Water Conferences established “nature-based solutions” as major tools for protection and restoration.

The signatories of this forum, led by Frédérique Tuffnell MP and Jean Launay President, represent a force for anticipation and action towards new solutions

The President of the Republic has announced an increase in France’s financial commitments to the world’s climate. Water and climate are intimately linked. But while the climate issue is global, the water issue is eminently local. One third of the six billion euros of annual French financial commitments will be devoted to measures to reduce the vulnerability of territories. While local authorities must strengthen the sound management of their water withdrawals and fight against leaks in their drinking water networks, they must also include in their “climate plans” measures to make them more resilient to floods, rainfall and exceptional droughts, including the reuse of treated wastewater.

Our group of signatories, like Jean Jouzel, strongly affirms the need for coherence between the future “Climate and Resilience” law and the Schémas Directeurs d’Aménagement et de Gestion des Eaux (SDAGE). These SDAGEs, which are currently being revised, must integrate the climate prescriptions. Their ambition and means must be urgently enhanced.

We also suggest revisiting the 15-year-old National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change, reaffirming the direction taken by the two Climate Action Plans (PNACC) of 2011 and 2018, and giving it a legislative character, as the Law on Energy Transition for Green Growth (LTECV) did for the National Low Carbon Strategy. We would like to see an independent monitoring mechanism for this strategy, as was done with the creation of the High Council for the Climate.

Finally, in line with the 2018-2019 Water Conferences, we call on the government to hold a Water General Assembly to collectively develop a strategy for sustainable water management integrated into the various public policies.

Tribune signed by:

Jean JOUZEL, membre du GIECFrédérique TUFFNELL, Députée de Charente-MaritimeJean LAUNAY, président du Comité national de l’eau (CNE) et du Partenariat Français pour l’EauDr Philippe GOMBERT, BRGMRachid TEMAL, Sénateur du Val-d’OiseMartial SADDIER, Député de Haute-SavoieDr Patrick LACHASSAGNE, Comité Français d’HydrogéologieDr Eric SERVAT, IM2E-Institut Montpelliérain de l’Eau et de l’Environnement  Water players and scientists signatories:Jérôme BIGNON, Président de RAMSAR-FranceAlain BOINET, fondateur de Solidarités InternationalDavid COLON, Délégué permanent du Comité stratégique de la filière Eau et président d’Up2GreenSerge LEPELTIER, ancien Ministre de l’Écologie et du développement durableJean-Luc REDAUD, membre de l’Académie de l’eauCatherine THOUIN, Comité Français d’Hydrogéologie Members of Parliament:Delphine BAGARRY, Députée des Alpes de Haute-ProvenceErwan BALANANT, Député du FinistèreAnnie CHAPELIER, Députée du GardYolaine De COURSON, Députée de Côte-d’OrRonan DANTEC, Sénateur la Loire-AtlantiqueLoïc DOMBREVAL, Député des Alpes-MaritimesFrançoise DUMAS, Députée du GardFrédérique DUMAS, Députée des Hauts-de-SeinePaula FORTEZA, Députée des Français établis hors de FranceAlbane GAILLOT, Députée du Val-de-MarneM’jid El GUERRAB, Député des Français établis hors de FranceYannick HAURY, Député de Loire-AtlantiqueSandrine JOSSO, Députée de Loire-AtlantiqueHubert JULIEN-LAFERRIÈRE, Député du RhôneAnissa KHEDHER, Députée du RhôneJoël LABBÉ, Sénateur du MorbihanFrançois-Michel LAMBERT, Député des Bouches-du-RhôneSophie METTE, Députée de la GirondeMarjolaine MEYNIER-MILLEFERT, Députée de l’IsèreMatthieu ORPHELIN, Député du Maine-et-LoireBénédicte PÉTELLE, Députée des Hauts-de-SeineValérie PETIT, Députée du NordCécile RILHAC, Députée du Val-d’OiseMaina SAGE, Députée de Polynésie FrançaiseJennifer de TEMMERMAN, Députée du NordHuguette TIEGNA, Députée du LotMickaël VALLET, Sénateur de Charente-MaritimeMichèle de VAUCOULEURS, Députée des YvelinesCédric VILLANI, Député de l’Essonne

TAKING ACTION FOR WATER

From a one-day concern to an everyday concern!

Water scarcity, a global issue

Every 22 March, World Water Day alerts us to the growing pressure on water resources and the ecosystems that depend on them. According to the OECD, 40% of the world’s population will face water shortages by 2050 and, according to the Global Water Institute, 700 million people could be displaced by 2030 due to water shortages!

Ever more alarming forecasts for France in 2050

The DRIAS report by Météo France forecasts absolute record temperatures by 2050, with an increase in average summer temperatures of 6 degrees.

A decrease in groundwater recharge of 10 to 25% on average depending on the region will also affect surface water, with a 10 to 40% decrease in annual river flow. Earlier droughts are already reducing access to drinking water in a growing number of municipalities.

Without decisive action, chronic water scarcity will not be solved

According to the IPCC, the greatest effects of climate change are water-related: droughts, floods, rising sea levels, storms and cyclones, and the disappearance of wetlands. Still marked by the devastating floods in the Alpes-Maritimes, France is facing earlier, more severe and longer low-water periods and rainfall deficits that affect biodiversity, agriculture and the cooling efficiency of nuclear power plant reactors.

The decrease in the quantity of water available generates conflicts of use, to which is added the degradation of water quality.

The place of water in the Climate and Resilience Bill

Voted on first reading in the National Assembly, its examination will continue in the Senate. It represents a real opportunity.

Only Article 19 makes the link between water and climate by specifying the notion of “respect for natural balances” from paragraph 1 of Article L210-1 of the Environment Code. Thus, the protection of water and its sustainable management must respect natural balances: infiltration of water into the groundwater, protection of biodiversity, fight against pollution and the effects of climate change.

This article 19 does not call into question the plurality of uses or the “right to water”. It simply affirms as pre-existing the duty to protect water at its source.

Without prioritising the protection and restoration of environments, water users will have nothing left to share!

We welcome the amendments concerning the management strategy for underground water resources, the positioning of water as a common national heritage, and the compensation of waterproofed surfaces by imposing a minimum share of non-waterproofed surfaces in the PLU. Provisions for diagnostics and work programmes to improve the state of drinking water networks, the restoration of aquatic ecosystems such as peat bogs, riparian forests, mangroves or degraded sea grass beds, and the need to monitor the evolution of water tables remain to be confirmed.

The best way to keep water is to let it circulate and infiltrate. The restoration of the ecological continuity of watercourses must be defended. The major challenge is to protect the resource and access to drinking water, the only use to be prioritised in the law. All other uses must be reconciled on the basis of reliable scientific knowledge.

To be protected, ecosystems must be managed in a balanced way. The Water Conferences established “nature-based solutions” as major tools for protection and restoration.

The signatories of this forum, led by Frédérique Tuffnell MP and Jean Launay President, represent a force for anticipation and action towards new solutions

The President of the Republic has announced an increase in France’s financial commitments to the world’s climate. Water and climate are intimately linked. But while the climate issue is global, the water issue is eminently local. One third of the six billion euros of annual French financial commitments will be devoted to measures to reduce the vulnerability of territories. While local authorities must strengthen the sound management of their water withdrawals and fight against leaks in their drinking water networks, they must also include in their “climate plans” measures to make them more resilient to floods, rainfall and exceptional droughts, including the reuse of treated wastewater.

Our group of signatories, like Jean Jouzel, strongly affirms the need for coherence between the future “Climate and Resilience” law and the Schémas Directeurs d’Aménagement et de Gestion des Eaux (SDAGE). These SDAGEs, which are currently being revised, must integrate the climate prescriptions. Their ambition and means must be urgently enhanced.

We also suggest revisiting the 15-year-old National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change, reaffirming the direction taken by the two Climate Action Plans (PNACC) of 2011 and 2018, and giving it a legislative character, as the Law on Energy Transition for Green Growth (LTECV) did for the National Low Carbon Strategy. We would like to see an independent monitoring mechanism for this strategy, as was done with the creation of the High Council for the Climate.

Finally, in line with the 2018-2019 Water Conferences, we call on the government to hold a Water General Assembly to collectively develop a strategy for sustainable water management integrated into the various public policies.

Tribune signed by:

Jean JOUZEL, membre du GIECFrédérique TUFFNELL, Députée de Charente-MaritimeJean LAUNAY, président du Comité national de l’eau (CNE) et du Partenariat Français pour l’EauDr Philippe GOMBERT, BRGMRachid TEMAL, Sénateur du Val-d’OiseMartial SADDIER, Député de Haute-SavoieDr Patrick LACHASSAGNE, Comité Français d’HydrogéologieDr Eric SERVAT, IM2E-Institut Montpelliérain de l’Eau et de l’Environnement  Water players and scientists signatories:Jérôme BIGNON, Président de RAMSAR-FranceAlain BOINET, fondateur de Solidarités InternationalDavid COLON, Délégué permanent du Comité stratégique de la filière Eau et président d’Up2GreenSerge LEPELTIER, ancien Ministre de l’Écologie et du développement durableJean-Luc REDAUD, membre de l’Académie de l’eauCatherine THOUIN, Comité Français d’Hydrogéologie Members of Parliament:Delphine BAGARRY, Députée des Alpes de Haute-ProvenceErwan BALANANT, Député du FinistèreAnnie CHAPELIER, Députée du GardYolaine De COURSON, Députée de Côte-d’OrRonan DANTEC, Sénateur la Loire-AtlantiqueLoïc DOMBREVAL, Député des Alpes-MaritimesFrançoise DUMAS, Députée du GardFrédérique DUMAS, Députée des Hauts-de-SeinePaula FORTEZA, Députée des Français établis hors de FranceAlbane GAILLOT, Députée du Val-de-MarneM’jid El GUERRAB, Député des Français établis hors de FranceYannick HAURY, Député de Loire-AtlantiqueSandrine JOSSO, Députée de Loire-AtlantiqueHubert JULIEN-LAFERRIÈRE, Député du RhôneAnissa KHEDHER, Députée du RhôneJoël LABBÉ, Sénateur du MorbihanFrançois-Michel LAMBERT, Député des Bouches-du-RhôneSophie METTE, Députée de la GirondeMarjolaine MEYNIER-MILLEFERT, Députée de l’IsèreMatthieu ORPHELIN, Député du Maine-et-LoireBénédicte PÉTELLE, Députée des Hauts-de-SeineValérie PETIT, Députée du NordCécile RILHAC, Députée du Val-d’OiseMaina SAGE, Députée de Polynésie FrançaiseJennifer de TEMMERMAN, Députée du NordHuguette TIEGNA, Députée du LotMickaël VALLET, Sénateur de Charente-MaritimeMichèle de VAUCOULEURS, Députée des YvelinesCédric VILLANI, Député de l’Essonne

Monday 10 May
SEMINAR DOMINICAN REPUBLIC / FRANCE
10H00-11H30 – Local time
16h00 – 17h30 – France time

PROGRAMME

Opening speech by the Rector of UNAPEC and the French Ambassador

Presentation of the “France Water Team” Competitiveness Cluster by Anne RIBAYROL-FLESCH, President of “France Water Team 

Synergies between research laboratories, by Eric SERVAT, Director of the UNESCO World Water Research Centre (International Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Water Systems Dynamics – ICIREWARD)

Employability, creation of Start’Up, by the heads of Start’Up/SME companies providing international solutions:

1-Européenne des traitements des eaux – Stéphane MORALES

2-LYSA (management of water and sanitation services in the context of small towns and outlying districts, present in HAITI) – François-Marie PERROT DE CHAMP

3-MASCARA (desalination by solar energy) – Maxime THERRILLION

4-NBC (Franco-Dominican company) – Nicolas BREHM

Training courses for water engineers within the framework of the Competitiveness Clusters

Training of Engineers/Researchers: Specialised Master’s degree in water for all 

Jean-Antoine FABY, Director of the “AgroParisTech -SUEZ” Chair

Training of water and environment engineers

Sandra NICOLLE, Head of the International Relations Department of the National School of Water and Environmental Engineering in Strasbourg  

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6793946319112192000

The Pandemic Proved That Our Toilets Are Crap

The core technologies for sewage systems were developed over a hundred years ago. It’s time to get better, healthier updates in the pipeline.

From Chelsea Wald is an award-winning science writer who has reported on toilets since 2013; her first book Pipe Dreams is out now.

……A lot of the country seemed surprised by this seemingly odd turn of events—but I wasn’t. As a science and environmental journalist who writes about sanitation, I know that nearly every human drama comes with a toilet aspect, whether we talk about it or not. Urinating and defecating are everyday human functions, and health and economic crises such as the pandemic often throw into stark relief the significance of having access to a clean and safe place to relieve ourselves. Times like these can also betray the vulnerabilities in our toilets, and more importantly, reveal how they need to change in order to help us better cope with the problems of the future …..

…… It’s not only wastewater infrastructure that’s aging or at risk; the sanitation workforce is too. In the United States, the sector is facing a wave of retirements sometimes dubbed the “silver tsunami.” As the pandemic began, a few wastewater utilities, afraid of losing their critical, hard-to-replace older workers to illness or worse, locked down their facilities with the workers inside for weeklong shifts, so that the virus couldn’t enter. In India, sewer cleaners, who often come from a highly stigmatized caste, petitioned the government for simple personal protective equipment so that they could keep doing their critical jobs…….

How young water professionals view the future of WASH

………. Universal access to water and sanitation still presents many challenges, especially in middle- and low-income countries

Having lived in Afghanistan and Canada, Farokh compared her experience in both countries, saying that nowadays many people in the world still face sanitation and hygiene problems, especially in low- and middle-income counties. She believes that access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene is a human right and thinks that more needs to be done to widen access. Farokh believes that services tailored around the needs of women and children must be prioritised, since they are the most vulnerable group affected by WASH challenges.

Chataigne talked about the situation of WASH in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya. Despite governments making big efforts to supply clean water, many people still cannot access enough clean water, and water-borne disease is a frequent issue which happens especially in rural areas. Ana also warned that failing to provide safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services contributes to spreading diseases. She highlighted that WASH is the most important human right and access to clean water should be guaranteed by the regulation of public services.

Jacob talked about the situation of WASH in Ghana, where safe drinking water is often associated with exorbitant costs for a low-income country. He believes that it is very regrettable that due to insufficient financial resources, access to clean water is scarcely granted or not granted at all. Political action, and more financial resources are required to step up efforts in the provision of safe drinking water for all, everywhere.

Innovative technologies for WASH

The incorporation of new technologies is the ideal solution for many WASH issues, however finances remain the biggest problem. Jacob shared his experience on introducing a micro-flush toilet water system in his community, …….