Water use options for regional development : potentials of new water technologies in Central Northern Namibia

The CuveWaters project relates the alignment and implementation of innovative water technologies to an Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the Cuvelai-Etosha-Basin, which lies in Central Northern Namibia. The aim here is to improve inhabitants’ living conditions by means of appropriate technical schemes and measures – particularly with a view to enhancing water supply and basic sanitation (incl. waste water disposal). A focal part of Cuve-Waters concerns the re-use of water, efficient use of water and utilisation of different water qualities for different purposes (multi-resource mix). With respect to urban conditions and the problems of adequate supply and sanitation, the prospect of a semi-decentralised infrastructure system is under investigation, a concept which includes rainwater utilisation as well as waste water collection and treatment. One major option for such systems, in which waste water is considered a valuable resource, is a washing house combining effective waste water collection (vacuum sewer) with high-tech separation techniques (generation of energy, nutrients and waste water processing). Cleaned waste water – free of bacteria, viruses or pathogens – and fertiliser from an anaerobic waste water treatment plant can be re-used for irrigation in small scale agriculture to enhance food security and/or generate alternative income through the marketing of fresh produce. Energy, in the form of biogas, can be used for cooking or lighting. On the rural sites of the study area, adequate water supply poses a major challenge, for which three technology options are investigated here: rainwater harvesting, solar-coupled desalination of brackish groundwater, and managed aquifer recharge. Suitable technology options are selected for different sites in a participatory process (cf. CuveWaters Project 2008a, CuveWaters Project 2008b). Thus, general aims of the project in terms of providing regional economic impetus and improving livelihoods are: - to link integrated water resources management to land issues, develop the technology needed to build capacity, and achieve better governance; - to bring together supply- and demand-driven approaches in developing the infrastructure; - to consider water as related to other resources (land, energy, nutrients) and other fields of sustainability such as poverty reduction, equality and regional development. From these project objectives arise the key questions driving the surveys documented in this paper: what impetus for regional development can be expected from the implementation of technological options selected for the CuveWaters project? What constraints and obstacles need to be considered here, particularly in terms of incorporating the technologies into strategies of IWRM? What conclusions can be drawn when it comes to the supervision of implementation (training, capacity building, governance)? After an introduction the economic and social situation in the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin along with the conditions for urban agriculture is outlined. This is followed by the discussion of the potentials for water-related activities in the region, taking into account additional water uses and the operation and development of infrastructures, whilst investigating the potentials of urban agriculture for Central Northern Namibia. Finally, these potentials are summarized and conclusions pertaining to flanking measures for technical implementation are drawn

Water use options for regional development. Potentials of new water technologies in Central Northern Namibia

The CuveWaters project relates the alignment and implementation of innovative water technologies to an Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the Cuvelai-Etosha-Basin, which lies in Central Northern Namibia. The aim here is to improve inhabitants’ living conditions by means of appropriate technical schemes and measures – particularly with a view to enhancing water supply and basic sanitation (incl. waste water disposal). A focal part of Cuve-Waters concerns the re-use of water, efficient use of water and utilisation of different water qualities for different purposes (multi-resource mix). With respect to urban conditions and the problems of adequate supply and sanitation, the prospect of a semi-decentralised infrastructure system is under investigation, a concept which includes rainwater utilisation as well as waste water collection and treatment. One major option for such systems, in which waste water is considered a valuable resource, is a washing house combining effective waste water collection (vacuum sewer) with high-tech separation techniques (generation of energy, nutrients and waste water processing). Cleaned waste water – free of bacteria, viruses or pathogens – and fertiliser from an anaerobic waste water treatment plant can be re-used for irrigation in small scale agriculture to enhance food security and/or generate alternative income through the marketing of fresh produce. Energy, in the form of biogas, can be used for cooking or lighting. On the rural sites of the study area, adequate water supply poses a major challenge, for which three technology options are investigated here: rainwater harvesting, solar-coupled desalination of brackish groundwater, and managed aquifer recharge. Suitable technology options are selected for different sites in a participatory process (cf. CuveWaters Project 2008a, CuveWaters Project 2008b). Thus, general aims of the project in terms of providing regional economic impetus and improving livelihoods are: - to link integrated water resources management to land issues, develop the technology needed to build capacity, and achieve better governance; - to bring together supply- and demand-driven approaches in developing the infrastructure; - to consider water as related to other resources (land, energy, nutrients) and other fields of sustainability such as poverty reduction, equality and regional development. From these project objectives arise the key questions driving the surveys documented in this paper: what impetus for regional development can be expected from the implementation of technological options selected for the CuveWaters project? What constraints and obstacles need to be considered here, particularly in terms of incorporating the technologies into strategies of IWRM? What conclusions can be drawn when it comes to the supervision of implementation (training, capacity building, governance)? After an introduction the economic and social situation in the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin along with the conditions for urban agriculture is outlined. This is followed by the discussion of the potentials for water-related activities in the region, taking into account additional water uses and the operation and development of infrastructures, whilst investigating the potentials of urban agriculture for Central Northern Namibia. Finally, these potentials are summarized and conclusions pertaining to flanking measures for technical implementation are drawn.water use; urban gardening; poverty reduction; development; Integrated Water Resources Management; Namibia; Africa

Foundations and the Ambiguity of Success and Failure : A Case Collection

The Hertie School releases its findings from an international research project "Foundation Successes and Failures: Implications for Policy and Management – Developing a Case studies Repertoire". Professor Helmut K. Anheier led the research project, which was made possible by the Robert Bosch Foundation. The project looks at 20 case studies of philanthropic foundations from a range of fields in seven countries including Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. The primary intended purpose is to be used by foundation boards, foundation staff training and executive education. The vignettes may also serve teaching purposes at university master level programs, particularly in public policy and business schools. For example, several will become teaching cases at the Harvard Business School.One major conclusion based on the collection of case studies is that 'success' and 'failure' are not as clear cut as it would appear. Any claims of failure or success should be approached with caution, and there are no simple solutions for high impact results or maximized philanthropic contributions. Despite ambiguity, planning and performance measures are better than none at all. A fuller analysis will be forthcoming as a book in 2017 published by Helmut K. Anheier and Diana Leat (London: Routledge)

Urban food strategies in Central and Eastern Europe: what's specific and what's at stake?

Integrating a larger set of instruments into Rural Development Programmes implied an increasing focus on monitoring and evaluation. Against the highly diversified experience with regard to implementation of policy instruments the Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework has been set up by the EU Commission as a strategic and streamlined method of evaluating programmes’ impacts. Its indicator-based approach mainly reflects the concept of a linear, measure-based intervention logic that falls short of the true nature of RDP operation and impact capacity on rural changes. Besides the different phases of the policy process, i.e. policy design, delivery and evaluation, the regional context with its specific set of challenges and opportunities seems critical to the understanding and improvement of programme performance. In particular the role of local actors can hardly be grasped by quantitative indicators alone, but has to be addressed by assessing processes of social innovation. This shift in the evaluation focus underpins the need to take account of regional implementation specificities and processes of social innovation as decisive elements for programme performance.

Workers’ Voices: The situation of women in the Eastern European and Turkish garment industries

05_Workers_Voices.pdf: 256 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Water User Associations (WUAs) in Kyrgyzstan : A Case Study on Institutional Reform in Local Irrigation Management

This article aims to give an overview over the reform of local irrigation management by its transfer to Water User Associations and to identify obstacles for its success. Its main focus are institutional aspects of the reform and not technical issues. Institutions are understood as formal as well as informal rules - societal accepted ways of behavior, which can be laws, traditions, norms and values. A subtype of institutions are organizations as the ones that enforce those rules but are also shaped by these. 3 The existing institutions are still active Soviet ones as well as pre-Soviet and post-Soviet norms and rules that emerged after the decline of the binding power of the Soviet system. Water management is nested into certain cultural norms of behavior that limit the compliance to rules that are not perceived as legitimately. The study therewith combines rationalistic and constructivist approaches of NeoInstitutionalism by analyzing incentives influencing actors? choices but also by assessing the role cultural and societal norms and values play in determining appropriate choices. --

Place-Based Innovation Ecosystems: Espoo Innovation Garden and Aalto University (Finland)

The present case study pursues to identify key success factors in Espoo innovation ecosystem, with a particular attention to the role of Aalto University, with a view to inform policies aimed at supporting the strengthening and emergence of existing and new place-based innovation ecosystems in other EU regions and cities, as well as of entrepreneurial universities. It starts by defining what a place-based innovation ecosystem is intended to be, and identifies a conceptual framework that can operationalise the study of concrete cases. The study continues with a presentation of the main local actors and pre-existing enabling factors, progressively moves to the catalysers that have made this innovation garden flourish (notably the reforms that enabled the emergence of Aalto University with its particular governance model) and finally analyses its Quadruple Helix collaboration model and the way the whole ecosystem is orchestrated.JRC.B.3-Territorial Developmen

Water governance in the Kyrgyz agricultural sector: on its way to integrated water resource management?

"As a reaction to growing water scarcity worldwide, sustainable water allocation and use, and in particular the role of agriculture as a major water user, have become important topics in the development discourse. In recent years Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) emerged as an answer to many water management problems. IWRM approaches water management from a holistic perspective and encompasses, among others, the integration of economic, ecological and social aspects. Is implementation of such a holistic approach feasible in developing countries and countries in transition or does it rather overburden them? First experiences have been made with the implementation of IWRM in several developing and transition countries. The aim of this study is to provide some answers to the question of what has been achieved so far. Based on an analysis of Kyrgyz water governance, the study assesses the status quo as well as the potentials for and obstacles to the realization of the normative framework of IWRM in a transition country. Comparing today's institutional framework of water management with this normative concept, it reveals the most significant gaps between norm and reality, but also identifies progress towards IWRM. Recommendations on how to further develop Kyrgyz water governance towards IWRM are provided." (author's abstract

Comparative report on historic examples and similar recent social innovations in an early stage

CrESSI Deliverable 5.