Multi-criteria decision support for drought security

The recently completed Lower Hunter Water Plan identified a portfolio of drought response measures to ensure that the region does not run out of water under severe drought conditions. A multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) process was developed to guide the assessment of the drought response options against multiple criteria (both quantitative and qualitative), and for the assembly and analysis of drought response portfolios. The process guided stakeholders in considering a wide range of alternative supply and demand side options, and allowed for the transparent trade-off between options or portfolios of options. The MCDA process integrated the assessment of social, environmental and risk/resilience criteria with cost effectiveness analysis. The process also included the analysis of contextual uncertainties and risk to determine the flexibility of the options under different future situations. The outcome of this process revealed a portfolio of drought response options that best met the weighted critieria and satisfied the drought response objectives

City Sanitation planning through a political economy lens

© 2019 Water Alternatives Association. While citywide sanitation planning is perceived to be an enabler of coordinated improvements in sanitation services for developing countries, intended outcomes have often been elusive. In order to illustrate how political economy, chosen planning approaches, and ideas about change and development have acted as determinants of outcomes, this paper draws on three case study countries that took qualitatively different approaches to sanitation planning - Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. The analysis found that the assumptions informing the planning methods were often not valid, which then undermined the potential for successful implementation. Based on the analysis, the paper argues that urban sanitation planning and implementation in developing countries needs to be transformed to reduce the emphasis on comprehensiveness and instead emphasise flexibility, a learning orientation and strategically chosen incentives. This approach demands tighter cycles of planning and action, direct testing of assumptions, and an in-depth understanding of the local- and national-level political economy and the links between them. It requires innovation to be enabled, with funding mechanisms that focus on outcome rather than input. In this way it would be possible to shift away from the typical emphasis on prescriptive procedural planning steps and towards delivery of the much-needed improved sanitation outcomes

Closing the loop: A systems thinking led sustainable sanitation project in Australia

This paper will explain a research project being carried out in Sydney, Australia at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) highlighting the systems thinking principles and action research methodology being adopted in this project. UTS is set to participate in an Australia-first research project, led by the Institute of Sustainable Futures (ISF), exploring the use of innovative urine diverting toilets in an institutional setting. A UTS Challenge Grant (an internal grant scheme to promote innovative collaborative research) has been awarded to the project which will enable safe nutrient capture and reuse from urine diverting toilets installed on campus for a trial period. The Challenge Grant has some enthusiastic industry partners including the local water utility Sydney Water; the sanitaryware manufacturer CaromaDorf; the Nursery and Garden Industry Association; government partners (NSW Department of Health, and City of Sydney) and the UTS Facilities Management Unit. Researchers from the University of Western Sydney and University of New South Wales in Australia as well as Linkoping University in Sweden are collaborators in this research

Strengthening local governance arrangements for sanitation: case studies of small cities in Indonesia

Local governments in Indonesia have the primary responsibility for delivering sanitation (wastewater) services. However, in large part due to governance factors, local governments invest little in sanitation services and delivery of services is weak. This research adopted a participatory, case study approach to investigate governance and institutional arrangements for planning, budgeting and implementing sanitation services in small cities and towns in Sumatra, Indonesia. The research focused on the effectiveness of city/regency planning for sanitation, the effectiveness of pokja sanitasi (sanitation committees), the links between planning and investment, and local government roles and responsibilities. This paper presents the findings of three case studies. Barriers to effective delivery of sanitation services include: prescriptive local budgeting and approval systems; lack of local government ownership of assets; and policy, funding and technical arrangements that are biased against strategic delivery