On July 13th, SPCitI was invited to participate in the Interactive Learning Session on WASH and Urban Development & Design for WASH experts organized by the WASH Alliance International (WAI) in Amsterdam. The WAI is an international organization working towards granting universal and sustainable access to water and sanitation around the world. Through presentations and an active Q&A session, experts from different backgrounds were invited to exchange experiences and learn about innovative approaches, design solutions and techniques in the area of drinking water and sanitation. Invited participants included experts from Wereld Waternet, RUAF and WASTE.
SPCitI’s contribution, presented by Miranda, focused on the question ‘What type of infrastructure network model is suitable, taking into account the reality of urbanization & urban residents in cities in development?’. Miranda emphasized the importance of learning from the (physical, social and economic) context of the site, the impact of local uses, user experience and the challenges that come with urban diversity and the diversity in demand. SPcitI deals with this through a site-specific, multi-stakeholder participatory design process, on which Miranda elaborated by showing two examples of SPCitI projects in Brasil and Monrovia.