ASCI | ADBI

About the Course
Course Objective & Outcomes
Course Coverage
Pedagogy
Learning Assessment

About the Course

Safe sanitation for all is essential for improving public health, providing a clean environment, and breaking the cycle of disease. Countries in South Asia are experiencing rapid urbanization with increasing numbers of people living in slums and growing urban sanitation challenges. Lack of proper sanitation has been a long-running development issue which remains stubbornly difficult to resolve in many places.

India has made considerable progress in providing access to toilets in households and at public places under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). However, sanitation entails more than just building toilets. It is a system that addresses human excreta from generation to its treatment and use. While SBM has promoted on-site sanitation technology options such as pit latrines and septic tanks. the management of faecal sludge resulting from these onsite technologies remains grossly neglected. The design and quality of on-site toilets is also sub-optimal. As a result, cities in India are currently facing a large burden of untreated faecal waste entering the environment causing large public health and environmental risks. The situation is similar in other South Asian cities.

Faecal sludge and septage management (FSSM) includes safe management of sanitation across the sanitation value chain covering safe containment, collection, transport, treatment, and reuse of waste. Furthermore, city-wide inclusive sanitation (CWIS) looks to shift the urban sanitation paradigm and prioritizes equity, public and environmental health and co-existence of a range of solutions - onsite/non-sewered and sewered, centralized or decentralized - tailored to the requirements of the cities. CWIS means focusing on service provision and its enabling environment, and not on building infrastructure alone. While national, state and city governments are prioritizing FSSM and CWIS, they are faced with shortage of knowledgeable and skilled human resources to scientifically plan, implement, and monitor CWIS activities for bringing environment and health benefits to all

This ASCI-ADBI course aims to develop skilled urban professionals equipped with a practical and comprehensive understanding of CWIS by amalgamating global knowledge and best practices with on-field implementation experiences in South Asia. It provides a step by step approach for safe, inclusive, and sustainable management of sanitation in South Asian cities.

Launched in 2020, the course received immense response from the government institutions and other private organizations from across south Asia and beyond. The course was offered for 4 batches till date with a duration of 8-10 weeks and was successful in building 360 practicing change champions in CWIS from across the globe.

Course Objective & Outcomes

The main objective of the course is to equip urban practitioners with knowledge and skills to contribute to the practice and research in city-wide inclusive sanitation. It aims to build a cadre of sanitation professionals to take a leadership role in the sector.

At the completion of the course, participants would be able to:

Evaluate the complexity of urban sanitation and its impact on health, the environment, people, and economy
Critically examine policy and regulatory frameworks for achieving universal, pro-poor, and gender inclusive sanitation in urban areas, with a focus on non-sewered/faecal sludge and septage management
Describe the principles of city-wide inclusive sanitation and pathways for implementation
Demonstrate knowledge of faecal sludge and septage management technologies across the sanitation value chain
Apply tools and frameworks for sustainable sanitation planning, funding, implementation, and monitoring
Create a practical action plan for city-wide inclusive sanitation in urban areas of varying size and nature
Ideate and formalize innovations and social enterprises to support city-wide inclusive sanitation implementation at scale

Course Coverage

The course will be delivered over a period of 10 weeks, comprising 13 modules as below:

Module 1

Overview of Urban Sanitation and Introduction to CWIS

Module 2

City-Wide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) – Principles and Best Practices.

Module 3

Environmental standards and strategies for compliance

Module 4

Integrating Gender perspective in Sustainable Sanitation

Module 5

Frameworks and Tools for Sanitation Planning

Module 6

Designing Onsite Sanitation Systems- Containment

Module 7

Designing Onsite Sanitation Systems- Emptying & Transportation

Module 8

Design and Selection of Processing and Treatment Technologies ; Reuse and Recycle of Water and Biosolids.

Module 9

Workshop on Innovations & Sanitation Entrepreneurship.

Module 10

Art and Science of affecting Sanitation Behaviours

Module 11

Protocols for Monitoring, evaluating and benchmarking to promote learning

Module 12

Strategic Approaches and Sources for Financing FSSM including PPP.

Module 13

Sustaining CWIS – Institutional mechanism and accountability measures, sanitation service delivery plan, climate resilient planning & political will.

Sanitation Tour (Optional)

3-day exposure visit to best practices in Telangana State

Pedagogy

The course would be delivered using a combination of pedagogical approaches comprising:

a) Self-study of course materials requiring approximately 2-3 hours per week

The course materials comprise policy notes, best practice videos, handbooks, and a slide deck for every module. Weblinks to other relevant literature are provided for additional reading.

b) Experience sharing and direct interaction series for 2 hours duration every week

The participants would benefit from listening to lectures and panel discussions by experts on topics of global relevance every week, usually on Wednesday and Saturday. A range of technology tools (mentimeter, slido etc) were used to make the sessions participative.

c) Social innovations Workshops

The participants would learn about establishing a social business for FSSM through a unique innovation education program started in 2009 at The University of Tokyo by i.school. The i.school's innovation workshop methodology is a useful skill for capacity building and supporting the ongoing initiatives of social issue problem solving. It mainly used analogical thinking and cognitive techniques to develop the right mindset and skillset. A workshop of 3-hour duration would be conducted with a focus on learning the process of ideating and implementing innovative solutions for social issues with a human-centered approach. The online workshop will be conducted on Zoom using a digital tool called APISNOTE developed by i.school.

d) Discussion forums

An online forum will be kept active for the entire duration of the course to facilitate detailed discussions, doubts clarification, and interaction between participants and with the course instructors. Further, topical discussion forums could be created by the participants for detailed exchanges on specific topics of interest. Topics could range from technology to softer aspects such as leadership skills, time management, team building, stakeholder management, media management, negotiations etc.

e) Group interactions

Breakout rooms would be made available for small group interactions on specific areas of interest. These may be guided by the course coordinator or can be managed completely by the participants. Use of breakout rooms is strongly recommended for discussing the required readings prior to online sessions.

f) Case study development

Each participant would develop a real-life case study on any aspect of CWIS as per the guidelines provided. Participants would seek feedback from peers and course directors to refine the case study. Selected case studies would be published and disseminated widely to global audience.

g) Peer learning sessions

Each participant will share the sanitation status, interventions used in achieving City Wide Inclusive Sanitation, short term and medium goals for the city to become CWIS city. This will be guided by the course coordinator to encourage them critically achieve and sustain the interventions implemented in those cities

h) Video based learning and online tools

Video based learning and online tools For interactive learning, various online tools like menti, voliz, slido, thematic discussion rooms will be used.

i) Three-Day Study tour (Optional)

Learning from the best practices is critical for urban practitioners and city professionals. The study tour aims to provide a deeper understanding of CWIS through field visits, demonstrations, and interactions with key stakeholders. The field visits to the cities of Warangal, Hyderabad, and Boduppal will expose the participants to some of the path-breaking CWIS interventions by the Government of Telangana implemented with technical support from ASCI.

The study tour will equip the participants with a practical and comprehensive understanding of CWIS principles being implemented in the field and help in the replication of the interventions in their contexts. The tentative agenda of the three-day tour is as below:

Day 1 - 9.30 to 18.30

Welcome and introductions
Visit to FSTPs at Uppal and Boduppal
Visit to co-treatment STP and decentralised STP at Hyderabad
Interactions with officials of Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board
Interactions with members of the FSSM unit in HMWSSB

Day 2 - 6.30 to 18.30

Visit to Public Sanitation Systems – Public toilets, She toilets, Mobile toilets in Warangal
Visit to decentralised used water treatment units (Johkasou in a school & Soil Bio-Technology at a hospital)
Visit to three FSTPs in Warangal (Based on Pyrolysis, Geobag, Thermal)
Interaction with sanitation workers
Interactions with members of the Environment Sanitation Department
Interactions with city administrative and political leadership

Day 3 - 9.00 to 13.30

Interactions with the members of the state FSSM unit and with the Commissioner & Directorate of Municipal administration to understand the state’s vision for Urban sanitation, key interventions and ICT based monitoring systems
Debrief and discussion on next steps / action plan

Learning Assessment

The course uses a continuous learning assessment process to elicit maximum involvement by the participants. The components of assessment are as below: