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Bild: NASAmehr

Swiss Consortium for Education and Research in Water Sanitation and Hygiene

Background

The overarching goal of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable development on poverty reduction cannot be achieved unless all dimensions of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are addressed. However, most curricula in engineering tend to focus on large-scale water and wastewater treatment, and do not take decentralized small-scale technologies and concepts for the provision of basic WASH into account. Non-technical elements, i.e. enabling environmental, social, financial and business aspects of water and sanitation are also not dealt with. Questions of equality and non-discrimination as well as more inclusive and participatory governance hardly appear in university and school programs, hence, schoolchildren are seldom taught the basics of practical hygiene in an applicable way. In Switzerland, there are several existing courses in the WASH sector with both Swiss and foreign students. The Consortium, organized by most relevant Swiss academic institutions, is supported by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation through Swissuniversities until 2020.

Objective

The goal of this project is to foster knowledge transfer and joint research activities in WASH, through a multi-stakeholder partnership between Swiss institutions with expertise in engineering, education and public health and African academic institutions.

Expected Benefits

  • In target country: Sustainable access to water and sanitation by strengthening educational approaches and capacities in WASH across different groups making use of Swiss teaching and research expertise in novel transboundary practice-oriented partnerships.
  • In Switzerland: The project represents an unprecedented collaboration of different types/categories of academic institutions within the Swiss Dual System of education and research. In fostering new academic ties among Swiss academic institutes, the project opens up new collaborative avenues and exchange of expertise within Switzerland and across traditional universities and other higher education institutions such as universities of applied sciences and higher universities of teachers’ education.

Contact Information

Claudio Valsangiacomo, , phone: +41 58 666 62 62

Centre for Development and Cooperation, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI)

Education and Research in Water Sanitation and Hygiene
Education and Research in Water Sanitation and Hygiene

Research Partners: Eawag-Sandec, UNIBAS-Swiss TPH, UNINE, FHNW, FHO, PHZG. Jimma University, Ethiopia; Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Abijan, Ivory Coast.

Cost: CHF 4 Mio

Duration: 4 years