DESAFIO

DEMOCRATISATION OF WATER AND SANITATION GOVERNANCE BY MEANS OF SOCIO-TECHNICAL INNOVATION

 Partecipanti

Mappa

 Word cloud

Esplora la "nuvola delle parole (Word Cloud) per avere un'idea di massima del progetto.

 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'DESAFIO means “challenge” in both Portuguese and Spanish. The guiding concept of our proposal is to make a contribution towards tackling what is arguably one of the major challenges facing Brazil and Latin American countries in the 21st century: eradicating structural social inequality in the access to essential water and sanitation services. The overarching objective of our proposal is assessing existing experiences and developing new strategies that bring about sustainable, appropriate, and innovative socio-technical solutions to foster economic and social development through social transformation in vulnerable communities, particularly with reference to access to safe water supply and sanitation in urban, peri-urban, and rural areas of South America, with a particular emphasis on Brazil. These strategies will be developed through research and networking that actively engages beneficiary communities, practitioners, local authorities, and other relevant actors in their planning, design, assessment, implementation, monitoring, validation, and diffusion. Our transdisciplinary approach is predicated on a close interaction with non-academic actors in the production and validation of knowledge, among other things to underpin policy and behavioural transformations. We have selected a number of case studies that will cover a range of situations and characteristics, from informal settlements in the urban periphery of world megacities (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and in peri-urban areas of provincial capitals (Cali, Colombia), favelas located in the heart of booming mid-range urban centres (Recife, Brazil), to small rural villages (Mondomo, Colombia) and communities in semi-arid areas (Ceará and Minas Gerais, Brazil and Santa Fe, Argentina). We will endeavour to draw lessons and develop recommendations that are applicable to other socio-cultural and economic contexts across the developing world.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Water and sanitation services (WSSs) are key to economic and social development. Although many improvements have been realised in Brazil and other Latin American countries in the last decade, many of these bypass the poor and the quality of the services is often unreliable.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The EU-funded http://desafioglobal.org/ (DESAFIO) (Democratisation of water and sanitation governance by means of socio-technical innovation) project contributes to tackling structural social inequalities and injustices plaguing access to these services. The goal is to support social transformation regarding access to safe water supply and sanitation in the region's urban, peri-urban and rural areas.

DESAFIO has adopted an interdisciplinary approach and targets three areas where improvements are needed: interdisciplinary coordination between social, natural and technical disciplines, and the involvement of citizen-users and other actors in research; improved inter-sector collaboration at different levels and areas of government; and democratic politics rather than short-term market and partisan interests in the running of WSSs.

Researchers have studied seven existing cases of socio-technical innovations identified in Brazil (five) and Colombia (two), and the development and implementation of three new interventions DESAFIO carried out in Argentina (one) and Brazil (two). A short description of all 10 case studies is available on the project website, and a Preliminary Report has been produced for each case.

In general, substantial progress has been made over the first 18 months of the project's mandate. This relates to extensive research, including participatory activities with local communities, civil society organisations, and public sector institutions, regular reports, a quarterly newsletter, an updated multimedia gallery and various publications, a Working Papers Series, policy briefs, and presentation of preliminary results in national and international events.

A bottom-up approach is needed to support the implementation of socio-technical innovations and thus diminish major disparities in access to safe drinking water among different income groups and between urban and rural areas. Strategies are being developed through research and networking, actively engaging beneficiary communities, practitioners, local authorities and relevant actors.

Project work will continue with a comparative analysis of the 10 cases under study, producing policy recommendations and instruments for development and assessment of socio-technical innovations, and identifying strategic areas for further research. DESAFIO is also implementing its Strategic Engagement and Dissemination Plan, developed at the start of the project.

DESAFIO is slated to have major positive impact on the communities the team is working with. The outcomes will contribute to their empowerment and enhance their capacity to take part in their countries' ongoing processes of democratisation.