by André

We are very happy to inform you that we have a new capacity building and advocacy project together with AQUASHARE. Read all below.
Background
In this new project we will build up on the original NWO-WOTRO project for which this website was created. This new project is is funded by NWO’s new program entitled Connecting Worlds of Knowledge program. The fundamental objective is to showcase the role that Integrated urban water management approaches can play in the context of an Urbanizing Delta, using Maputo as case-study, and what are the factors that limit the adoption of these approaches in Mozambique.

What is Integrated Urban Water Management?

The Global Water Partnership states that:

Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) calls for the alignment of urban development and basin management to achieve sustainable economic, social, and environmental goals. It brings together water supply, sanitation, storm- and waste-water management and integrates these with land use planning and economic development. An IUWM approach integrates planning for the water sector with other urban sectors, such as land, housing, energy, and transport to avoid fragmentation and duplication in policy- and decision-making. Cross-sector relationships are strengthened through a common working culture, collective goals and benefits are better articulated, and differences in power and resources can be negotiated. It includes the urban informal sector and marginalised communities.

As added value for IUWM management, the same authors state that:

• (…) Sustainable urban development means focusing on the relationships between water, energy, and land use, and diversifying sources of water to assure reliable supply.
• IUWM a framework for planning, designing, and managing urban water systems. (…)
• IUWM (…)  brings together fresh water, waste water, storm water, and solid waste, and enables better management of water quantity and quality.
• IUWM calls for aligning urban development with basin management to ensure sustainable economic, social, and environmental relations along the urban-rural continuum.
• (…)

Approach

From what we wrote above it’s clear that water reclamation, which makes the bridge between water supply and sanitation services, is part of IUWM. Therefore, the main objective of this project is to, based on this knowledge created around water reuse and making use of TU Delft’s expertise in water, sanitation and the urban water cycle, create a forum to discuss how IUWM planning approaches, in particular water reclamation, can be implemented in the existing legislation, policies and urban sanitation projects in Maputo. In other words, this will mainly be a capacity building and advocacy project. The activities will be led and hosted by the largest Mozambican network of water and sanitation professionals, AQUASHARE, will target local experts from the water and sanitation sector and will include:

• Baseline survey to gauge initial acceptance of IUWM and identification of major challenges to overcome towards the implementation of IUWM. This survey assumes that a large part of the respondents are not fully familiar with IUWM approaches, what is their added value and what they entail in social, technological and financial aspects.
• Webinars on the topic of IUWM, including:
  • Introduction and general concepts. This webinar will include presentations from Luuk Rietved and André Arsénio covering the main aspects of IUWM, the urban water cycle and the role that these solutions can play in the context of an urbanizing Maputo.
  • Technical aspects of water reclamation, in particular water for industries and water for irrigation. This webinar will include presentations from Celma Niquice and Noor Gulamussen where both researchers will present their projects on water reclamation in the city of Maputo; other participants, possibly TU Delft experts, will also be invited.
  • Social aspects of water reclamation, in particular policy and regulation. This webinar will be led by Adriano Biza and Natalia Tejada and will look into regulation and policy measures needed to implement IUWM approaches in Mozambique and focus on the Infulene to depict the inter-connection between water supply, sanitation and food product in the city. Regional experts in this topic will also be invited to participate in the webinar.
  • Managed aquifer recharge (MAR), in particular technical and economic aspects. The main speakers in this webinar are not yet defined but the main focus will be to present MAR as a solution related to rainwater harvesting, which is frequently presented, by the local water sector, as an interesting solution for the long term.
  • Case-studies, with a focus in water reclamation projects in (sub-Saharan) Africa. This final webinar will bring all topics together with a series of webinars covering water reclamation projects and IUWM solutions from across the continent.
• One-one-one interviews with professionals of the Mozambican water and sanitation sector with participants of the webinars, which will render detailed opinions on the challenges and opportunities associated with IUWM in the context of Maputo and Mozambique. These professionals will be able to convey which hurdles have to be faced in order to put forward a IUWM agenda for the city of Maputo in the medium-term
• End-line survey. This survey will follow up on the initial one and will aim at gauging whether, after the webinars, there was a shift in acceptance of the solutions and whether the local experts do see IUWM as a valid option for the local water and sanitation sector.