The how tough is WASH framework for assessing the climate resilience of water and sanitation
Abstract Climate change presents a major threat to water and sanitation services. There is an urgent need to understand and improve resilience, particularly in rural communities and small towns in low- and middle-income countries that already struggle to provide universal access to services and face...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2021-07-01
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| Series: | npj Clean Water |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41545-021-00130-5 |
| _version_ | 1818858452605206528 |
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| author | Guy Howard Anisha Nijhawan Adrian Flint Manish Baidya Maria Pregnolato Anish Ghimire Moti Poudel Eunice Lo Subodh Sharma Bizatu Mengustu Dinku Mekbib Ayele Abraham Geremew Tadesse Wondim |
| author_facet | Guy Howard Anisha Nijhawan Adrian Flint Manish Baidya Maria Pregnolato Anish Ghimire Moti Poudel Eunice Lo Subodh Sharma Bizatu Mengustu Dinku Mekbib Ayele Abraham Geremew Tadesse Wondim |
| author_sort | Guy Howard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Climate change presents a major threat to water and sanitation services. There is an urgent need to understand and improve resilience, particularly in rural communities and small towns in low- and middle-income countries that already struggle to provide universal access to services and face increasing threats from climate change. To date, there is a lack of a simple framework to assess the resilience of water and sanitation services which hinders the development of strategies to improve services. An interdisciplinary team of engineers and environmental and social scientists were brought together to investigate the development of a resilience measurement framework for use in low- and middle-income countries. Six domains of interest were identified based on a literature review, expert opinion, and limited field assessments in two countries. A scoring system using a Likert scale is proposed to assess the resilience of services and allow analysis at local and national levels to support improvements in individual supplies, identifying systematic faults, and support prioritisation for action. This is a simple, multi-dimensional framework for assessing the resilience of rural and small-town water and sanitation services in LMICs. The framework is being further tested in Nepal and Ethiopia and future results will be reported on its application. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T08:56:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-279a2457e3cb4cf1a444a4ab20a3b0b6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2059-7037 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T08:56:31Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | npj Clean Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-279a2457e3cb4cf1a444a4ab20a3b0b62022-12-21T20:28:35ZengNature Portfolionpj Clean Water2059-70372021-07-014111010.1038/s41545-021-00130-5The how tough is WASH framework for assessing the climate resilience of water and sanitationGuy Howard0Anisha Nijhawan1Adrian Flint2Manish Baidya3Maria Pregnolato4Anish Ghimire5Moti Poudel6Eunice Lo7Subodh Sharma8Bizatu Mengustu9Dinku Mekbib Ayele10Abraham Geremew11Tadesse Wondim12Department of Civil Engineering and Cabot Institute of the Environment, University of BristolDepartment of Civil Engineering and Cabot Institute of the Environment, University of BristolSchool of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of BristolDepartment of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kathmandu UniversityDepartment of Civil Engineering and Cabot Institute of the Environment, University of BristolDepartment of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kathmandu UniversityDepartment of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kathmandu UniversitySchool of Geographical Sciences and Cabot Institute for the Environment, University of BristolDepartment of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kathmandu UniversityCollege of Health and Medical Sciences, Haramaya UniversityCollege of Health and Medical Sciences, Haramaya UniversityCollege of Health and Medical Sciences, Haramaya UniversityCollege of Health and Medical Sciences, Haramaya UniversityAbstract Climate change presents a major threat to water and sanitation services. There is an urgent need to understand and improve resilience, particularly in rural communities and small towns in low- and middle-income countries that already struggle to provide universal access to services and face increasing threats from climate change. To date, there is a lack of a simple framework to assess the resilience of water and sanitation services which hinders the development of strategies to improve services. An interdisciplinary team of engineers and environmental and social scientists were brought together to investigate the development of a resilience measurement framework for use in low- and middle-income countries. Six domains of interest were identified based on a literature review, expert opinion, and limited field assessments in two countries. A scoring system using a Likert scale is proposed to assess the resilience of services and allow analysis at local and national levels to support improvements in individual supplies, identifying systematic faults, and support prioritisation for action. This is a simple, multi-dimensional framework for assessing the resilience of rural and small-town water and sanitation services in LMICs. The framework is being further tested in Nepal and Ethiopia and future results will be reported on its application.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41545-021-00130-5 |
| spellingShingle | Guy Howard Anisha Nijhawan Adrian Flint Manish Baidya Maria Pregnolato Anish Ghimire Moti Poudel Eunice Lo Subodh Sharma Bizatu Mengustu Dinku Mekbib Ayele Abraham Geremew Tadesse Wondim The how tough is WASH framework for assessing the climate resilience of water and sanitation npj Clean Water |
| title | The how tough is WASH framework for assessing the climate resilience of water and sanitation |
| title_full | The how tough is WASH framework for assessing the climate resilience of water and sanitation |
| title_fullStr | The how tough is WASH framework for assessing the climate resilience of water and sanitation |
| title_full_unstemmed | The how tough is WASH framework for assessing the climate resilience of water and sanitation |
| title_short | The how tough is WASH framework for assessing the climate resilience of water and sanitation |
| title_sort | how tough is wash framework for assessing the climate resilience of water and sanitation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41545-021-00130-5 |
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