SWITCH:  Managing  Water  for  the  City  of  the  Future      

SWITCHED  ON!    Newsletter  7  –  February  2010      

NEWS  FROM  SWITCH    

1. SWITCH:  Committed  to  the  recovery  of  the  Bogota  River  2. First  module  of  SWITCH  Training  Kit  piloted  in  Dublin 3. SWITCH  Learning  Alliances  –  progress  during  2009  4. The  4th  SWITCH  Scientific  Meeting  2009  5. The  Global  CityWater  Futures  Summit,  October  2009  

   1.  SWITCH:  Committed  to  the  recovery  of  the  Bogota  River  In  Bogota,  the  IDEA  Institute  from  the  Universidad  Nacional  of  Colombia,  co-­‐sponsored  by  Colciencias,  is  leading  a  research  initiative  focusing  on  the  tanneries  of  Villapinzon  in  the  upper  basin  of  the  Bogota  River.  This  research  has  been  considered  of  utmost  importance  since  river  pollution  is  threatening  the  sustainability  of  the  capital  of  Colombia,  with  its  8  million  inhabitants.  For  decades  the  complexity  surrounding  this  situation  has  been  seen  as  the  worst  conflict  in  the  Bogota  River.  

 

 

 

 

 

 On  the  5th  of  November  2009  at  the  Dann  Carlton  House,  the  preliminary  results  of  this  research  on  the  sustainability  of  the  tannery  industry  in  the  region  were  presented.  By  focusing  on  the  creation  of  integral  solutions  based  on  cleaner  production  methods,  establishing  learning  alliances  and  recognizing  the  specific  characteristics  of  the  tanneries,  significant  improvements  in  the  quality  of  the  discharges  of  these  SMEs  have  been  achieved.  Amongst  the  

many  eminent  speakers  were  Tomás  León  Sicard,  Director  of  IDEA;  Kala  Vairavamoorthy,  SWITCH  Scientific  Director;  Evidalia  Fernández,  President  of  the  tannery  association  ACURTIR;  Javier  Toro,  director  of  SWITCH  Bogota;  Alberto  Groot,  Water  supply  company  of  Bogotà;  Nancy  Patricia  Gutiérrez,  Senator  of  Colombia;  Cesar  Buitrago,  Director  of  Sustainable  Development  at  the  Ministry  of  Environment.  The  SWITCH  research  was  then  reported  on  the  radio  and  in  a  2  page  article  in  the  national  tabloid  newspaper  El  Espectador.  

The  SWITCH  team  also  met  with  the  Governor  of  Bogota  who  is  committed  to  expanding  the  project  in  the  city,  and  to  taking  a  more  holistic  view  of  water  management  issues.  Other  achievements  to  date  include  the  development  and  implementation  of  a  training  programme  for  the  tanners  by  the  SWITCH  UNAL/IDEA  team.  For  more  information,  contact  Monica  Sanz  at  monica_snz@yahoo.com.                      

2.  First  module  of  SWITCH  Training  Kit  piloted  in  Dublin  ICLEI  kicked-­‐off  a  series  of  pilot  workshops  based  on  SWITCH  draft  training  materials  at  Dublin  City  

Council  on  16  and  17  Dec.  2009.  Around  30  civil  engineers,  planners  and  others  –  mostly  from  Dublin    

City  Council  itself,  but  also  from  Fingal  County,  South  Dublin  County  and  other  organisations  –  took  part  in  the  training  with  great  interest  and  active  participation.    

The  focus  of  the  Dublin  workshop  was  on  the  contents  of  Module  1,  namely  the  concept  of  IUWM  and  implementation  through  strategic  planning.  More  specifically  the  training  addressed  the  integration  of  water  into  overall  city  development  and  the  assessment  of  practical  options  that  have  the  potential  to  contribute  to  increased  sustainability  in  Dublin.  The  agenda  and  materials  used  at  the  workshop  can  be  found  on  the  SWITCH  Training  Desk:  http://www.switchtraining.eu,  with  the  report  also  accessible  in  the  restricted  area  for  SWITCH  partners.  

The  series  of  pilots,  covering  the  materials  developed  in  the  upcoming  modules  of  the  SWITCH  Training  Kit,  will  continue  until  summer.  Delivered  in  English,  these  pilots  will  be  offered  to  local  government  water  professionals  in  countries  such  as  Ghana,  India,  the  Philippines,  South  Africa,  or  Tanzania.  

For  more  information,  please  contact  Barbara  Anton  at  barbara.anton@iclei.org.                                        3.  SWITCH  Learning  Alliances  –  progress  during  2009  The  SWITCH  Learning  Alliances  report  at  quarterly  intervals  on  the  progress  they  have  made.  This  covers  issues  such  as  who  is  involved  in  their  facilitation,  what  progress  is  being  made  in  developing  joint  visions  and  strategies,  key  activities  that  have  taken  place  or  are  planned  for  

the  future,  how  the  members  communicate  with  each  other  and  how  they  document  and  monitor  progress.  Some  aspects  of  progress  from  selected  LAs  are  outlined  below.    

1. Accra  Learning  Alliance  Key  activities  have  been  stakeholder  consultations  and  continuation  of  strategic  planning  progress.  They  have  brought  on  board  stakeholders  from  the  Institute  of  Local  Government  Studies  to  support  the  process.  The  City  Facilitator  participated  in  the  SWITCH  Scientific  Meeting  and  members  of  the  LA  also  participated  in  the  SWITCH  City  Water  Summit.  The  LA  team  was  also  represented  in  the  First  Ghana  Water  Forum  and  WAWI  sanitation  confab  in  November,  2009.  For  more  information,  please  see  http://www.switchurbanwater.eu/cities/1.php      

2. Alexandria  Learning  Alliance  Several  strategic  studies  are  being  undertaken  in  Alexandria  by  local  experts  along  with  international  coordinators.  These  will  develop  scenarios  based  on  the  general  scenarios  identified  during  a  LA  workshop  in  July  2007.  These  are  all  inputs  for  the  "Integrated  Urban  Water  Management  plan"  for  the  city  of  Alexandria  which  will  be  the  main  output  for  the  SWITCH  project  in  Alexandria,  and  aims  to  address  the  predicted  rapid  increase  in  water  demand  in  the  city  by  the  year  2037.  An  evaluation  meeting  was  held  in  September  2009  where  the  progress  of  the  five  core  strategy  studies  that  were  launched  in  May  was  assessed,  as  well  as  an  institutional  mapping  study.  A  financial  sustainability  study  was  also  launched.  For  more  information,  please  see  http://www.switchurbanwater.eu/cities/2.php      

3. Birmingham  Learning  Alliance  In  May  2009,  the  City  Water  team  held  a  progress  meeting  in  Birmingham  followed  by  a  workshop  with  the  Learning  Alliance.    This  not  only  allowed  the  CW  team  to  showcase  developments  to  the  team,  but  also  for  them  to  meet  the  Birmingham  LA  (which  in  some  cases  was  for  the  first  time).    From  the  LA,  a  number  of  organizations  were  represented  with  the  key  stakeholders  (namely  the  Environment  Agency,  Severn  Trent  Water  and  Birmingham  City  Council)  also  being  present.    One  of  the  key  outputs  of  this  

meeting  was  to  strengthen  the  links  with  Severn  Trent  Water  and  to  secure  access  to  their  asset  data  to  feed  into  the  CW  model.    Confidentiality  agreements  are  now  in  place  between  the  City  Water  Team  and  Severn  Trent  Water.    For  more  information,  please  see  http://www.switchurbanwater.eu/cities/5.php      

4. Belo  Horizonte  Learning  Alliance  Some  recent  activities  include:  • Students  painting  a  wall  at  Anne  Frank  

Municipal  School,  including  a  stylized  SWITCH  logo  and  water  landscapes  of  Belo  Horizonte  

• Guided  visits  to  the  Productive  Garden,  Fazendinha  Municipal  School,  CEVAE  and  Barreiro  Regional  

• Meeting  with  Participatory  Budget  representatives  to  raise  awareness  of  the  SWITCH  Project  by  the  regional  managers  and  to  increase  the  project’s  visibility  in  Belo  Horizonte  

• Guided  visits  to  Arrudas  Water  Treatment  Station  and  to  an  alternative  model  of  rainwater  collection  

• Participation  at  Environmental  Week  at  INCISA  and  ICLEI  World  Congress  2009,  Edmonton,  Canada  

• Planning  and  preparations  for  a  Sustainable  Water  Management  Course.  

For  more  information,  please  see  http://www.switchurbanwater.eu/cities/4.php      

5. Lodz  Learning  Alliance  The  Blue-­‐Green  Network  aims  to  support  the  revitalisation,  redevelopment  and  spatial  planning  in  Lodz.  The  concept  was  developed  by  Maciej  Zalewski  and  the  team  at  the  II  PAS  –  ERCE  u/a  UNESCO  network.  This  new  concept  of  urban  space  development  is  complementary  to  the  traditional  city  planning  concept  of  the  green  belt  and  intends  to  use  existing  and  where  possible,  rehabilitated  city  river  systems  and  green  areas  as  a  basis  for  economic  and  spatial  organisation.  It  maintains  continuity  of  ecological  processes  within  the  city  providing  the  following  benefits:      • improved  quality  of  life  and  health  of  

its  inhabitants  • improved  quality  of  the  environment  

and  lower  costs  of  city  management  and  maintenance  

• improved  quality  of  the  environment  and  sustainable  development  

• improved  ecological  and  public  safety  • reduced  social  costs  related  to  disease  

and  creating  conditions  for  sustainable  development  as  provided  in  the  UN  Agenda  21,  also  referred  to  by  the  Lodz  City  Council  and  the  Municipality  of  Lodz  as  an  integral  part  of  the  city’s  environmental  policy.  

For  more  information,  please  see  http://www.switchurbanwater.eu/cities/8.php    

   4.  The  4th  SWITCH  Scientific  Meeting  2009  The  4th  SWITCH  Scientific  Meeting  took  place  from  5th  to  7th  October  2009  in  Delft,  the  Netherlands  and  was  structured  around  the  following  themes:  

• Sustainable  Urban  Drainage  and  Water  Sensitive  Urban  Design    

• Natural  Systems  for  Treatment    • Decentralized  Wastewater  –  Decentralized  

Wastewater  Systems    • Institutional  Systems  and  Financial  

Instruments    

There  was  also  a  keynote  presentation  by  David  Butler  (University  of  Exeter)  on  Water  and  Urban  Sustainability  Research.    Papers  and  presentations  from  this  meeting  are  available  online  at:  http://www.switchurbanwater.eu/news_sci_mtg4.php.    5.  The  Global  CityWater  Futures  Summit,  October  2009  Following  the  Scientific  Meeting,  SWITCH  organised  a  Global  CityWater  Futures  Summit  in  Delft,  from  7th  to  10th  October  2009,  with  about  100  participants,  about  half  from  non-­‐SWITCH  cities.  The  Summit  included  the  following  keynote  presentations:      

• Kala  Vairavamoorthy  (SWITCH  Scientific  Director):  "A  SWITCH  to  More  Sustainable  Urban  Water  Management"  

• Paul  Reiter  (International  Water  Association  Executive  Director):  "Cities  of  the  Future  and  Water:  Can  We  Reshape  Urban  Water  and  Urban  Design  to  Achieve  Long  Term  Water  Security"  

• Margaret  Pageler  (ICLEI  Local  Governments  for  Sustainability):  "City  Governments  Step  Up  to  21st  Century  Water  Imperatives"  

• Stuart  White  (Institute  for  Sustainable  Futures,  University  of  Technology,  Sydney):  "preparing  for  a  Sustainable  Future"  

• Pireh  Otieno  (UN-­‐HABITAT  Nairobi  Programme  Officer):  "Fostering  Sustainable  Urbanisation  –  The  UN  HABITAT  Experience"  

                                       

SWITCH  partners  and  other  participants  from  a  range  of  cities  around  the  world  discussed  the  presentations  and  thematic  papers  in  a  series  of  interactive  workshops,  and  the  proceedings  were  enlivened  by  journalists  from  India,  Ghana  and  Yemen,  who  contributed  to  the  discussion  in  the  sessions  and  through  the  Summit  blog.      For  more  details  presentations  and  reports,  see  http://www.switchurbanwater.eu/news_summit2.php  http://switchwatersummit.wordpress.com/                                        

       SWITCH  Contact  Details  The  CENTRAL  MANAGEMENT  UNIT  (CMU)  is  UNESCO-­‐IHE,  which  is  responsible  for  the  day-­‐to-­‐day  coordination  of  the  project.  The  CMU  is  located  at:     UNESCO-­‐IHE,  Westvest  7,  2611  AX  Delft,  Netherlands;  t:  +31  15  2151771  The  CMU  consists  of:     Kala  Vairavamoorthy,  Scientific  Director,  k.vairavamoorthy@unesco-­‐ihe.org

Carol  Howe,  Project  Manager,  c.howe@unesco-­‐ihe.org    Visit  the  SWITCH  Website:     http://www.switchurbanwater.eu/  For  issues  relating  to  the  SWITCH  newsletter,  contact  SWITCH  News:  switchnews@lboro.ac.uk