Sustainable Sanitation Solutions Conference. Colombo, Sri Lanka

Dr. Snehalatha Mekala attended the Sustainable Sanitation Solutions conference. Colombo, Sri Lanka. The conference aims to provide a platform to learn about scalable sanitation solutions and best practices from the South Asian national governments and water and sanitation experts and practices from the region. It is expected that the solutions and best practices shared will contribute to cross-fertilization of ides and strengthen knowledge and practice towards addressing the current and foreseeable challenges and barriers to achieving sustainable sanction .

21^st To 23^rd February 2019

Training workshop: Biosand Filter Technology - NIRDPR, Hyderabad

Mr. Churamoni Saikia, attended the training workshop on ‘Biosnad Filter Technology’, which was jointly organised by S M Sehgal Foundation and CAWST. The main objective of the workshop was to build capacity of those working or intending to work on providing solutions/ technologies for safe drinking water to communities in need. The participants were trained about how to install, operate, maintain and follow up the bio sand filter..

20^th To 22^nd February 2019

A Participatory Exercise on Foresight for Food Systems in South Asia- Kathmandu, Nepal

Dr Sreenita Mondal attended the four days Participatory Exercise on Foresight for Food Systems in South Asia jointly organised by ACIAR and IFPRI as a part of the project women’s role in agriculture: Macro and Micro connections funded by ACIAR. A small group of engaged partners with experience in research, modelling and policy formulation and implementation attended the workshop. Presentations, practice exercises, case studies and real-life examples of applying innovative modelling and scenario building tools were used in the workshop for systems thinking in the agriculture and food sectors.

11^th To 14^th February 2019

NATIONAL CONCLAVE ON INSTITUTIONALISING SDGs, The Park, New Delhi

Shreya Chakraborty attended the conclave as a civil society representative on behalf of SaciWATERs as an organisation working on Climate change and water access issues, which is core to the SDGs. The conclave was organised and funded jointly by the UN, CII, Niti Aayog, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and National Foundation for India..

4^th To 5^th February 2019

State Level Dissemination Meeting on Climate Literacy and Marine Litter Management Campaign, WEST BENGAL

Shreya Chakraborty represented SaciWATERs at the Dissemination meeting as a part of the project CLMLM (Climate Literacy and Marine Litter Management) as a civil society stakeholder in issues of environment, natural resource management and water policy as well as a partner for evaluation, monitoring, and providing technical support to the project. She also assisted with moderating and documenting the interactive dialogue session with the community and other stakeholders present at the workshop.

State Level Dissemination Meeting on Climate Literacy and Marine Litter Management Campaign, ORISSA

Shreya Chakraborty represented SaciWATERs at the Dissemination meeting as a part of the project CLMLM (Climate Literacy and Marine Litter Management) as a civil society stakeholder in issues of environment, natural resource management and water policy as well as a partner for evaluation, monitoring, and providing technical support to the project. She also provided support for assisting the moderation and documenting of interactive dialogue session with the community and other stakeholders present at the workshop and also gave an address for summing up and looking at ways forward for the project and the campaign impacts at the community and policy levels..

Video conference with Mission Director, National Water Mission, M/o Water Resources, Government of India

Dr. Snehalatha Mekala, ED of SaciWATERs along with Dr. Sreenita Mondal (Research Fellow) attended a follow up interactive meeting with the Mission Director of National Water Mission, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India and all other empanelled Lead and Field Agencies (NGOs) via Video Conference. The major objective was to discuss on the action plans to be prepared by the lead NGOs with the help of field NGOs as next steps of engagement with National Water Mission. Shri Nitishwar Kumar, Joint Secretary MoWR and Mission Director NWM, the keynote speaker of the meeting also discussed about the vulnerable and over-exploited areas of different zones, for which action plan to be prepared. During the interactive session, all the NGOs were also given the chance to discuss about their insights, expectations and suggestions about the project.

IWMI-Tata Partners’ Meet 2018

Shreya Chakraborty attended the IWMI-Tata Partners’ Meet and presented a paper on Benefit Sharing in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, from a study completed under the ICIMOD funded project on Benefit Sharing in Hydropower Projects. She was invited to present the paper under the session on Water Governance in the Himalayas. The session also brought in other studies on Benefit sharing policies in India and studies in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The key note was given by Mr. Himanshu Thakkar from SANDRP. The conference in its entirety brought on a single platform some of the most prominent voices in the water sector in India, ranging in stakeholders from academia, research organisations, government, grassroot level NGOs, and international networks.

WORLD SOCIAL SCIENCE FORUM: Belmont Forum–NORFACE T2S parallel session

The Belmont Forum–NORFACE Transformations to Sustainability programme: Re-structuring the field of sustainability research for sustainable and secure futures

Shreya Chakraborty attended and presented at the T2S Parallel session at the World Social Science Forum as a part of the project H2O-T2S in Urban Fringe funded under the NORFACE-Belmont Forum funded research programme on Transformations to Sustainability on behalf of Saciwaters and partners at TU Delft, Netherlands and University of Cologne, Germany. She presented the objectives and proposed impact pathways of the project in line with broader tenets of transformation research introduced by Dr. Melissa Leach, IDS Sussex. The session focussed on the directions of transformation research and introduced all the 12 funded projects under the NORFACE-Belmont Forum T2S Programme at the World Social Science Forum for better visibility of the programme and projects. The interactions with the audience brought up interesting issues and challenges of bringing together such a variety of projects and consortiums under a single overarching framework.

NORFACE–Belmont Forum T2S programme kick-off workshop

Shreya Chakraborty attended the three days kick-off workshop as a part of the project H2O-T2S in Urban Fringe funded under the NORFACE-Belmont Forum funded research programme on Transformations to Sustainability on behalf of Saciwaters and partners at TU Delft, Netherlands and University of Cologne, Germany. The workshop was an initiation workshop for all 12 projects selected for funding under the programme and closing of 3 projects funded under the previous round of the T2S Programme. The workshop incorporated open dialogue and exchange, brainstorming, creative performing arts and poster presentations as ways to discuss ideas and suggestions for all 12 projects. It also brought more visibility for all the projects among the many partner organisations funded under the programme. Shreya Chakraborty presented the project poster. Along with Dr. Leon Hermans, TU Delft, she also participated in the Research Marketplace activities.

NWRITING AND DISSEMINATION WORKSHOP ON BENEFIT SHARING IN HYDROPOWER PROJECTS

Shreya Chakraborty, along with Research Associate Bibeshna Pradhan, attended the workshop in Kathmandu, Nepal, as a part of the ICIMOD funded project on Benefit Sharing in Hydropower Projects in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh states of India. The workshop brought together all the studies from the sub projects from Pakistan, Himachal Pradesh, Nepal, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. The aim was to exchange insights, learnings, and suggestions from each of these sub projects as well as to review the first draft of the project report. The last day of the workshop was the final dissemination workshop for the project sharing the project learnings with various researchers, civil society members, and government officials. Shreya Chakraborty and Bibeshna Pradhan presented the results of the sub project on Benefit Sharing in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh at the writing workshop as well as at the final dissemination workshop.

World Water Week, Stockholm

Presentation to be given at the World Water Week, Stockholm- 26th August, on "Effectiveness of dialogue process in transboundary water management: Brahmaputra River Dialogue" by Ms. Safa Fanaian, on behalf of the SaciWATERs BD team. This presentation is within the workshop "Managing Water Resources for Green Growth and Equity". more details...

Biennial Global Conference

Dr. Aditya Bastola will be attending the 15th Biennial Global Conference International Association for the Study of the Commons from 25th May to 29th May 2015.

Mapping Sectoral Impacts of Climate Change in the Terai, Hill and Mountain Commons of Nepal

Dr. Bastola will present a paper titled, "Mapping Sectoral Impacts of Climate Change in the Terai, Hill and Mountain Commons of Nepal".

Addressing the Major Challenges of Actionable Adaptation to Climate Change in Coastal Zones in the Middle East and South Asia

Dr. Anamika Barua will represent SaciWATERs as a panelist in a special session on “Addressing the Major Challenges of Actionable Adaptation to Climate Change in Coastal Zones in the Middle East and South Asia” at the 5th International Conference on Water and Flood Management, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 6-8 March 2015 organised by IDRC.

Dr. Barua will discuss about the past and current work and lessons learnt of SaciWaters on challenges of adaptation to climate change in urban and peri-urban areas.

Session on Climate change and disaster management

Dr. Anamika Barua, is representing SaciWATERs as one of the panellists in the session on Climate change and disaster management: with special reference to floods and landslides in northeast India, organised by School of Human Ecology (SHE) at Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD), from 27th Feb - 1st March 2015.

Experience sharing in different facets of water resources management

SaciWATERs at the Assam Water Conference in the Interactive Session -- “Experience sharing in different facets of water resources management”, February 6th and 7th, 2015.

Country level dialogue

January 22^nd, 2015, New Delhi (India). Country level dialogue at track II diplomacy level with specific focus on integrating regional and national approaches of water governance and management of Brahmaputra Basin

A systematic approach to water quality problems in India

– Purpose of the event: The main objective of the program was to build a national momentum on water quality issues and discussed to articulate the same..
– Target group: Government, CSOs, DoNOR organisations and Academicians.
– Outcome: In the meet, it was presented about the significance to have a national momentum on water quality issues which have been threatening entire country for the long time. Regarding this, the participants were shared their thoughts and which could lead to get a national mission focusing on water quality and health and help to bring different stakeholders together and make a significant efforts for addressing water quality challenges and it’s related health consequences. .

Training cum field visit for medical and paramedical staff on ‘Prevention, Detection and Management of Arsenicosis’

– Purpose of the event: The major purpose of the training program was to build capacity of the medical practitioner and community frontline workers on prevention, detection and management of arsenicosis, and estimate the health burden due to arsenic exposure.
– Target group: Doctors, ANM, ASHA and Community frontline workers.
– Outcome: The training programs would lead to strengthen the capacity of the participants for identification and referral of suspected cases of arsenicosis for proper diagnosis on time and support to conduct health camp in arsenic affected areas. It is also expected that the participants could provide training, as well as generate awareness among community people about the issues of arsenic related health exposure in cascading method.

People Centric District Platform Initiation Meet

– Purpose of the event: Sharing about the EU supported action and initiate the People Centric District platform to work in Jorhat district, in order to complement the National Water Quality Sub-Mission (NWQSM) for providing access to safe drinking water.
– Target group: District Administration, PHED, Health, Academic Institutions, UNICEF, CSOs, Frontline Community Workers
– Outcome: Initiated the people centric district platform and a MoU would be signed with the Jorhat Medical College, CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat and SaciWATERs for the health assessment focusing on arsenic contamination in water. .

People Centric District Platform Initiation Meet

– Purpose of the event: Sharing about the EU supported action and initiate the People Centric District platform to work in Nalbari district, in order to complement the National Water Quality Sub-Mission (NWQSM) for providing access to safe drinking water.
– Target group: District Administration, PHED, Health, Academic Institutions, CSOs, Frontline Community Workers.
– Outcome: Initiated the people centric district platform and which would work for the awareness generation & sharing good practices for addressing arsenic challenges in the affected areas.

Dissemination workshop on the theme Drought Preparedness of Vulnerable sections in Rural Telangana, Hyderabad

Saciwaters organised a dissemination workshop on the theme Drought Preparedness of Vulnerable sections in Rural Telangana, on the 22nd December 2017. The objectives of the workshop were firstly to share the processes and outcomes of the drought policy study funded by UNICEF, and secondly to enable a discussion that could throw up ideas for future directions of research in the field of Drought Management and Risk Reduction.

Health Awareness Camp: Arsenic in Drinking water

Through the cumulative discussions, interactions and field engagement of Arsenic Knowledge and Action Network in Assam, since August 2014, the issue of arsenic in water for drinking came to be understood as a communication problem. The same highlighted the need for affected communities’ to be informed about the issue so that precautionary measures can be taken.

Country Level Dialogue meeting, Dhaka

A country level dialogue meeting was organized by SaciWATERs and Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 4th June 2016 and was divided into three broad themes i.e. knowledge sharing, economic opportunities and disaster management. The workshop provided a platform for the sharing of knowledge and good practices across the region and also provided a platform to take into account the views of different stakeholders.

India Water Forum

SaciWATERs along with TERI, co-hosted the panel on International Cooperation and Transboundary Perspectives on Water at the third India Water Forum. The overall objective of the panel “International Cooperation and Trans-boundary Perspectives on water” was to share the experience of the panelists on issues and challenges and seek for avenues for transboundary cooperation.

Capacity Building Training of Village Waterman to assure safe drinking water and sustainability of water resources in Nizamabad district

SaciWATERs in partnership with the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Department (Government of Telangana) and WaterAid India is conducting a Capacity Building training of Village Waterman to assure safe drinking water and sustainability of water resources in Nizamabad district, Telangana on 23rd -24th December 2015.

Capacity Building Training on Water rights, equity, and gender issues for working water professionals in South Asia

As part of the ongoing CGIAR WLE Project Poverty Square and Gender Circle the capacity building training program aims to refresh participant’s awareness on water rights, equity and gender issues as emerging nuances with the changing environmental impacts and policies in the Eastern Gangetic plains of India, Nepal and Bangladesh. The workshop encourages participants to practically apply the emerging concept in development projects/programmes. The participants in this capacity building training programs are Government Offices from the three countries working in agriculture and irrigation sectors.

Interdisciplinary Research Concepts and Methodologies

As part of the South Asia Water Fellowships (SAWA), a training programme on Interdisciplinary Research Concepts and Methodologies was organized in Kandy, Sri Lanka from 28th November to 3rd December, 2015. The training programme was financially supported by International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada and CapNet.

Inception meeting for the Tanker Economy Project is being organised by SaciWATERs

A Capacity Building Training on ‘Participatory Rural Appraisal’ tools and methods was conducted by SaciWATERs

A Capacity Building Training on ‘Participatory Rural Appraisal’ tools and methods was conducted by SaciWATERs in Rasoolpura, Begumpet on 15-16th June 2015, as part of the ‘Citizen First’ project funded by WaterAid. The training was attended by a total of 25 participants, including Basti Vikas Manch (BVM) members, Society for Participatory Development (SPD), SaciWATERs staff and Social Work students. The Training aimed at enhancing the skills of project staffs to carry out mapping of WASH related information. The two days programme included sessions on, Resource Mapping, Social Mapping, and Focus Group Discussion. During the Training, a small session on GIS (Geographic Information System) was also conducted to help participants understand the basic concept behind the importance of creating maps at basti/slum and household levels. Further, a transect walk was conducted in a slum named Indiramma Nagar in Rasoolpura. The training was a balanced blend of both theoretical class-room sessions and practical on- field sessions.

A review workshop on ‘Climate Change and Food Security’

A review workshop on ‘Climate Change and Food Security’ is being organised for the first batch (2013-15) of IDRC SAWAS Fellows on May 29, 2015, at Hotel Plaza, Telangana Tourism Plaza, Begumpet, Hyderabad. The participants will be from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka; University of Peradenia, Sri Lanka; Anna University, Chennai and Nepal Engineering College, Kathmandu. The aim of the workshop is to review the research work conducted by the SAWAS Fellows. The event is being sponsored by IDRC.

Transnational Policy Dialogue consultation meeting for Improved Water Governance in Brahmaputra River

On 23rd May 2015, SaciWATERs in collaboration with Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM), BUET, Dhaka and funded by The Asia Foundation (TAF) organised a 'Transnational Policy Dialogue consultation meeting for Improved Water Governance in Brahmaputra River', in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The aim of the dialogue was to explore the hydro-diplomatic relations within India (Assam and Arunachal Pradesh) and between India, Bhutan, China and Bangladesh in co-managing this trans-boundary river.

Multi-stakeholder workshop for Peri-urban Water Security Project

A multistakeholder workshop on Peri urban water security, conflicts and cooperation in India is being organised by SaciWATERs on 15th May 2015 at Hotel Plaza, Telangana Tourism Plaza, Begumpet, Hyderabad. The workshop is a part of our ongoing project titled "Climate Policy, Conflicts and Cooperation in Peri-Urban South Asia: Towards Resilient and Water Secure Communities", funded by Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, NWO under Conflict and Cooperation in the Management of Climate Change - Integrated Project initiative. The workshop seeks to engage with a critical mass of stakeholders on the theme of the project and foster dialogue among them on issues of periurban water security, set a base for research uptake by sharing preliminary project findings with stakeholders and builds a commitment to action, learn and network with other researchers on similar projects and themes.

Water in the 21st Century

On the occasion of 22nd International World Water Day on March 22nd 2015, SaciWATERs is organising a one day event titled “Water in the 21st Century” in collaboration with State Water and Sanitation Mission, Department of Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, Government of Telangana. The event is sponsored by WaterAid, India. The event would start at 9:30 AM at Auditorium, Dr. MCR HRD Institute, road no.25, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. The aim of this event is to focus on two prime and crucial water management challenges; scarcity and quality.

Training of Trainers programme

SaciWATERs in collaboration with the Government of Telangana- SWSM and RWS&S departments and with the support of WaterAid organised a one day Training of Trainers programme which was held on the 11th of March at Hotel Vamshee International, Nizamabad. The training programme on Water Quality Monitoring and Sanitation, targeted 40 laboratory and engineering personnel from the district RWS&S department of Nizamabad who play a crucial role in the support and provision of WATSAN services at the Grass roots.

Training of Trainers

SaciWATERs in collaboration with Government of Telangana, State Water and Sanitation Mission and WaterAid is organising a 2 days Training of Trainers (ToT) with Water Quality Testing Lab Officials on 23rd and 24th February 2015. This TOT is to enhance the skills of the Government Lab Officials in effective delivery of water quality services in the State.
There will be more than 100 Lab Officials participating in this ToT.

Peter Mollinga visit

Peter Mollinga, (Prof. School of Oriental & African Studies) visit to SaciWATERs on February 19, 2015. Honorary founder of SaciWATERs shares his contemporary thought and genesis on SaciWATERs