1.4 Local level sanitation planning [1]

Summary

Dorothee Spuhler, a sanitation planning expert, discusses the significance of local sanitation planning, particularly in low and middle-income urban areas. She introduces CLUES, a community-led approach for sustainable sanitation in informal settlements, emphasizing its people-centric, multi-stakeholder nature. The script highlights the need for local planning to be aligned with citywide strategies to ensure inclusive and sustainable sanitation solutions.

Takeaways

• 🌍 **Importance of Local Sanitation Planning**: Local sanitation planning is crucial due to the heterogeneity of growing cities in low and middle-income countries.
• 🏘️ **Inclusivity and Heterogeneity**: Local planning ensures inclusivity by considering the needs of both high-income developed areas and low-income informal settlements.
• 🏡 **Domains of Planning**: Cities can be structured into four domains for planning: household, community, municipality, and state, each with its unique requirements and interactions.
• 🔄 **Interconnectedness**: Sanitation solutions must consider the interplay between local community needs and higher-level legal and strategic requirements.
• 🌱 **Community Led Urban Environmental Sanitation (CLUES)**: CLUES is introduced as a local planning approach for low-income or informal areas, emphasizing community involvement.
• 🔗 **Linking Local and Citywide Planning**: Local planning must be connected to citywide approaches to ensure a comprehensive and inclusive sanitation strategy.
• 🚽 **Sanitation System Variety**: A mix of sanitation systems, from centralized to onsite latrines, is necessary to address different local contexts and needs.
• 💧 **Integration with Other Services**: Sanitation planning should be integrated with planning for other basic services like water, solid waste, and electricity.
• 🤝 **Stakeholder Engagement**: Engaging different stakeholders is key to aligning local technical, financial, and institutional solutions with citywide planning.
• 🌳 **CLUES Principles**: CLUES is based on four principles: community-centered planning, utilization of both expert and community knowledge, resource conservation, and problem-solving within the nearest domain.
• 🌐 **Alignment for Inclusivity**: Aligning local planning with citywide approaches helps balance interests and leverage synergies, leading to an inclusive mix of sanitation systems.

Q & A

Why is local sanitation planning important?

Local sanitation planning is important because it considers the heterogeneity of cities, especially in low and middle-income countries, and allows for inclusive planning that addresses the needs of all citizens, including those living in unserved or underserved informal settlements.

What is the significance of focusing on the local level in sanitation planning?

Focusing on the local level ensures that planning is inclusive and tailored to the specific needs and conditions of different areas within a city, leading to a mix of sanitation systems that are appropriate for different contexts.

What is Community Led Urban Environment Sanitation (CLUES)?

CLUES is a local planning approach for sanitation in low-income or informal areas that involves the community in the planning process, uses both expert and community knowledge, encourages resource conservation and reuse, and is based on the concept of domains to solve problems at the local level.

How does local level planning interact with city-wide approaches?

Local level planning must be linked to city-wide approaches to balance interests and tap into synergies. It involves aligning local planning decisions with planning at all levels, including the household, community, municipality, and state.

What are the four domains that can structure a city for planning purposes?

The four domains are the household, community, municipality, and state. Each domain requires its planning approach and they interact with each other.

Why is it challenging to provide sanitation services in rapidly expanding peri-urban areas and informal settlements?

These areas are challenging due to rapid growth, high density, lack of human and financial resources, and limited availability of formal or utility services.

What are the complexities at the local level that need to be considered in sanitation planning?

The complexities include determining the most appropriate type of sanitation system for different areas, planning sanitation services alongside other basic services like water and electricity, and engaging with different stakeholders to align local solutions with city-wide planning.

How does CLUES address the complexities of local sanitation planning?

CLUES addresses complexities through four principles: placing the neighborhood and community at the core of planning, employing both expert and community knowledge, encouraging resource conservation and reuse, and solving problems within the domain nearest to where they arise.

What is the role of community engagement in CLUES?

Community engagement in CLUES is crucial as it places the neighborhood and community at the center of the planning process, ensuring that local knowledge and needs are considered, and fostering a people-centric approach.

How can local planning be aligned with city-wide planning to ensure an inclusive approach?

Local planning can be aligned with city-wide planning by conducting processes in parallel, such as a CLUES process alongside a Sanitation 21 process, and by developing city-wide planning objectives that are aligned with local and state level actors.

What is the ultimate goal of local sanitation planning as described in the script?

The ultimate goal is to create an inclusive approach that results in a mix of sanitation systems appropriate for different areas or population segments, promoting environmental sustainable sanitation.