Engineers Without Borders – USA

Program Sustainability

Interactive Presentation

Program Sustainability Webinar

Goal of Webinar:

To assist project teams and partnering communities in making projects that are sustainable, from program adoption through assessment, design, implementation, monitoring & evaluation and closeout of the program.

Why is project sustainability important? Background on Program Sustainability Criteria in a

Developing Community Setting Lessons Learned Interactive Example – How to start a sustainable

program from the onset

Outline

Why is sustainability important?

EWB-USA Vision: Our vision is a world in which all communities have the capacity to meet their basic human needs.

EWB-USA Mission: Engineers Without Borders – USA supports community-driven development programs worldwide through the design and implementation of sustainable engineering projects, while fostering responsible leadership.

1. Performance2. Environmental Sustainability3. Ecosystem Sustainability4. Economic Sustainability5. Social/Cultural Sustainability6. Resilience * Adapted from Dr. Anu Ramaswami, 2010

Sustainability Characteristics

Performance

1. Performance: Will the system perform as well or better than similar systems in the country or region, used by current populations, other EWB-USA Chapters, or other NGOs

Performance

• How can a chapter address this?• Alternatives analysis• TAC review• Monitoring and evaluation

Performance

• Example Problems• Bio-sand filters that work in theory but not at

the site• Water supply – yield is not what was expected

Environmental Sustainability

2. Environmental Sustainability: Does the project preserve or enhance the physical environment at the local and global scale? Address quantity and quality of water, air and soil. Project won’t hurt the physical environment in which it exists. This shows it can persevere for the long term with no negative impact on the environment on which it ultimately depends.

Environmental Sustainability

• Cradle to grave analysis of inputs and outputs at a local, regional and global scale

Ecosystem Sustainability

3. Ecosystem Sustainability: Do not damage the surrounding local ecosystem beyond its regenerative capacity. Nothing biological outside the project must be harmed, either human, plant or animal.

Ecosystem Sustainability

• Example problems• Latrine project adversely affects the quality of

the groundwater that the community depends on• Water diversions for drinking water purposes

dry up a surface stream negatively affecting the ecosystem of the riparian area

Economic Sustainability

4. Economic Sustainability: Community Ownership of project from inception. Full Cost pricing for operation, maintenance, repairs and expansion. If the system can’t pay for itself, it certainly can’t exist in the future.

Economic Sustainability

How can a chapter analyze this?• Ask yourself the question – can the community

afford to operate, maintain and eventually replace the system that you are implementing without outside assistance? If the answer is no, you should look for an alternative solution.

Economic Sustainability

• Example problems• A chapter assists a community to install a

water system. Solar panels used for pumping. Solar panels are stolen and the community can not afford to purchase new ones.

Economic Sustainability

• Example problems• Slow sand filters are given to half of a

community with no financial contribution asked from the community members. The remainder of the community and neighboring communities will now not purchase the filters. They are waiting for the filters to be given to them.

Social/Cultural Sustainability Characteristics

5. Social and Cultural Sustainability: Preserve stable social structures and cultural values and wisdom, while also promoting social equity in a participatory manner. The project must be the highest priority of the community, not the Chapter or the NGO. The services provided by the project must be shared with all and without prejudice.

Social/Cultural Sustainability Characteristics

• How does the chapter address this• Listen to the community members – remember

the program is community based• Depend on your NGO to tell you the

shortcomings of the planned approach• Do not start implementation without a detailed

agreement with the community• Education

Social/Cultural Sustainability Characteristics

• Examples• The chapter started an improved stove project

because they observed heavy smoke in the homes. The new stoves were not adopted by the community members because they did not want to change their cooking.

Resilience

6. Resilience: The project must be able to withstand challenges to its viability. This includes internal issues, such as community committee strife, to external pressures, such as climate change.

Some Perspective

• Are there hard and fast rules for analyzing sustainability of a program? No

• Should the chapter give equal weight to all of the sustainability characteristics? Not necessarily. Many times, economic and cultural/social sustainability will take more attention of the chapter than the other characteristics.

Lessons Learned Your Own Project!

Misunderstanding between chapter and community even after there was the assumption of an understanding agreement in detail, trusted liaison in country, frequent trips, talk with the community at large, multiple contacts from different families and clans, understanding of the cultural aspects of an agreement, follow our intuition, must feel good about the implementation before proceeding

Microfinance through orchards- social taboos against trees

Clean water and sanitation for schools – projects are mostly dealing with social issues, larger projects are exponentially more difficult, definition of community, lots of lead time

NGO gives things our for free. How can chapter charge for services. No direct fee but social pressure. Set yourself apart from the NGO.

1. Performance2. Environmental Sustainability3. Ecosystem Sustainability4. Economic Sustainability5. Social/Cultural Sustainability6. Resilience * Adapted from Dr. Anu Ramaswami, 2010

Sustainability Characteristics

Interactive ChallengeA Chapter has just adopted a brand new program from EWB-USA website. What should the chapter be looking for to ensure sustainability of the project?Facts:•Water Supply Project•Possible Sources – Borehole and ?•Water Quality – Unknown, but said to be bad.•Climate – Not Specified•NGO – New•Community Capacity – UnknownFor Each Sustainability Principle, what questions should be asked?

• Performance – What are all possible water sources? What is performance of other water systems for all alternatives in country and region? What community and nearby projects have failed, and why? Does chapter have Technical Lead/Mentor experience applicable to project? What metrics should chapter have to document project success? What local technical experts can meet us at site?

• Environmental Sustainability – What is the water quality of different sources? Effect of different power sources (renewable/non renewable)? Has a full life cycle analysis been completed of options? Will there be any waste from the system?

• Ecosystem Sustainability – Is water being removed from an ecosystem? What are the impacts? How will these be mitigated?

• Economic Sustainability: Is a water committee in place? Are fees being collected for water system or electrical system? Is community willing to contribute a portion of the cash, materials and labor? Can all materials be sourced locally?

Challenge – Possible Questions

• Social and Cultural Sustainability: Is this the number one priority project for the community? Will everyone have access to the project? Are tiered price levels a possibility in community? Is NGO good partner to assist chapter? What education will chapter provide community, and in what format?

• Resilience: How long have similar systems lasted in similar situations? Is this a new technology or a well-proven one? What external (climate change, extreme events) and internal (water committee corruption) pressures will project have, and how will chapter minimize risk?

Challenge –Questions Cont’d

Thank you for your commitment to Engineers Without Borders-USA.

For questions on this presentation contact: Joshua Knight, EWB-USA Project Manager

Joshua.Knight@ewb-usa.org

Lessons Learned (cont.)Rwanda – Water PipelineIn Rwanda: A neighboring community dug out the pipelines that had been installed and the project community feared that the neighboring community would try to inject poison into the system.

Lesson learned: What is the relationship among neighboring communities, what is the political history and cultural dynamics of an area, such as the Hutu/Tutsi genocide in Rwanda

Peru – Biosand Filter Project An EWB-USA team designed a biosand filter project without a thorough

assessment of locally available options for sand. A few weeks before their trip they realized there were no nearby sources of clean sand and that shipping the sand to the remote community accessible only by boat was cost-prohibitive.

Lesson Learned: You need to do a thorough assessment before you design the system.

Lessons Learned (Cont.)Belize – Water SupplyEWB-USA’s very first project in Belize proved less than sustainable as a flood washed out the ram pump placed in the river.

Projects must take into consideration extreme events, especially those that may increase with climate change (rising sea levels, hurricanes, floods, droughts, etc.). At sites where extreme events have recently occurred, Chapters should tour the area to see which types of sustainable structures and projects survived.

Lessons Learned (cont.)Things successful source development projects have had in common:

• Eyes on the ground: engaged and involved local NGO• Team addressed both the technology and behavioral aspects of project.• Thorough health & problems assessments were conducted.• Solid lines of communication between project team and community

(telephone, email, NGO, etc.)• Project team members were able to speak the local language, or translators

were sourced from the area.• Project engaged the locals during every project phase (pre-program adoption,

assessment, design, implementation and monitoring & evaluation).• Project team had multiple mentors/members experienced in the relevant

disciplines (hydrogeology, hydrology, structural, electrical, geotechnical, water, public health, etc.)

• Design was not finalized until functioning water board with fee collection system was established, & community cash contribution (5-10%) was in the bank.

Lessons Learned (cont.)Things successful source development projects have had in common:

• Team returned to the site for years after project was completed on monitoring & evaluation trips.

• Reasonable construction schedules with contingency were developed• Community led construction activities