High Science in Low-Tech Emergency Settings

This project sets out to examine and address a fundamental problem in the relationship between academia, industry and the humanitarian sector through the lens of water and sanitation engineering.

In non-emergency situations, new and creative technologies are delivering cleaner drinking water, improving wastewater treatment (i.e. sanitation), and providing cheaper and better sensors for contaminant monitoring. However, there has been little progress in bringing the benefits of such innovations to water supply and sanitation operations in humanitarian emergencies. The status quo suggests there is a gap between what is researched (i.e. academia), what is available (i.e. industry), and what is practiced (i.e. humanitarian NGO's and agencies) with regards to water supply and sanitation technologies. Arguably, this is due to the lack of interaction between the three sectors. If this information flow could be improved, knowledge of cutting-edge advances would contribute to a step change in humanitarian practice.

In order to streamline new technologies from blueprints to effective solutions for humanitarian emergencies, two aspects of this relationship between humanitarian relief organisations, universities and industry must be understood: a) the capacity of agencies to absorb such innovations (i.e. expertise) and b) industry's and academia's awareness of the needs and constraints faced in emergencies. However, given the changing nature of disaster response demands, some technologies may also require acceptance by beneficiaries (e.g. post-emergency handover). Understanding and resolving these issues warrants an analysis that goes beyond the technical aspects normally considered by engineers. For this a framework integrating knowledge from engineering and social-science must be explored.

Objective and aims

The overall project objective is to examine issues posing barriers to water supply and sanitation technological transfer to relief agencies and provide a strategy towards how to make effective use of scientific developments in humanitarian emergencies.

Specific aims are:

a) Identify and evaluate innovative technologies/processes currently being developed or already commercially available with regards to their potential to effectively contribute to public health engineering humanitarian responses;
b) Assess what universities and industries developing such technologies know about the needs and environmental/resource constraints of emergencies;
c) Explore the potential for use of measures of socio-economic structure and cultural values to aid in matching community preferences with technological needs to increase the chances of long-term water supply and sanitation programme success.

Outcomes

Although scientific endeavour is for the most part well-intentioned and towards the progress of mankind, the purpose is for this study to spark interest and attract research efforts and funding towards safeguarding fundamental human rights (e.g. water and sanitation) for those most in need. The identification of technologies currently not in use that can contribute emergency response could clearly benefit humanitarian practice as a whole and increase the sector's accountability through potential step changes in best practices and effective use of resources; being advantageous to implementing relief agencies, donors, and (most importantly) the victims of disasters. This project will also highlight areas where potential gaps in skills may exist, allowing universities and training centres offering humanitarian related programmes to respond proactively to emerging technologies. Progress towards the attainment of these outcomes can open the possibility of replicating elements of this project in the wider context of other areas of emergency response.

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