WECF present at 3rd Dry Toilet Conference in Tampere, Finland
WECF well presented with 9 representatives and 6 partners
02.09.2009 | Claudia Wendland and Fedde Jorritsma
| Previous | Next |
workshop participants visiting old dry toilet in Tampere
On monday 10 august 2009, participants of the safe and sustainable sanitation workshop arrived in the Technical university of Tampere. The workshop was a warming-up to the 3rd dry toilet conference in Tampere. Many topics around sanitation was taught and discussed. Prof. B. Jimenez from Mexico warned about the high resistence of Helminths eggs in human faeces. Dr. E. Viskari from Finland presented the benefits of reusing the materials. Dr. C. Wendland, WECF, addressed the important link between gender and sanitation and included a workshop about that.
The 3rd International Dry Toilet Conference was held in Tampere, Finland, on 12-15 August 2009 and organised by the Global Dry Toilet Organisation Finland. During those few intensive days, 184 delegates from 47 countries gathered together to discuss various aspects of dry/ecological sanitation. Many technical as well social aspects were presented as experimental research and or case-studies. All papers and presentations can be downloaded on http://www.drytoilet.org/dt2009/index.html.
Some of the highlights were:
- The persistence of helminth eggs in faeces.
- The latest research on medicines in urine and its behaviour in agriculture.
- A case-study from Bukina Faso where mobile UDD toilets became a good business for festivals.
- The barriers faced in Sweden for scaling up Ecosan including the lobby from the sewage system sector.
- The need for organic fertiliser esp, phosphorus to ensure the world´s food production.
It became clear that dry toilets have many benefits compared to conventional sewage systems however is facing still a lot of barriers for up-scaling mainly including institutionalisation, legislation and behavioural & psychological aspects of end-users.
In the final plenary the guiding question “What can be done in order to achieve MDGs in the area of safe sanitation and drinking water?” was discussed among all participants. Claudia Wendland pointed out that “We need to understand perceptions and taboos related to sanitation. Discrimination by gender, social and cultural aspects, handicap needs to be overcome.”
WECF visibility
WECF was clearly visible during the conference. Zenrainman (Vishvanath Srikantanai),one of the media gurus for ecosan from India, was quite impressed, see: http://twitter.com/zenrainman stating " This is one of the most amazing group of women I've ever come across http://www.wecf.eu/ and their work on sanitation is wonderful"
Apart from that WECF's 9 representatives of 6 organisations presented the following papers:
Claudia Wendland, WECF, Germany:
"Gender aspects of ecological sanitation with urine diverting dry toilets."
Bistra Mihaylova, WECF, Bulgaria, Belarus:
"From pit latrine to a safe and sustainable toilet.""From pit latrine to a safe and sustainable toilet."
Fedde Jorritsma, WECF, The Netherlands:
"The processes of adaption during the introducing urine diverting toilets in Kyrgyzstan."
Surayo Saidova, ASDP Nau, Tajikistan:
“School Sanitation Based on Urine Diverting Dry Toilets – A Case Study from Tajikistan."
Sergiu Andreev, WISDOM, Vitalie Samoil, Moldova:
"Solar thermal sanitation of human faeces - an affordable solution for ensuring sustainability of EcoSan activities."
Jamshed Ulmasov, SAFO, Tajikistan:
"Dry Toilets in Tajikistan."
Rauf Sabitov, Mountain Club Jablagy-Manas, Kazakhstan:
"Promotion of sustainable development of rural communities around especially protected natural areas in Kazakhstan."
Related News
 |
Workshop on Water Safety Plans: Challenges and Opportunities in the Field of Water and Sanitation |
|
Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making – Focus: Water and Health |
 |
European Citizens’ Initiative Calls for the Right to Water |
|
The World Water Forum 6: Time for Solutions |
 |
Gronings Water Bedrijf (Water Company) and WECF continue cooperation to distribute tulip water filters in rural Azerbaijan |
"If women and men from different countries work together in respect and mutual understanding, we can eliminate poverty and protect our planet and its resources for the next generations to come." 
