In community structures a lot of learning takes whether in a small village meeting, sub county dialogues and even at districts. This kind of learning is in most cases not documented even though its aimed at creating a permanent  positive change in a community. For example  a village dialogue about eliminating defecation in water ponds will create a lasting impact in the community because one person has talked about. This kind of learning is called adaptation learning.

Darwin ‘s Adaptation theory, also known as survival theory or survival of the fittest, is an organism’s ability to adapt to changes in its environment and adjust accordingly over time. Adaptations occur over generations of a species with those traits that help an individual animal eat and mate most profusely being passed down from generation to generation until the whole species changes to be better suited to their environment.This theory explains man ‘s ability to adapt to any environment basing on what others are doing at a particular time.

The idea of Community Led total Sanitation (CLTs) which focuses on eliminating open defecation (OD) where Communities are facilitated to conduct their own appraisal and analysis of open defecation (OD) and take their own action to become ODF (open defecation free) uses the same concept of adaptation.CLTS focuses on the behavioural change needed to ensure real and sustainable improvements – investing in community mobilisation instead of hardware, and shifting the focus from toilet construction for individual households to the creation of open defecation-free villages. The big idea comes through when individuals shift from what everyone seems to used to and adapting to health sustainable ways.

Transfer of learning is the application of skill, knowledge or understanding to resolve a novel problem or situation. which happens when certain conditions are fulfilled. Research indicates that learning transfer is infrequent; most common when “… cued, primed, and guided…”[22] and has sought to clarify what it is, and how it might be promoted through instruction. However whichever method that knowledge is transferred, adaptation is key in ensuring behaviour change at any level.

                      My imagination of how learning at institutional level occurs

References

www.wikpedia.com

www.bussinessdictionary.com

http://www.communityledtotalsanitation.org

A life changer

In Uganda millions of people have access to a mobile phone. For Ugandans mobile phones seem to be more than a device used to communicate, rather they are a way of life. One single text message can make a big difference. Why not use this knowledge to improve the hygiene and access to sanitation facilities?

In 2013 NETWAS Uganda partnered SMSONE to set up their first SMS campaign in Bombo through the DANIDA funded good governance project. Here water users are able to communicate with the service provider through a sms text. So the initiative has reached over a hundred people who are able to send an sms through the toll free numbers.

In many of the African countries like Uganda there is still big challenge to harmonize culture and the new ideas that keep cropping up each and every day. You realize that each of these new ideas is aiming at ensuring better and sustainable improved ways of living. For example the idea of mobile phones for WASH seems always manipulating, according to some communities and yet it looks at promoting effective communication, CLTs is the other initiative which has worked in many communities to eradicate ODF and still yet  many feel it hasn’t been successful.  Everything comes down to communication. When we communicate we use a lot more than just the verbal message that we want to get across. Often we don’t pay attention to the way we present ourselves, just as important as the verbal message is the non-verbal communication. Behavioural change is always the most important goal of our communication. Therefore before coming up with any community initiative, one has to design behaviour change strategy which should include:

• Research and proper planning
• Knowing the needs of the population

Different target groups will require different approaches. Therefore, when making decisions about which target groups and which factors to address, it is necessary to consider:

• which target groups are most vulnerable;
• which risk / vulnerability factors are most important;
• which factors may be related to the impact of conflict and displacement;
• which target groups and risk / vulnerability factors the community wants to address;
• what could be motivators for behavior change;
• what could be barriers to behavior change;
• what type of messages will be meaningful to each target group;
• which communication media would best reach the target group;
• which services/resources are accessible to the target group;
• which target groups and risk / vulnerability factors are feasible in terms of  expertise, resources and time.

At the Mumbai WSSCC International Sanitation Meeting in Aug 2011, Behaviour Change in Hygoene was identified as a WSSCC Knowledge Networking Priority, based on a popular voting process. A Group was formed and met for its first meeting to discuss the agenda and focus of Behaviour Change Communication COP during the WSSCC meeting. A very useful first report was prepared and shared with the partipants. The Group had raised the need for understanding BCC not as a social marketing approach of advertsising and communication agencies as is being done presently in WASH and Health Sectors. But to develop our understanding of the theory of social and political change that is at the root of peoples WASH behaviours.Unfortunately this could not be sustained.

Follow discussion

We have come to a point where organizations can no longer leave learning to their HR or training departments. Being able to understand emerging situations, see patterns, and co-solve problems are essential business skills. Learning is the work.

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Reblogged from Sanitation Updates:

Community engagement in water and sanitation service delivery is key for ensuring project sustainability and accountability.

This Topic Brief looks at community engagement approaches used by WSUP in three cities within the African Cities for the Future (ACF) programme: Antananarivo (Madagascar), Kumasi (Ghana) and Maputo (Mozambique).

Click on the image above to download the Topic Brief

The specific focus is on ways to encourage community involvement in the design of water supply and sanitation projects, and ways in which service providers can elicit input and feedback from people living in low-income communities.

Read more… 48 more words

Reblogged from 5 ideas to ....:

Year after year, the government struggles to provide growing populations with basic water and sanitation needs while mobile phones have become ambiguous in the developing world. Global statistics also indicate that most of the water problems today are as a result of poor governance in WASH. The low levels of accountability and transparency in the WASH sector have led to increase in number of broken pumps, contaminated water sources, unsafe water chains and so on.

Coordination of users with the service provider is vital to the success of ensuring sustainable service delivery. This document presents SMS as an effective channel of communication for water users and providers and how it can help in ensuring long term planning, monitoring, policy-making, and governance.

Getting high quality and useful information and knowledge to the community members has also been a problem. One of the main reasons for this is the lack of access to sources and channels of knowledge and information. But with the availability of mobile phones, radio spot messages within and availed to the communities, this process will allow increased dissemination of knowledge and information on WASH accountability.

3.0 Purpose of this Channel

The purpose of using this SMS channels is to introduce the rapidly growing use of mobile technology into activities that promote enhanced accountability in  WASH services provision, in particular by providing service users (e.g. citizens in general)  a greater voice in providing feedback on quality and quantity of services and support provided.

The issues to be addressed include among others: increased and facilitated communication, involve citizens that cannot afford expensive travel to offices to complain or ask for support, increased efficiency and effectiveness of services rendered, enhanced customer satisfaction among others.

Why an SMS?

During a household listing exercise and baseline survey, it was realized that most water users have access to mobile phones at their disposal than toilets.

The impact of SMS can be seen in almost every aspect of life, from teenagers’ fragmented attention spans, to presidential campaigns, to the ways victims of natural disasters seek relief.

SMS and mobile phones in general, get that one-to-one contact and engage rural, remote communities. Though it doesn’t have the best reach compared to the radio, thus there is need to combine the two, if we can reach out to the community and figure out what they’re thinking, what they’re saying, and put that on the radio so that it’s communities talking to communities in a localized manner to start more discussion, then it sparks more feedback through mobile phones. By using real voices and reports from communities, the service provider  is able to address the concerns and wants of the community and advocate for beneficiaries with a clearer idea of goals and need. SMS are effective and open channel of communication.

Expected Outcomes:

• Enhanced efficiency and effectiveness of WASH services provided under governance of local government
• Enhanced Town council level capacity to manage citizen’s involvement through mobile channels.
• A rapidly increase in citizens involvement in providing feedback and monitoring of WASH services

“Groundwater discharge is a critical part of flow in most streams–and the more we pump below the ground, the more we deplete water flowing down the stream,” said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. “When viewed over the long term, it is one big zero-sum game.”

Groundwater and surface-water systems are connected, and groundwater discharge is often a substantial component of the total flow of a stream. In many areas of the country, pumping wells capture groundwater that would otherwise discharge to connected streams, rivers, and other surface-water bodies. Groundwater pumping can also draw streamflow into connected aquifers where pumping rates are relatively large or where the locations of pumping are relatively close to a stream.

“Streamflow depletion caused by pumping is an important water-resource management issue across the nation because of the adverse effects that reduced flows can have on aquatic ecosystems, the availability of surface water, and the quality and aesthetic value of streams and rivers,” said Paul Barlow, USGS hydrologist and author on the report. “Managing the effects of streamflow depletion by wells is challenging, particularly because of the significant time delays that often occur between when pumping begins and when the effects of that pumping are realized in nearby streams. This report will help managers understand the many factors that control the timing, rates, and locations of streamflow depletion caused by pumping.”

Major conclusions from the report:

• Individual wells may have little effect on streamflow depletion, but small effects of many wells pumping within a basin can combine to produce substantial effects on streamflow and aquatic habitats.

• Basinwide groundwater development typically occurs over a period of several decades, and the resulting cumulative effects on streamflow depletion may not be fully realized for years.

• Streamflow depletion continues for some time after pumping stops because it takes time for a groundwater system to recover from the previous pumping stress. In some aquifers, maximum rates of streamflow depletion may occur long after pumping stops, and full recovery of the groundwater system may take decades to centuries.

• Streamflow depletion can affect water quality in the stream or in the aquifer. For example, in many areas, groundwater discharge cools stream temperatures in the summer and warms stream temperatures in the winter, providing a suitable year-round habitat for fish. Reductions in groundwater discharge to streams caused by pumping can degrade habitat by warming stream temperatures during the summer and cooling stream temperatures during the winter.

• The major factors that affect the timing of streamflow depletion are the distance from the well to the stream and the properties and geologic structure of the aquifer.

• Sustainable rates of groundwater pumping near streams do not depend on the rates at which groundwater systems are naturally replenished (or recharged), but on the total flow rates of the streams and the amount of reduced streamflow that a community or regulatory authority is willing to accept.