Governance

I was in Bhavnagar - Saurashtra, Gujarat and came across rooftop rainwater harvesting works implemented by (one more than 10 years ago) by Utthan with financial assistance from WASMO, along the same lines as what SACHETANA is attempting . These have strongly withstood the test of time and ALL of the rooftop rainwater tanks I saw (more than 120) were functioning and people were using this water exclusively for drinking and cooking. Here is a proof of concept idea which has withstood the test of time and which is ripe to be taken to areas of high fluoride and arsenic as one possible solution. Even in Gujarat this has unfortunately not happened in the fluoride affected areas at a scale which would benefit people.

A member of the PLC Watsan group Dhani behn, has built an Ecosan toilet for herself - one of the first in Gujarat-about a year back. This is one of the best toilets on Ecosan I have seen and the simple and elegant story of the same is hugely impressive. It is located in Bhavnagar Saurashtra - Gujarat. She was part of an exposure visit of PLC WatSan to a MYRADA project in Karnataka implementing ecosan. She has one simple reason for use of the toilet- it's less use of water. Even with a twin pit pour flush about 5 litres of water gets used for a single flush and in a day 20 to 25 litres of water can get flushed by one person. Even this is too much in arid and semi arid Gujarat. The transfer of knowledge has resulted in an elegant solution to an otherwise vexing issue that can be made applicable on a larger scale across the state. There exists tremendous interest in Eco-san from other parts of Gujarat too including the coast with its high and saline water table and the tribal hamlets with its hard rock terrain and the rest with a lot of water shortage.

ABSTRACT

Image and Content Courtesy: Deshpande Foundation The Deshpande Fellowship Program is a unique opportunity for budding social entrepreneurs. The Fellowship is an interactive, applied learning experience that aims to foster a generation of successful social entrepreneurs. Participants will learn existing best practices and engage with the foremost social entrepreneurs and local innovators to develop a working knowledge of leading social change models. The program will leverage this theoretical framework to aid each participant in the creation of an individualized proposal for social change. Fellows will be expected to implement their innovations with partner institutions. Twenty (25) Fellowships will be awarded. The last date for application is 1 May 2009. Women are encouraged to apply. Period: August 2009 till January 2010. Deadline: Apply by 1 May 2009.

"Megh Pyne Abhiyan" is a network of NGOS that has been working in flood affected areas in Bihar with Arghyam support for the past few years. MPA has been grappling with the idea of providing clean water and sanitation in Bihar.

Image and Content Courtesy: Development Alternatives

The nonprofit landscape is changing very fast , are you keeping up?

Given this backdrop, a Joint -Venture by the United Nations mandated University for Peace and TARA Livelihood Academy a unit of Development Alternatives is offering a 1-day intensive professional development short course titled, 'Nonprofit Leadership: Maximizing Impact'. The course will be held on 27^th March, 2009 at Institute of Social Sciences, 8 Nelson Mandela Road, Vasant Kunj , New Delhi. The course fees is Rs 3,500/- which includes all course materials, lunch, tea/coffee breaks and the course certificate.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become a tool with widespread use in development applications. The power of a GIS can have positive influence in community based planning and scientific decision-making for developmental activities. Commercial GIS softwares are not always an economical and easy-to-use option.

Author: Jayanta Bandyopadhay, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta Published: April 2009 Pages : 212 Imprint : SAGE India Water, Ecosystems and Society is an excellent guide to interdisciplinary knowledge on water. It draws attention to ecological benefits of floods, economic productivity of water systems and the feasibility of the proposed river-link project of India. It focuses on the need to recognise ecosystem services provided by rivers as well as the necessity of environmental flows in such a system. The book deals with emerging areas of research, by connecting ecology, economics and water management. It will be a compelling read for academicians and students working in the fields of geography and environment science, development economics, environmental sociology, ecology, integrated water management and so on.