On: Workshop: Water Resources and Urbanization

Dr. Ulla Heinonen from Aalto University - Lifelong Learning Institute Dipoli and Water & Development Research Group gave a work shop about Participatory approach in Water Resources and Urbanization with the case of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The location was already familiar to me as I participated in the course City in Crisis last year. Our project concentrated of urban development, and change of mind sets, and only a bit on water.

First we wached a documentary, about Phnom Penh Water Supply authority, and how they are bit by bit connecting the city to tapped water.
The Connection — ADB Water Voices Documentary Series (1/3)
The Connection — ADB Water Voices Documentary Series (2/3)
The Connection — ADB Water Voices Documentary Series (3/3)
Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority Wins Stockholm Industry Water Award - SIWI

Then we were divided into groups, and everyone got an own role. I was a village chief / bicycle repairman in a urban slum settlement. Our problem was that we didn't have tapped water, only a water vendor who sold water to the other people in the area. The water vendor was reductant to the new pipes that the others wanted to build with the help of Phnom Penh Water Supply authority, but at the end we managed to propose a one pump suggestion that would need a worker to help distribute water to the other people of the slum and count the usage. At a later stage we wished that every house could have an own connection.