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.

On: Lecture: Water Resources Management

Dr. Marko Keskinen, from Aalto Unversity's Water & Development Research Group gave a lecture on Water Resources Management and presented cases from the Mekong river area. Some starting points were that the volume of water is fixed, but its use increases. Population growth and urbanisation leads to changes in consumption patterns and diets, and all of that increases water usage. Also climate change is connected to water and many water uses decreases water quality.

We were asked to talk about different questions in small groups. The first question was: What do you think are the most critical regions in terms of water scarcity in 2020? Why? When we went through the conclusions all groups mentioned Africa and Asia, and some Middle-East, as the population there is biggest and there is a lot of poor people. Still we thought that the rich anywhere would have access to water, since they demand piped water and can buy good quality drinking water.

The second small group discussion was to figure out which is the most important one of the five changes mentioned in the lecture: Population growth & urbanisation, Development issues
(informal sector, polarisation, health), Energy production, Climate change, Environmental degradation. We came to the conclusion that all of them are wicked problems, but the population growth might be the trickiest one, as it somehow links to all the others. The climate change and all the uncertainty around that are big issues too, and the most sad one could be biodiversity, since many spices could just vanish without us ever knowing about them and what they meant to the world.

Water and Sanitation in developing countries (Eawag/Sandec training tool)