A Systems Approach to Sustainable Sanitation Challenges in Urbanising China (SASSI)

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Sanitation systems are entangled with social, technical and ecological systems at smaller and larger scales. How they are planned, implemented, managed, maintained and used has impact on sustainability outcomes. The transformation of national sanitation infrastructures, although usually implemented with the aim to improve human well-being, may carry adverse implications for human health, social relations and environmental sustainability. Yet, there is a lack of systematic and integrated evidence on the sustainability outcomes of transitions in sanitation systems. Such outcomes can depend on factors as diverse as context-specific resource availability, everyday practices and local value, belief and norm systems.The overall aim of this project is to contribute to improved human well-being as the overarching goal of the Sustainable Development agenda. It aims to enhance our understanding of complex human-environment interactions and their sustainability outcomes. It will highlight the need for sustainable sanitation systems in dense urban environments (SDG12, SDG10); support efforts to develop sanitation infrastructures that are culturally appropriate, more inclusive, economically viable and less wasteful (SDG6, SDG11); contribute to reducing inequalities in promoting sustainable sanitation for low-income areas (SDG10, SDG12); and help progress the improvement of living standards for the poor (SDG11) and the reduction of common health risks associated with the lack of appropriate sanitation (SDG3).The project will define and advance a systems approach for sanitation which situates basic human functions within wider human ecosystems of critical social, economic and environmental resources and social institutions, cycles and order. It will study possible sustainability outcomes across different sanitation systems (such as service-networked or sewage-based sanitation), environments (e.g., urban, peri-urban, rural) and temporal scales (to account for time lags, increased scale and pace and the indirect effects of sanitation) using various analytical approaches and state-of-the-art modelling. The project has four interlinked objectives: Obj1. To understand the components of (and their interaction within) different types of sanitation systems as well as how sanitation systems interact with other social, technical and environmental systems (system of systems)Obj2. To reveal the interactions between different sanitation systems and the Sustainable Development Agenda, SDGs and their targetsObj3. To co-develop with stakeholders models and tools to support informed decision making in sanitation towards sustainable developmentObj4. To build transdisciplinary capacity in sanitation research, design, planning, implementation, management and maintenanceThe project will focus on Shanghai (China) as a prime example of urban transformation. The mega-city offers opportunities to study the entanglement of co-evolving urban, peri-urban and rural environments at varying stages of infrastructural development. We will collect quantitative and qualitative data to understand infrastructural transitions over time and explore how possible context-specific policy- or design-focused interventions may contribute to sustainable development goals. Scenario building will allow us to consider plausible futures whilst taking into account possible uncertainties. The project will offer the comprehensive and transdisciplinary understanding of sustainability outcomes related to transitions in sanitation systems that is often missing from existing studies. The collaboration of investigators and members of the Advisory Board in academic (UoM, MMU, UoA, Tongji, UoT, UOx), applied (EAWAG, Sustainable Sanitation, Desire Lines) and policy-driven (UNU-IIGH) research with complementary strengths will add significant value to the project. It will facilitate the effective communication of findings to a wide range of end-users.