Going with the flow?: directions of innovation in the water and sanitation domain

This paper highlights challenges in terms of water and sanitation, and tests out how the concepts of directionality, diversity and distribution can act as guiding principles for future developments.

The report states that the issue of water is looming large on the international agenda, indicating the impetus created by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to halve by 2015 the proportion of people lacking access to clean water. Water resources for productive uses have also received increased focus given the recent food crisis, and the impacts of climate change.

The document finds the following:

• the history of formal interventions in the water sector needs to be reassessed, and new forms of generating, spreading and sharing knowledge investigated
• finding ways to secure people’s access to adequate water resources needs to draw on innovative ideas in terms of technological solutions and institutional frameworks
• rather than pursuing a unitary approach, Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) should encourage diversity and innovation
• with respect to distribution, it is vital to consider how opportunities for economic, environmental and social well-being are distributed in a given society, and against which large-scale prospects should be assessed.

In addition, the paper argues that some questions should be explored further, including: 

• what is the potential of deliberative processes in terms of assessing technological and institutional options?
• how can research engage more fruitfully with technological entrepreneurialism?
• how can innovative technologies be made to “go with the flow” rather than be pushed, gaining knowledge on particular problems and ways to solve them?
  

The authors conclude that it is not only about meeting the MDGs, but also bringing about fundamental changes in the way water challenges are approached that can help foster more sustainable, long-term solutions.