Current Project
Understanding Processes for Sustainability in Community-Managed Water Supply Systems
sponsored by World Vision
While many WaSH stakeholders have sought to learn by looking at system failures, we are looking closely at what has led to successful water systems and will apply lessons learned to improve programming.
This study will explore how factors such as WaSH committee characteristics contribute to the sustained functionality of water systems. We will conduct qualitative and participatory field research in rural communities in Kenya, Ghana, and Zambia, including interviews, focus groups, committee and community mapping and timeline activities, and observations. Additionally, the researchers will conduct interviews with key stakeholders within World Vision. This qualitative work will add detail and explanation to quantitative studies by The Water Institute at UNC and others that point to functionality factors, but cannot provide insight into how and why these factors are linked with functionality.
The Water Institute at UNC aims to understand the processes supporting sustainability to explain how and why certain water systems are highly functional and inform best practices that facilitate successful management.
Water Institute Researchers
Jamie Bartram – Principal Investigator
Tori Klug – Lead Researcher
Kate Shields – Research Advisor
Ryan Cronk – Researcher
Nikki Behnke – Researcher
Leah Everist – Researcher
Emma Kelly –Researcher
Kristen Lee – Researcher
Julian Oliver – Researcher

