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United Nations University
International Network on Water, Environment and Health
The
"Four Pillars" Approach to Water
Sustainability
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Introduction
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The Global Water Crisis
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Creating a New Paradigm
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The Four Basic Requirements
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The Four Stakeholder Groups
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The Four Pillars of Capacity Building
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The Urban Water Cycle
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UNU/INWEH’s Contribution
Introduction
The international Network on Water, Environment and Health (INWEH) is a program established in 1996 by the United Nations University (UNU) to address the growing crisis in water quality and availability in the developing world.
UNU/INWEH has collaborated closely with members of both the public and the private sectors to develop an effective water stewardship concept and process. The concept helps those involved in water issues to better understand the full scope of requirements for sustainability, and provides a process that can be applied to achieve the goal. A central feature of the process is a capacity-building framework that is used as a matrix to identify gaps in existing capacities, grouped into four categories, or 'pillars' of sustainable water stewardship. This information can be organized into a coherent, accurately priced and integrated plan for developing sustainable systems and practices. This "Four-Pillar" framework can also be used to align the efforts of agencies at the municipal, state and federal levels to develop the synergies needed to achieve the shared goal of sustainability.
The Global Water Crisis
The urgent and deepening crisis in water stewardship throughout the developing world is truly a global problem. Worldwide, water shortages and rising demand are leading to escalating competition for access to clean water in both rural and urban areas. The impact on human health is severe, with millions of deaths each year from water-borne diseases, while water pollution and aquatic ecosystem destruction continues to escalate. The water crisis threatens global progress towards sustainable development in the next
millennium.
Among the important and complex factors contributing to the water crisis in developing countries are the incomplete and fragmented understanding of requirements for sustainable water stewardship, the gaps in local capacities - scientific, educational, institutional, managerial and political - and the failure to put in place the full suite of enabling systems needed to achieve sustainability. The mission of
UNU/INWEH is to improve awareness and understanding of water issues and solutions, to contribute to the resolution of the "capacity deficit" through capacity-building programs, and to help establish sustainable systems and practices through directed technical and scientific assistance.
Globally, water management infrastructure and services have traditionally been provided for the most part by the private sector, primarily from the North, with funding from international development organizations. Regrettably, these services have often been costly and ineffective over the long term, driven by a supply-side, top-down approach, and led by outside experts, usually from developed countries. The outcome has often been a staggering debt burden borne by developing countries with few, if any, of the economic, social and human health benefits expected from the investment.
There is a growing recognition that a new way is needed, one of realistic planning, integrated action, community-level multi-stakeholder participation and greater equity in the North-South relationship, all providing continuous progress towards sustainable results.
UNU/INWEH is implementing and championing this new way in its engagement with developing-country partners.
Creating a New Paradigm
The inherent complexity and diversity of aquatic ecosystems is part of the problem in finding workable water-management solutions.
UNU/INWEH began by focusing on urban water, an important component of the ecosystem, thereby reducing the complexity to manageable proportions. Models and methods are first being designed specifically for urban water and will later be expanded to broader ecosystem scales.
The process started with a broad-based assessment of past efforts around the world to manage water in sustainable ways. Experiences from both the North and the South were considered and lessons learned elsewhere were analyzed for their applicability. The outcome is a new way of looking at sustainability, including:
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A practical understanding of the basic requirements that should be in place or developed in any country, state or municipality for sustainable water stewardship to be effective.
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Confirmation of the important role of stakeholder consultation and community participation.
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An explicit, inclusive model that simplifies the essential components of sustainable water stewardship and aids in understanding their interdependency.
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Clarification of the realities of urban water stewardship, i.e. urban water flows in a continuous loop, interacts with the surrounding and adjacent hydrological basins, and eventually returns to the consumer. Programs that develop a community water culture are required to achieve and maintain sustainability, in addition to the traditional operations, management, enforcement and compliance systems.
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Sustainable water stewardship and the process of developing enabling systems - whether for the aquatic ecosystem as a whole, or specific to urban water - are complex and challenging. To aid in understanding the full range of issues and methodologies, a simple holistic model was developed. This model breaks sustainable water stewardship down into four interrelated categories of activities, each with four components.
Although the model lays out a systematic way to plan for and achieve sustainability, it also allows for an iterative approach in developing and applying solutions. Some countries will not be able to meet the requirements in the foreseeable future, but can begin by putting in pace strategically important components of the overall system. The model provides a context in which these components can be applied and a development process followed.
Figure 1:
Creating & maintaining a Sustainable Urban Water Cycle
The Four Basic Requirements
Any nation, state or city planning to develop a water stewardship system needs to satisfy four essential prerequisites for sustainability. These are
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The awareness, understanding and commitment of citizens to the goal of sustainable water stewardship,
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The human resources available to be educated and trained in the principles and practices of sustainable water stewardship,
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The financial resources needed to pay for the development and operation of the capacities and enabling systems, and
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The commitment of the political system to the goal of sustainability and the continuity needed to achieve that goal.
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Developing countries often lack one or more of these basic requirements. When aid funding is provided, it is essential that an informed assessment be made from a long-term, holistic point of view as to where and how these funds can be best applied. Historically, resources have often been applied to worthwhile but isolated efforts, such as institutional strengthening, that failed to have any long-term impact. The poorest of the poor countries are often also encouraged to borrow funds from international financial institutions to purchase engineered infrastructure that cannot be sustained over the long term. These infrastructure projects are often counterproductive to socio-economic development because the associated debt becomes an unsupportable burden to the people of the country.
The Four Stakeholder Groups
Experience has shown that a top-down approach to water stewardship is, at best, limited in its effectiveness. Sustainable, responsible use of water begins in the hearts and minds of individuals, who make up neighborhoods, communities, cities, states and nations. The cumulative impact of their attitudes and actions ultimately determines whether or not sustainability is achieved. The importance of this contribution was evident in developing the Four-Pillar Model and Program. Stakeholders from four distinct groups were brought together. They contributed individually and collectively, and defined specific roles for each to play in achieving sustainability. The cumulative effect of this process was much greater than the sum of the individual contributions. The broader perspective that evolved led to more effective solutions. The four groups that need to be involved are:
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The public sector.
Within a specific urban community, the water supply and sanitation agency has the direct responsibility to ensure that a sustainable urban water cycle is in place. This includes quantity and quality protection as well as provision of efficient and effective services to users. Officials can also play a facilitating role in non-technical areas such as public awareness building and education.
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Academia.
Academic institutions make an essential contribution to the capacity building component in the areas of applied research, education and training, and develop community awareness on water issues. Academics are trusted by the community and provide a measure of credibility to the capacity building efforts and to the goal of sustainability.
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Community-based organizations.
NGO's and other less formal, community-based organizations can directly reflect the aspirations and concerns of the people and are often created out of a need to solve a problem or have a voice on an issue that directly affects them. These organizations are important because they can serve as bi-directional channels providing information to the people and input into the decision-making process. Generally, the more information provided to, and input received from the community, the greater the commitment of citizens and the more successful the program.
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The private sector.
The private sector has a large vested interest in sustainability. Permanent water management systems and practices create stable markets and support informed clients for sales of products and services. Effective systems and practices reduce risk, improve the return to investors and generate locally-available commodities needed to sustain the urban water cycle. Given the vitally important role of the private sector, it is important that they have a voice in the development of the systems for which they will provide essential products and services.
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Stakeholder engagement is a contentious issue, particularly in countries without a history of democracy. However, in even the least benevolent of regimes, sustainability comes from individual understanding, conviction and behaviour that cannot be forced. Ultimately, regardless of the power structure, it is in the best interests of everyone to inform and consult with the users of the resource and to engage the stakeholders who are responsible for creating and managing the sustainable systems.
The Four Pillars of Capacity Building
The "Four-Pillar" Framework is a visual way of gathering
all of the capacities needed for sustainability, and organizing them into
categories or "pillars". These pillars include the capacities required at the
community, state and federal levels of responsibility. The framework can be used
as a matrix to identify gaps in existing capacities according to the four key
categories, which can then be organized into a coherent, costed and integrated
development plan for implementation.=
The four interdependent pillars used in the matrix are:
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Pillar 1 - the capacity
to educate and train,
including community awareness building, adult training and
formal education, so as to provide sufficient numbers of
competent human resources to develop and apply enabling
systems,
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Pillar 2 - the capacity to measure and understand aquatic
systems,
through monitoring, applied research, technology development and forecasting, so that reliable data is used for analysis and decision-making.
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Pillar 3 - the capacity to legislate, regulate and achieve compliance through effective governmental, non-governmental and private sector institutions and through efficient enforcement and community acceptance.
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Pillar 4 - the capacity to provide appropriate, affordable water infrastructure, services and products
through sustained investment and management by both private enterprises and public agencies.
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This easily understood framework is an effective tool for organizing integrated plans of action, for building consensus and for improving equity in the assignment of roles, responsibilities and costs among stakeholders. The model can have broad applicability, suitable for use by all levels of government and for a wide range of issues beyond urban water stewardship, including watershed protection and marine coastal-zone management.
The capacities defined and classified in the Four-Pillar framework should not be confused with sustainable systems and practices. The capacities are in fact the tools that can be used to develop and apply the enabling systems which, when fully in place and functioning, result in supply and demand balance. The four-stage urban water cycle is also a useful tool for breaking down the planning and implementation process into manageable components.
The Urban Water Cycle
The starting point for wise water stewardship is the understanding that urban water, from source to final disposition, flows through a series of four inter-related stages in a continuous cycle. The cycle concept illustrates some important facts about urban water:
Waste and contamination at any stage impacts negatively on the sustainability of the cycle as a whole and on the health and safety of the community making use of that water,
Urban planning, without consideration of the water cycle, results in water supply shortages, deteriorating aquifer water quality, groundwater infiltration into the distribution system, endemic health problems and other symptoms of an unsustainable situation,
Every citizen, institution, agency and enterprise in the community has a contribution to make towards the goal of sustainability.
Figure
2. The urban water cycle consists of (1) source, (2) water
treatment and distribution, (3) use and reuse, and (4) wastewater
treatment and disposition, as well as the connection of the cycle
to the surrounding and adjacent hydrological basins. The cycle
concept is a useful tool for stakeholder and community education
and for consensus building around an action plan. The goal,
restoring and maintaining the balance between the current demands
of the community for water and the need to preserve the aquatic
ecosystem for the benefit of future generations, becomes
understandable. Table 1 lists some of the enabling systems and
practices that can be developed within an urban community.
UNU/INWEH’s Contribution
The original concepts presented in this document represent the collective experience of a large and diverse group of individuals from all over the world. Furthermore, while there are many organizations that are leaders in specific areas such as cleaner industrial production or municipal wastewater treatment, few, if any, organizations specialize in the holistic approach described here.
UNU/INWEH can best fulfill its mandate and make a contribution to easing the global water crisis by being the organization that further develops, applies and, through cumulative experience, coordinates the evolution of this holistic, integrated concept.
As an organization with global responsibilities, there are four areas of service that UNU/INWEH has established. The four principle roles that UNU/INWEH can play are:
An educator and awareness builder on integrated methods for achieving sustainability, by providing training courses, workshops, symposia, conferences and other forms of presentation on the subject
An organizer, moderator, coach and integrator of multi-stakeholder engagement, by assisting communities in organizing and managing the public participation process,
A capacity builder, by providing diagnosis and assessment, and organizing the process,
A provider of technical, scientific and managerial assistance in developing the enabling systems for sustainability, by advising water agencies, organizing development projects and applying enabling systems.
Each of these services will be provided with the full participation of agencies, institutions and enterprises with expertise in the specific areas. Looking into the future, UNU/INWEH expects to apply its role in each of the categories defined in the model:
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The Basic Requirements
Responsibility for developing systems to meet the four basic requirements in specific countries rests with a host on national and international agencies.
UNU/INWEH can play a useful initiating and supporting role by using water as a focal point for assessment, planning and action.
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The Stakeholder Participation Process|
One of the most useful services that UNU/INWEH can provide is fostering and organizing effective stakeholder participation.
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Four-Pillars Capacity Building
UNU/INWEH will assist communities, state agencies and federal authorities in assessing capacities, planning development projects, bringing together and engaging capacity builders and ensuring the continuity of the capacity building process.
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Developing and Applying Enabling Systems
There are approximately twenty-five enabling systems linked to a sustainable urban water cycle (see Table 1).
UNU/INWEH has begun the process of putting together teams of experts for each system ranging from well water supply telemetry systems to industrial water conservation and discharge pretreatment programs. While consultants will provide some of these services,
UNU/INWEH will have a program in place to train them in capacity building principles, practices and philosophies.
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UNU/INWEH is uniquely qualified for this role and can offer the following benefits:
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A specific focus on water and sustainability as they apply to protection of human health and the environment,
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A non-competitive, inclusive organization within which the best skills and most relevant experiences can be brought together from anywhere in the world,
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A true network working mainly through project partners and alliances,
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The recognized United Nations role as a neutral, honest broker operating without the constraints of vested self-interest,
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A channel to apply successes to other parts of the globe where similar needs exist,
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The credibility and flexibility of a non-traditional university,
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Knowledge and understanding of local issues, problems and their solutions through the full participation of local and national professionals,
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A platform where diverse groups of stakeholders can gather, collaborate and contribute to solutions. |
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Table 1. Some Examples of Community-based Enabling Systems for A Sustainable Urban Water Cycle
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