Alumni Usambara
„Access to Water -Watershed Management Planning“
Tansania
DAAD - 2019 - 2020
This DAAD-funded project had a duration from 2019 - 2020 under the leadership of ZEW at the University of Siegen.
On the African side, the University of Dar es Salaam - Department of Water Resources Engineering, the Water User Association (Rangwi-Lushoto District) and on the German side the University of Applied Sciences (Frankfurt), the University of Applied Sciences Bielefeld (Campus Minden), as well as the Society for the Promotion of Local Initiatives e.V. (Bad Soden) were involved.
The 12-day alumni seminar with 20 participants from Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, DR Congo and Tanzania was held in Lushoto with 10 participants from the local water authority and the local representatives of the affected communities. The 10 participants from the surrounding villages were invited to analyze the water supply situation. Methods of participatory collaboration were adapted to local conditions. Participants were able to bring their own expertise as direct input to the seminar to solve the existing rural water supply challenges. These were complemented by planning methods and calculations from representatives of German universities. A situation analysis was conducted on the given example of the local supply situation in the area and a plan of next steps for the community was formulated. The content of the seminar was strongly practice-oriented, in order to prepare possible projects for the improvement of the access to the resource water with the compiled result.
The second seminar in 2020 was held as a hybrid seminar due to the Corona pandemic.
Due to the current crisis, many new ways of communication and cooperation are currently being developed. The participating alumni had the opportunity to learn about and apply various new virtual technologies and methods.
A mixture of online and face-to-face formats was chosen for the exchange of the virtually participating alumni with the local actors from the Usambara region. Prior to the start of the face-to-face seminars, the alumni were trained in various online technologies to prepare them for communication in the meetings and, more importantly, to be able to conduct online seminars independently in the future. The group of local stakeholders was invited to Mambo Viewpoint Lodge for three face-to-face seminars facilitated in collaboration with Tanzanian alumni. Other participants were connected virtually. In this mix, it was possible to jointly review and further advance the plans of the local water boards. On the one hand it was possible to work professionally, on the other hand the whole group received an intensive and practical training in online tools by the specially selected partner "2811".
The form of direct documentation through jointly created pdf's, video recordings during the seminar and the creation of short documentaries and interviews opens up a new field of activity for practice-oriented seminars. Participatory tools gain a new value through direct documentation.
The GAWN network held one of the first international hybrid seminars in Africa and gained valuable experience for the network.