Browsing by Author "Tiberghien, Jacques-Edouard"

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    A Holistic Approach to the Assessment of Sanitation Development in Mexican Villages
    (Cranfield University, 2002-03) Tiberghien, Jacques-Edouard; Tyrrel, Sean
    Lack of, or inadequate sanitation development is a serious issue worldwide, especially in developing countries, where it severely affects human health, the environment and the economy. Despite the 'Water Decade' (1980-1990) and the repeated commitment of the international community to address sanitation development as a priority, the proportion of people enjoying good sanitary conditions in developing countries has not improved during the 1990s. During the last 30 years, post-colonial engineering-oriented approaches to sanitation development were gradually supplanted by multidisciplinary strategies. However, the specialists (e.g. engineers, epidemiologists, economists, sociologists, anthropologists, etc.) involved in development programs tend to view sanitation development from the narrow perspective of their respective discipline. As a consequence, sanitation development is perceived in a fragmented way. This research assumes that this fragmented perception is a major cause of the current state of sanitation worldwide and proposes to improve the understanding of sanitation development by viewing it as a whole. A methodology principally based on qualitative methods of investigation was set up to assess sanitation development in a holistic way. This approach was then tested on three communities in Central and South Mexico. For each case study, the main factors influencing sanitation development and their relationships were identified and organised graphically on paper in the form of conceptual maps. The holistic approach to the assessment of sanitation development is comprehensive and transparent. Despite some weaknesses, the conceptual maps successfully highlight the diversity and the interconnectedness of the factors influencing sanitation development. This research identifies major political, cultural, or economic factors hindering sanitation development throughout Mexico and explains how they interact as a system. As a consequence, this study constitutes an original and valuable attempt to counterbalance the habit of breaking up sanitation development into distinct and separate disciplines. It calls for more interaction in development programs, converting multidisciplinary teams into interdisciplinary teams. Although this study efficiently tackles the fragmented perception issue, a deeper insight into sanitation development can be gained by addressing it in more detail from critical macro-economic and macro-political perspectives. Testing of the holistic approach to the assessment of sanitation development in the context of real life projects is required to validate its usefulness as a decision-making aid.
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    Reflexive assessment of practical and holistic sanitation development tools using the rural and peri-urban case of Mexico
    (Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, 2011-03-31T00:00:00Z) Tiberghien, Jacques-Edouard; Robbins, P. T.; Tyrrel, Sean F.
    Lack of sanitation affects the lives of billions of people worldwide. It is now generally agreed that sustainable solutions to this complex problem require social and cultural factors to be addressed in addition to the habitual economic and technical aspects. Increasingly, sector professionals view the fragmented approaches to sanitation as a limiting factor. This refers to the fragmentation of the knowledge on the subject among often hermetic disciplines and to the distribution of political mandates on sanitation across many institutions, which independently tackle specific aspects of the issue. Holistic approaches have often been suggested as a solution. This paper presents the development of such a holistic approach, designed to assess sanitation development in rural and pen- urban settings. Tested in three Mexican communities, it relies on qualitative research tools to identify critical influences to sanitation development. This article presents generic results about micro and macro-factors affecting sanitation development in Mexican villages, and reflexively examines the research process as well as the strengths and limitations of the approach. The conceptual map developed for each case study successfully highlights the interconnectedness of all factors affecting sanitation development. Despite some weaknesses, these maps constitute a practical assessment tool for interdisciplinary teams deployed in integrated water and sanitation development programs and a valuable didactic tool for training activities. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.