Congratulations to all 84 participants of the e-Learning course "Wastewater Treatment and Management of Urban Solid Waste - 2016" (Module 1 and Module 2), the first phase of the Project "Wastewater treatment: technical and managerial solutions for developing countries with severe environmental vulnerabilities"​ realized with the financial assistance of ATO3, the Water Authority of Turin. With 1340 relevant posts and 269 thematic discussions, this program set new records of participation and filled the past 16 weeks with important exchanges and experience sharing. Participants who scored a final grade of at least 65% will qualify for the Certificate of Attendance, which will be sent via e-mail in the next weeks. The top 10 candidates from the target countries of the Project (Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Kenya, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia) will also be contacted for accessing Phase 2: a3-week-traineeship in Italy to strengthen the knowledge on Wastewater Treatment and Management of Urban Solid Waste acquired during the e-Learning Phase. The final ranking will be available shortly.​

  "I thank Hydroaid and all of the tutors for this interesting course, which gave me the possibilities for teaching to some masters degree students juste after the end of the first Module. One University in my country solicited me to teach their student on wastewater beacause I explained them the very important course contents.
I take this opportunity to thank you all for every contribution throughout Module 1 and 2. It was really helpful, especially in sharing different experiences from different countries. I hope we continue our connection for further support and other concerns

Dear Fellow Participants and Tutors, I am so happy to express my heart-filled gratitude for the opportunity to tap into this pool of knowledge. My colleagues would agree with me that this course has really been successful. It has not been easy, especially combining it with field work where the internet is highly unstable. All in all, I am glad to be part of this very essential course. I wish all of us can have the opportunity to continue at Turin. Thanks folks and Tutors. Its been nice reading all the post, suggestions and ideas deposited on the platform.

We shared a lot of valuable experiences though we are so distant, thanks to Hydroaid that led the learning environment as if it had been a live class room. I would have never imagined such an interesting distance trainint. Shortly it was awesome and I am already going to miss you all. Wish you all the best and share BIG THANKS TO HYDROAID.

It is a privilege and a great honor to be part of this marvelous team in sharing expertise ideas and solutions in the field of solid waste management and watewater treatment. It had been a wonderful journey since the start of the cours
 
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The project “Wastewater treatment: technical solutions and infrastructure management for developing countries with severe environmental vulnerabilities” is an initiative of Hydroaid realized with the financial assistance of the International Cooperation Fund of ATO 3 “Autorità d’Ambito n.3 Torinese” (the Water Authority of Turin) with the goal of ensuring better sanitation services by providing managers and technicians with tools for designing, managing, monitoring and assessing all phases of wastewater treatment. For this purpose, the project relies on the collaboration with SMAT, founding member of Hydroaid and leader in the field of integrated water services.

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Dr. Armando Quazzo, Head of the Development & Marketing Department of SMAT, answered our questions on the commitment of SMAT for development cooperation.

SMAT is an established leader in the field of integrated water resource management thanks to its production and managerial systems, among the most advanced in Europe and the world. How does the mission of SMAT engage with the cooperation initiatives promoted by the local territory?

SMAT has always been very sensitive to all the international initiatives promoted by the territory and it often acted as the “technical arm” of the local institutions aiming to develop international initiatives in different countries. This close involvement has always been regarded as an important feature of the company as it allows a direct interchange with different realities which is the real trigger for improvement for all involved stakeholders.
 

Besides economic and financial goals, the issues of social responsibility and environment protection are a core part of SMAT policies for the management of public water. In developing and emerging countries, increasingly high growth index tend to fuel human pressures on natural resources. How can the experience of SMAT contribute to relief the contradiction between the rising water demand and the vulnerability of environmental systems?
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​The experience of SMAT in this regard can certainly be a great help, as the solution of problems connected to water distribution, as well as with collection and treatment of solid waste, is a complex challenge that requires merging components from technical, administrative, maintenance and regulatory resources. The exchange with a public utility characterized by a vertical structure for managing all these aspects allows a comparison and the application of best practices that can be replicated in different contexts.

SMAT is a founding member of Hydroaid and in the past 15 years it played an active role in the cooperation actions realized by the Association. Do you believe this collaboration contributed to reinforcing the international standing of the local territory in a field where public policies and governance models are essential elements for achieving sustainable development?
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​I am unable to answer with certainty whether the activity developed by SMAT through Hydroaid have accomplished the goal of enhancing the international standing of the territory. However I know that this cooperation did raise the awareness and the capacity of the local stakeholders in presenting themselves in the international scenario. I personally believe this is already a great result for the operators of a traditionally closed field.

Your lecture is dedicated to the economic regulation of integrated water services. In your opinion, what are the main challenges that the target countries involved in the project will face - in social, economic and environmental terms - to ensure access to efficient and sustainable services?

The clear challenge here is matching infrastructure plans adequate to the needs of the countries with tariffs that are sustainable for the population. As the water service is a vital one, as all essential services it is important that it is offered at a sustainable cost. This is the great challenge that urban planning and economic regulation will have to deal with in order to obtain the right balance allowing the provision of services in line with the expectations of citizens and industries, as well as supported by the contributive capacities of the users.
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