There is a lot going in the SPANS project in Uganda right now.
We have started demonstration units of nutrient-recovery treatment technologies for fecal sludge at the Luibgi wastewater treatment plant in Kampala. Two MSc students from Luleå University of Technology are currently operating demonstration units for treatment with lime and urea. The students are collecting and analyzing samples to determine if the technologies are functioning properly with regard to reduction of public and environmental health risks. They are also doing interviews with workers at the wastewater treatment plant and other stakeholders to understand the levels of acceptance and feasibility of implementing such technologies within the existing management structures. Soon two students from Makerere University will be starting a demonstration unit with Black Soldier Fly composting at the wastewater treatment plant.
Two MSc students from Lund University are also in Kampala for two months to study farmer demand for nutrient recovered fertilizer. They are conducting interviews and focus groups with farmers around Kampala in order to understand socio-cultural barriers towards nutrient recovering technologies from the farmers’ perspective, as well as, how to overcome these barriers through a mutual learning process using participatory methods.
In February, Monica Billger from Chalmers and Jennifer McConville from SLU held a workskop on the use of serious gaming in sanitation planning with stakeholders in Kampala. The workshop was well attended, and the response to gaming was overwhelmingly positive. An education game was also used in a lecture to 120 civil engineering students at Makerere University. The SPANS project will be developing a serious game to inform decision-making in sanitation planning and recycling of nutrient resources.
Contact
Jennifer McConville