About this course: The world is facing unprecedented humanitarian needs. Today’s humanitarian crisis tend to be greater in number, often in urban settings, longer in duration and broader in regional impact. They generate human sufferings on a greater scale, disrupt essential services, such as water supply or sanitation and put health of large population at risk. Engineers and technical specialists in water, sanitation, energy, environment, and in other related fields play a vital role to respond to these challenges and growing needs. In the humanitarian sector, they are called the public health engineers and today they are increasingly needed! Why public health engineering matters so much in humanitarian crises? And how its related activities are carrying out in such complex environment? This is what this MOOC is all about! The EPFL, EAWAG-SANDEC and ICRC have decided to partner to guide you through this introduction to the fascinating field of public health engineering in humanitarian contexts.
Who is this class for: This course is an introduction – the only requirements are an Internet connection and an interest in the topic. A general background in engineering would help to fully benefit from this course.
Created by: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Taught by: Christoph Lüthi, Dr.
Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development / Eawag
Taught by: Javier Cordoba
Water & Habitat Unit / ICRC
| Level | Beginner |
| Commitment | 4 - 6 hours/week |
| Language | English, Subtitles: French, Spanish |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Public Health Engineering
The first week introduces the topic of public health engineering and see how engineers can have a significant impact to reduce the mortality and morbidity encountered in many humanitarian contexts. In order to do so, engineers should have a good understanding on how infectious diseases are transmitted. This is why you will be introduced to different environmental transmission pathways of diseases and you will see some measures to be taken to prevent the spread of some diseases. Real study case examples will be introduced to support the understanding.
11 videos, 8 readings, 2 practice quizzes
- Video: Teaser
- Reading: About the course
- Reading: Further reading
- Reading: Week description and objectives
- Reading: Introduction
- Video: Course overview
- Video: Why public health engineering matters?
- Reading: Infectious diseases
- Video: Environmental transmission pathways
- Practice Quiz: F-Diagram
- Video: Waterborne pathogens
- Reading: Water quantity and quality requirements
- Video: Introduction to water quality criteria
- Video: How does drinking water become unsafe?
- Video: Water quantity
- Practice Quiz: Water consumption worldwide
- Reading: Vector control
- Video: Introduction to vector control
- Video: Case study - Plague in Madagacar
- Reading: Summary
- Video: Summary Week 1
Graded: Exam of week 1
WEEK 2
Humanitarian contexts
During this week, the humanitarian context in which public health engineering activities take place is presented. We will see how protracted conflicts affect urban essential services, such as water supply and sanitation, resulting in public health issues.
9 videos, 5 readings, 1 practice quiz
- Reading: Week description and objectives
- Reading: Introduction
- Video: Introduction to humanitarian contexts
- Practice Quiz: The fundamentals principles in action
- Reading: Humanitarian response
- Video: Planning and assessment
- Video: Case study - Bringing precious water in rural environment
- Video: Case study - Responding to emergencies
- Reading: Urban challenges
- Video: Urban contexts
- Video: Impact of protracted armed conflicts on essential urban services
- Video: A Call for a Better Urban Approach
- Video: Case study - Water and Iraq 1991 -2003
- Peer Review: Interdependance of essential services
- Reading: Summary
- Video: Summary of the week
Graded: Exam of week 2
WEEK 3
WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS
The week does a review of water technologies commonly used from the source to the distribution point. We discuss some pros and cons of different water systems that may be encountered in humanitarian contexts.
8 videos, 8 readings
- Reading: Week description and objectives
- Reading: Introduction
- Video: Introduction to water supply systems
- Video: Case study - water supply in emergencies
- Reading: Water source selection
- Video: Water Source Selection
- Reading: Intake & Abstraction
- Video: Intake
- Video: Abstraction
- Reading: Water treatment
- Video: Water Treatment
- Reading: Water Distribution, Transport & User safety
- Video: Water Distribution, Transport & User safety
- Reading: Further info on "Household water treatment and storage"
- Reading: Summary
- Video: Summary
Graded: Exam of week 3
WEEK 4
Sanitation
The fourth week does a review of sanitation technologies and excreta management. Case studies illustrate some challenges and practices in humanitarian sector.
11 videos, 7 readings
- Reading: Week description and objectives
- Reading: Introduction
- Video: Introduction to sanitation
- Video: Sanitation products
- Reading: Sanitation systems
- Video: Excreta management in humanitarian crisis
- Video: Sanitation technology selection
- Reading: Sanitation technologies
- Video: On-site collection and storage technologies
- Video: Collection and storage/treatment - Anaerobic technologies
- Video: Conveyance technologies: Case study on Ebola waste management
- Video: [Semi] Centralized treatment technologies - Treatment stages
- Video: [Semi] Centralized treatment - Aerobic Technologies
- Video: Anaerobic Technologies: Case study - Prisons running on biogas
- Reading: Further information on sanitation technologies
- Reading: Summary
- Reading: Case study - The battle against sewage in Gaza
- Video: Summary Week 4
Graded: Exam of week 4
WEEK 5
Waste management & Hygiene promotion
We focus on a type of solid waste that public health engineers often encounter in humanitarian crises: medical waste. Finally, we discuss the critical issue of behavior change and hygiene promotion in humanitarian crises.
5 videos, 8 readings, 1 practice quiz
- Reading: Week description and objectives
- Reading: Introduction
- Video: Introduction to week 5
- Reading: Further info on solide waste management
- Reading: Hygiene promotion
- Video: A systematic approach to behavior change
- Reading: Further reading on hygiene promotion in emergencies
- Reading: Medical waste management
- Video: Medical Waste Management - Part a
- Video: Medical Waste Management - Part b
- Reading: Example of medical waste management
- Practice Quiz: Medical waste mangement worldwide
- Reading: Summary
- Video: Conclusion
Graded: Exam of week 5
FAQs
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Ratings and Reviews
A highly recommended course for those of us who work in water and sanitation engineering. It helps to review many concepts and presents materials that can be deepened by following the links to the supporting documents. Besides, we can all live or help in crisis situations, so it is very positive in order to update our foundation knowledge.
This a great course for anyone who would like to get an introduction into the complexities of public health engineering in humanitarian contexts. General content on humanitarian response in emergencies is linked sufficiently with an introduction to the provision of water, sanitation and hygiene services.
An useful material for my knowledge and research interests
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