About this Course

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Do you want to learn how to plan affordable and context-specific sanitation solutions? Be up-to-date on the newest developments in urban sanitation planning and programming? Get to know best practice examples of urban sanitation systems in low- and middle-income countries? If yes, this course is for you! 
This course provides you with an introduction to integrated sanitation planning, both on a citywide scale and for specific contexts such as informal settlements. You will become familiar with different sanitation planning frameworks as well as different systems and technologies relevant along the sanitation value chain. You will learn why systems’ thinking is crucial for urban environmental sanitation, and how to apply key terminology and important concepts. 

INSTRUCTION Eawag-Sandec and EPFL jointly offer this course with support from sanitation experts of the World Bank and WHO. 

LANGUAGES We simultaneously offer this course in English and French. The name of the French course is « Planification & Design des Systèmes et Technologies d’Assainissement ». 

MOOC SERIES This course is one of four in the series “Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development".

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Intermediate Level

Approx. 17 hours to complete

English

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Skills you will gain

Urban Planning
Environmental Protection
Engineering Design
Wastewater Engineering

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Intermediate Level

Approx. 17 hours to complete

English

Could your company benefit from training employees on in-demand skills?

Try Coursera for Business

Instructor

Instructor rating

4.63/5 (187 Ratings)

Christoph Lüthi

Dr.

Strategic Environmental Sanitation Planning Sandec/Eawag

44,253 Learners

3 Courses

Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating99%(7,132 ratings)

Week1

Week 1

6 hours to complete

Introduction to sanitation planning & systems approach

To get started, you will get an overview of why sanitation is important for human health and environmental protection, especially in urban areas. Then, you will learn about what an Enabling Environment is and why it is important. Towards the end of the first week, you will get a taste of some state-of-the-art environmental sanitation planning approaches (Sanitation 21, CLUES, CLTS) that are currently being used in international development work.

6 hours to complete

17 videos (Total 120 min), 10 readings

17 videos

1.1 Overview of the course5m1.2 City Sanitation Planning (Guest lecture)12m1.3a City-wide sanitation diagnostic tools and planning frameworks [1] (Guest lecture)7m1.3b City-wide sanitation diagnostic tools and planning frameworks [2] (Guest lecture)11m1.4 Local Level Sanitation Planning [1]8m1.5 Local Level Sanitation Planning [2]4m1.6 Local Level Sanitation Planning [3]10m1.7 Summary Week 13m1.8 Spotlight video - Advancements in and Integration of Water, Sanitation and Solid Waste2m1.9 Spotlight video - A Sanitation Journey 3m1.10 Introduction to CWIS10m1.11 Case study: Towards CWIS - Kampala, Uganda5m1.12 Case study: Towards CWIS - Lusaka, Zambia5m1.13 Case study: Towards CWIS - Kathmandu, Nepal5m1.14 Case study: Towards CWIS - Dhaka, Bangladesh5m1.15 Case study: Towards CWIS - Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire5m1.16 SDG Baselines - Sanitation Services12m

10 readings

Important information to succeed in this course15mKey and further readings10mConnect with your peers5mHands-On Challenge I - Sanitation planning in YOUR community2hSanitation 21 – City wide sanitation planning approach1hCLUES – Community-Led Urban Environmental Sanitation10mHow to give feedback to the course team?5mSlides Week 110mWhat is a bonus module?10mAbout Citywide Inclusive Sanitation10m

Week2

Week 2

4 hours to complete

Sanitation systems & technologies

4 hours to complete

11 videos (Total 99 min), 3 readings

11 videos

2.1 Introduction to the Compendium2m2.2 Sanitation Products9m2.3 Functional Groups6m2.4 User Interface Technologies16m2.5 Collection and Storage/Treatment - Single Pit Technologies9m2.6 Collection and Storage/Treatment - Double Pit Technologies12m2.7 Collection and Storage/Treatment - Anaerobic Technologies8m2.8 Conveyance - Container-based Technologies9m2.9 Conveyance - Sewer-based Technologies6m2.9b Conveyance - Condominial Sewerage Systems14m2.10 Summary Week 22m

3 readings

Compendium of Sanitation Systems and Technologies10mHands-On Challenge II – Let’s get visual: Draw YOUR sanitation reality2hSlides Week 210m

Week3

Week 3

3 hours to complete

Sanitation systems & technologies

3 hours to complete

13 videos (Total 88 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz

13 videos

3.1 [Semi] Centralized Treatment - Treatment stages6m3.2 [Semi] Centralized Treatment - Anaerobic Technologies11m3.3 [Semi] Centralized Treatment - Aerobic Technologies12m3.4 [Semi] Centralized Treatment - Technologies for Sludge Treatment9m3.5 Use and/or Disposal - Agricultural Use as Fertilizer and Soil Conditioner7m3.6 Use and/or Disposal - Effluent and other Products8m3.7 Emerging Sanitation Technologies2m3.8 Introduction to Sanitation Systems11m3.9 Waterless Pit-based Systems5m3.10 Decentralized Water-based Systems5m3.11 Black Water Transport Systems4m3.12 Summary Week 31m3.13 Spotlight video - Comparative analysis of sanitation systems for resource recovery1m

1 reading

Slides Week 310m

1 practice exercise

Quiz1h

Week4

Week 4

2 hours to complete

Urban sanitation solutions - Case studies

2 hours to complete

6 videos (Total 65 min), 2 readings

6 videos

4.1 Case study Nala, Nepal - Implementing CLUES14m4.2a Case study Erdos, China - an eco-town pilot project [1]9m4.2b Case study Erdos, China - an eco-town pilot project [2]5m4.3a Case study Indonesia - How Sanitation in Indonesia was transformed [1]10m4.3b Case study Indonesia - How Sanitation in Indonesia was transformed [2]12m4.4 Case study Lusaka, Zambia - Sanitation service delivery through faecal sludge management12m

2 readings

How to join the global sanitation community?10mSlides Week 410m

Reviews

4.8

304 reviews

5 stars
77.83%
4 stars
20.66%
3 stars
1.41%
1 star
0.09%

TOP REVIEWS FROM PLANNING & DESIGN OF SANITATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGIES

by TMNov 21, 2016

The modules were reader friendly and very easy to follow. There is no written paper required for this course. All you need to do is watch the presentations and keep on track.

by SJun 5, 2020

Great course. I loved the use of diagrams and colors to help highlight certain pathways/steps needed to occur. Loved the use of case studies. Very informative. Overall a great course

by MSMay 22, 2017

The course is very well prepared for beginner and intermediate participants and will give more elaborate discussions about sanitation techniques and technologies. I am very happy to did the course.

by RSDec 31, 2016

The course is well documented and interesting to learn the intricacies of several sanitation system and its relevant technologies, with several case studies all around the world.

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Is financial aid available?
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

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Planning & Design of Sanitation Systems and Technologies