Research Theme

While WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) and the environment are the main themes of our research, our work covers a wide range of topics, including resources-oriented toilet development for rural Africa, climate change mitigation in urban sanitation, diarrhea risk management in urban slums, water quality management in rivers and lakes, urban water/wastewater management, socio-cultural impact analysis of WASH, and development of disaster relief toilets. Recent major research projects include: action research on visualizing living environment contamination and diarrhea risks in collaboration with residents in urban slums; development, introduction and long-term acceptability of urine-diverting dry toilets (ecological sanitation); greenhouse gas emission from onsite sanitation and urban sanitation systems, material flow analysis of developing cities, antimicrobial resistance bacteria discharged through urban systems, origin and impact of faecal microbial pollution in lakes and rivers; and social relations in health risk allocation through sanitation.

The research fields and partners are diverse: for example, rural areas, cities, and urban slum; NGOs, local municipalities, utilities, private manufacturers, development consultants, international organizations.