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Photographs courtesy of
ICC, Durban. |
Theme: Ecological sanitation: A sustainable,
integrated solution
The Third International Conference on Ecological Sanitation
(EcoSan) is being organised by the CSIR.
It will be held under the auspices of the Department of
Water Affairs and Forestry, with the cooperation of the
Department of Science and Technology, the Water Research
Commission, the South African Institution of Civil Engineering,
the Institution of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa,
Rand Water, eThekwini Municipality (Durban) and the Water
Institute of South Africa. Various international organisations
are also supporting the conference. It is to be a five-day
event.
Why the EcoSan conference?
In the world today, 1.2 billion people are without access
to safe drinking water, 3 billion are without proper sanitation,
and 50% of solid wastes remain uncollected. The Bellagio
Statement of February 2000 asserted that current waste management
policies and practices were abusive to human well-being,
economically unaffordable and environmentally unsustainable,
and that a radical overhaul of these policies and practices
was needed. The Statement called for universal access to
safe environmental sanitation, within a framework of water
and environmental security and respect for the economic
value of wastes. Principles governing this new approach
were considered, among others, to be:
- that waste should be considered a resource, and that
its management should be holistic and form part of integrated
water resources, nutrient flows and waste management processes;
and
- that the domain in which environmental sanitation problems
are resolved should be kept to the minimum practical size
(household, community, town, district, catchment, city)
and wastes diluted as little as possible.
The Millennium Development Goals were agreed to in 2000
when all United Nations member states pledged to reduce
by half the proportion of people without access to safe
drinking water by 2015. At the WSSD in 2002, it was further
agreed to reduce by half the proportion of people without
basic sanitation by 2015. The development of appropriate
technical options and implementation methods plays a pivotal
role in meeting these objectives
The conference will consider how ecological sanitation
can assist in meeting these objectives.
Why Durban, South Africa?
South Africa is committed to eradicating its water supply
and sanitation backlogs by 2008 and 2010 respectively. The
country has also firmly grasped the ecosan challenge, with
tremendous advances being made in this field. Since 1997,
when the first projects were initiated, over 20 000 ecosan
toilets have been implemented, with eThekwini Municipality
(Durban) accounting for the largest number. Delegates will
be afforded the opportunity to visit some of these projects
in the area. A further attraction, of course, is the country's
rich diversity of cultures, geography and wildlife, as well
as its wonderful climate.
Preliminary programme
Click here for preliminary
programme
Technical and poster exhibition
Various manufacturers and developers will exhibit their
ecosan-related products and systems. Authors not making
oral presentations will also be afforded the opportunity
to display poster papers.
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