Visiting AIT on March 21-22 for exploratory discussions with officials of the Environmental Engineering and Management field of study, Dr. Alix Zwane, Senior Program Officer, Global Development, BMGF, said the Seattle-based foundation would like to partner with AIT in a way that matches each other’s strategic visions.
Welcomed to AIT by School of Environment Resources, and Development Dean Dr. Weerakorn Ongsakul, on behalf of the Acting AIT President Prof. IM Pandey, Dr. Zwane explained that the Foundation funds scientific research and the development of new technologies to influence policy.
Delivering a special lecture at AIT on March 22 titled “Strategy and efforts to develop markets and policies for new sanitation products,” Dr. Zwane told a large audience that the BMGF seeks the discovery and provision of transformative technologies in order to “reinvent the toilet” and improve the lives of millions.
To reach equitable outcomes for the “lingering sanitation crisis in the developing world” the BMGF emphasizes a public service delivery approach that combines new technologies with new service delivery models to spur significant change.
Overall, the BMGF Water, Sanitation & Hygiene program focuses on the development of tools and technologies that can lead to radical and sustainable improvements in sanitation in the developing world.
In 2011, it awarded a US$ 5 million research grant to a scientific team led by AIT’s Dr. Thammarat Koottatep on Sustainable Decentralized Wastewater Management Systems. The regional project to reinvent decentralized systems and technologies for treatment and safe disposal of human exceta and wastewater in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia was launched in Bangkok in September 2012.
“We would like to go beyond this partnership,” Dr. Zwane told senior AIT officials. “BMGF is interested in finding the space where high quality research aligns to policy to support equitable development outcomes,” she said, indicating that AIT may be the right academic institute to initiate such work.
A creative platform to reinvent the toilet would also engage other public and private sector partners and stakeholders, Dr. Thammarat said. “Just as Silicon Valley in the United States is synonymous with advances in information technologies, AIT could be a catalyst for a ‘toilet valley’ right here in Asia.”
The goal would be create a nexus of ideas and funding to develop ecosystems of alternative sanitation technologies available to people across the Asian region, he said.
Photo caption: Dr. Alix Zwane