Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Contextualizing Sustainable Development for Small Scale Water and Sanitation Systems in Cochabamba, Bolivia

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Urban Environment

  • 1367 Accesses

Abstract

Water and sanitation are pressing issues for the urban poor in Bolivia where the lack of safe water and sanitation services contributes to urban poverty. This paper defines sustainable development (SD) in relation to small scale water and sanitation systems in the metropolitan area of Cochabamba, Bolivia. A case study on the water and sanitation systems of two housing cooperatives is performed. By involving all the concerned stakeholders this study aims to identify a contextualized definition of SD, which can be used in order to assess and steer the development of small scale water and sanitation systems in the metropolitan area of Cochabamba. The identified definition consists of the following criteria, referred to as key issues: social context, socio-political factors, target group, freshwater resources, economic obstacles, reproducibility, knowledge, management, reliability, water quality and disposal. Three main challenges are identified to have had major influence on the contextualization of the SD concept: which stakeholders that are included, how the differing opinions among the stakeholders are addressed and how active the stakeholders are in the development process.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 259.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Note that the presented data from the National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia does only consider the existence of a sanitati

References

  1. Becker J (2004) Making sustainable development evaluations work. Sustainable Development 12:pp 200–211

    Google Scholar 

  2. Beierle TC (2002) The quality of stakeholder-based decisions. Risk Anal 22(4):739–749

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bell S, Morse S (2003) Measuring sustainability: Learning by doing [e-book]. London: Earthscan Publications Ltd. available through: Chalmers University of technology Library website www.lib.chalmers.se [Accessed 5 10 2012]

  4. Bell S, Morse S, Shah RA (2012) Understanding stakeholder participation in research as part of sustainable development. J Environ Manage 101:pp. 13–22

    Google Scholar 

  5. Camacho W ed. (2007) Objetivos de Desarollo del Milenio, La Paz: Departamento de Cochabamba

    Google Scholar 

  6. David M (2002) Problems of participation: the limits of action research. Int J Social Research Methodology 5(1):11–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Flores A, Buckley C, Fenner R (2009) Selecting sanitation systems for sustainability in developing countries. Water Science Technology 60(11):2973–2982

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Garfí M, Ferrer-Martí L (2011) Decision-making criteria and indicators for water and sanitation projects in developing countries. Water Science Technology 64(1):83–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Hellström D, Jeppsson U, Kärrman E (2000) A framework for system analysis of sustainable urban water management. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 20:pp. 311–321

    Google Scholar 

  10. ESTADÍSTICA INSTITUTONACIONALDE (2001) Censo 2001, Vivienda y Servicios Básicos, Por Provincias y Municipios. (Online) Available at: http://www.ine.gob.bo (Accessed 07 01 2013)

  11. Kates RW, Parris TM, Leiserowitz AA (2005) What is sustainable development? Goals, indicators, values, and practice. Environment: Science Policy for Sustainable Development 47(3):8–21

    Google Scholar 

  12. Murphey HM, McBean E, Farahbakhsh K (2009) Appropriate technology—A comprehensive approach for water and sanitation in the developing world. Technology in Society 31:pp. 158–167

    Google Scholar 

  13. Murray A, Ray I, Nelson K (2009) An innovative sustainability assessment for urban wastewater infrastructure and its application in Chengdu, China. Journal of Environmental Management, pp. 1–8

    Google Scholar 

  14. OECD (2002) Policy case study series. Participarory decision-making for sustainable consumption, [pdf] Paris: Organisation for Co-operation and Development. Available at: http://search.oecd.org/officialdocuments/displaydocumentpdf/?doclanguage=en&cote=env/epoc/wpnep(2001)17/final (Accessed 7 10 2012)

  15. Rockloff SF, Moore SA (2006) Assessing representation at different scales of decision making: Rethinking local is better. The Policy Studies Journal 34(4):649–670

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Ryan G, Russell Bernard H (2003) Techniques to identify themes. Field Methods 15(85):85–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Rosenström U, Kyllönen S (2007) Impacts of a participatory approach to developing national level sustainable development indicators in Finland. J Environ Manage 84: pp. 282–298

    Google Scholar 

  18. Sneddon C, Howarth RB, Norgaard RB (2006) Sustainable development in a post-Brundtland world. Ecolog Econ 57(2):253–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Wallis A (2006) Sustainability indicators: is there consensus. Int J Environment Sustainable Development 5(3):287–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. UNICEF (2012) Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. [Online] Available at: http://www.unicef.org [Accessed 15 05 2012]

  21. UNHSP (2004) Urban Indicators Guideline, (pdf) Nairobi: United Nations Human Settlements Program. Available at: http://ww2.unhabitat.org (Accessed 10 10 2012)

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Water Environment Technology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, 41296, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Ida Helgegren, Helena Siltberg, Sebastien Rauch & Mikael Mangold

  2. Institute of Architectural Research, Universidad Mayor de San Simon, Cochabamba, Bolivia

    Graciela Landaeta

  3. PROCASHA Foundation, Cochabamba, Bolivia

    Graciela Landaeta

  4. CEPLAG, Universidad Mayor de San Simon, Cochabamba, Bolivia

    Carmen Ledo

Authors
  1. Ida Helgegren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Helena Siltberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sebastien Rauch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mikael Mangold
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Graciela Landaeta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Carmen Ledo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ida Helgegren .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Civil and Env. Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Sébastien Rauch

  2. Dept of Civil and Env. Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Gregory Morrison

  3. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Stefan Norra

  4. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Nina Schleicher

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this paper

Cite this paper

Helgegren, I., Siltberg, H., Rauch, S., Mangold, M., Landaeta, G., Ledo, C. (2013). Contextualizing Sustainable Development for Small Scale Water and Sanitation Systems in Cochabamba, Bolivia. In: Rauch, S., Morrison, G., Norra, S., Schleicher, N. (eds) Urban Environment. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7756-9_18

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7756-9_18

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-007-7755-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-7756-9

  • eBook Packages: EnergyEnergy (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation