Next up at #Symposium2020 - Is Covid-19 the catalyst needed to enable environmental sustainability and climate justice?

We will hear from @vanessa_speight @CivilSheffield & @oates_naomi @Urban_Inst on #SDG6: Clean water and sanitation. http://grantham.sheffield.ac.uk/scholars/oates/ 

Siddharth Patwardhan @GreenNanoRes is chairing this.

@vanessa_speight gives intro to #SDG6. Explains it's more than sanitation, but includes water pollution, improving efficiency, and management. The last 2 are not well handled even in developed countries.

#Symposium2020

'People are pooping Covid.' says @vanessa_speight.

We can use sewage to measure outbreaks. Recently been working on waster water epidemiology for #COVID19.

#Symposium2020

Can you do targeting samples at institutions - like hospitals - or neighbourhoods? We want to expand from single city to measure to get spatial information.

@vanessa_speight #Symposium2020

Studies suggest variability in results when being this localised. @vanessa_speight #Symposium2020

Not quite there yet, but people all around the world are working on this. There's a lot of potential for this even in places without an official sewage system, @vanessa_speight #Symposium2020

Now @oates_naomi talking about water governance in Malawi, the focus of her PhD work.

#Symposium2020 #SDGs #SDG6

Malawi is making good progress on #SDG6 says @oates_naomi #Symposium2020.

But research shows a lot of countries in Africa are having problems with sustainability.

Water governance matters, i.e. what people are doing. Task of keeping water pumps going is often left to underfunded local governments. #COVID19 complicates this, as other services may be prioritised @oates_naomi #Symposium2020

For my fieldwork I worked with extension workers, who had responsibility for water services in Malawi. Their work ensures water services continue to function, even in emergencies. @oates_naomi #Symposium2020

Relationships matter - much of what extension workers do falls outside of a traditional job description. Social relationships matter.

@oates_naomi #Symposium2020 #SDG6

#COVID19 could be an opportunity for more autonomy on the ground, even as it throws up ethical problems such as who is exposed to risk. Covid has also highlighted how important extension worker's creativity is. NGOs should put more emphasis on joint planning. #Symposium2020

@oates_naomi & @vanessa_speight are taking questions now from our audience. Lots of interest in exactly how the sewage stuff works and the history of water in Malawi.

@oates_naomi asked about decolonising water governance. Says 2 main issues.
1. Decentralising to local governance moves slowly e.g. local budgets are tiny. 2. NGOs have a lot of power because they have money, not nec. bad, but skews who makes decisions. #SDG6 #Symposium2020

@vanessa_speight asks @oates_naomi: #COVID19 has caused governments to invest in water, eg so people can wash hands. Has Naomi seen the same?

N: emergencies are often used to plug gaps, but doesn't have concrete data. #SDG6 #Symposium2020

@oates_naomi asks @vanessa_speight about sewage research being used in Africa.

Vanessa says it is being expanded around the world, but needs to be adapted to decentralised sewage systems. #Symposium2020 #SDG6