Frugal innovation is the process of reducing the complexity and cost of a good and its production, allowing it to be used by a larger group of people....

Urban Farmer is a serious game developed by Future Agricultures and the Department of Informatics, Sussex University....

Old but gold. This is advice of Paul Graham, programmer, writer and investor, who has funded over 1000 startups, including Dropbox, Airbnb, Stripe, and Reddit with the company Y Combinator. Great lessons, covering capacity, the importance of choosing the right platforms and techniques, to team dynamics....

Great strides have been made in improving sanitation in many developing countries. Yet, 2.4 billion people worldwide still lack access to adequate sanitation facilities and the poorest and most vulnerable members of society are often not reached and their specific needs are not met. Moreover, sustainability is currently one of the key challenges in CLTS and wider WASH practice, subsuming issues...

The tool is developed to determine faecal waste volumes along the entire sanitation service chain, allowing city planners, service authorities or any other users to determine where the biggest losses are and where interventions should be targeted. Less easily quantifiable issues such as the existence of policies and legislation, availability and transparency of plans and budgets, presence and...

Resilient Cities is the global forum on urban resilience and adaptation convened in Bonn, Germany. The congress series provides an international platform to share the latest information, good practices, challenges, and innovations for creating more resilient cities. The 7th edition of Resilient Cities focused on driving forward implementation and financing of urban resilience toward the goal of...

In an approach that has gained ground in rural areas of several less-developed countries, the manufacturer or supplier of a water or sanitation system leases the...

"I’ve worked to bridge nature conservation with other sectors for more than 20 years, and if there is one thing I have learned it’s that we are not all that good at talking to each other; scientists among disciplines, sector among sector. Different ways of knowing often make working across disciplines hard to do, but a little emotional intelligence can go a long way....

At the European Space Solution Conference (30 May to 3 June in The Hague), a session took place on Smart Information Solutions for Water & Climate....

We can learn from big companies - even if not everything they do aligns with our ideas, lessons learned remain a very valuable asset. We want to share the lessons learned by the Shell Foundation, linked to their work in developing countries. Their insights can be applied to the water sector and are valuable for you as innovators and for us as programme managers. We recommend to at least read...

In his lecture, entitled 'Frugal innovation by "the small and the marginal": an alternative discourse on innovation and development', Bhaduri discussed the current discourse on frugal innovations, making the point innovations made with the global North in mind do not necessarily satisfy the requirements of the global South....

We are proud to present you this booklet which provides an overview of platforms where extra information can be found linked to each Pressing Need of VIA Water. It does not provide all sources we know off, but is intended to be a first stepping stone.  ...

There are organisations and platforms where best practices and ideas can be shared and information can be gained on innovation. Do you know platforms or knowledge hubs you would like to share with us? Please let us know us via info@viawater.nl ...

These are 50 slides, each with a photo and quote focusing on what makes great innovators. It can inspire you, put a smile on your face, and might give you that little extra energy you need to turn your innovative idea into reality.

Getting things where they need to be is not always easy. Addresses do not always match, or often not even exist. What3Words claim that around 75% of the world (135+ countries), suffers from inadequate addressing....

In the organisation Rémi Kaupp works for, WaterAid, innovation is an important part of the new strategy. He discusses his frustration on the many misunderstandings about innovation in the WASH sector, and pitches his view on what innovations are, and what should be done to improve the WASH sector....

This book was first published in 1962, but still proves its relevance. Updated in 2003, it explains a theory on how innovations are accepted in societies. How fast innovations are adopted depends on the innovation, communication channels, the time, and the social system....

A must read for those working with start-ups, and an inspiration for social entrepreneurs in developing countries. The report states that if we want to achieve inclusive development and meet the Sustainable Development Goals, sustainable start-ups focusing on low-income customers can be the key implementers. To enable them to implement the SDGs, a basis of inclusive markets is needed, as well...

The H2O Magazine has issued an English version, highlighting Dutch knowledge and innovations. We want to draw your attention to one specific article, to be downloaded in this Library, and encourage you to check the others via http://www.vakbladh2o.nl/index.php/watermatters/water-matters-in-english....

Bringing together stakeholders, talking and visualising consequences of decisions can help to solve problems and come to a consensus. This process can help you to identify problems, come up with new ideas, and to avoid conflict later in the project. The method? Serious gaming! Serious games simulate the reality (either online or using a gaming board), to help decision makers and stakeholders ...

This article will provide a more in-depth insight in what the idea of a circular economy can mean for the water sector. It is an addition to the document 'Unleashing the power of the circular economy', which can also be found in this library....

We now live in the anthropocene. This means we live in a time where human dominates and influences the environment. The growing number of people puts a large strain on our resources.  The consequences of living in a linear economy, where resources are dumped at the end of the value chain (make, use, dispose) are a reduced growth of the economy as resources are finite, and a lot of pollution. A...

Cities impact the hydrological cycle and increase the pressure on natural resources. However, they can also be centres of innovation, early adopters of conservation measures, and have positive influence on their hinterland - says WWDR 2015....

Change can be small, but significant. A great example of this is the solar power project in Tanzania. Electricity can change people's lives, but connecting remote villages to the grid can be very costly. What to do to help people?...

In his short blog [a recommended read of only 2,5 pages], Seth Godin strongly makes the case for sharing ideas; "Ideas can’t be stolen, because ideas don’t get smaller when they’re shared, they get bigger"....