Future

As stated in the “Langrug” section, the recent formal partnering of the Stellenbosch Municipality, CORC, and the Langrug Community Council is a landmark in the history of informal settlement upgrading. The key quality that this combination unlocks is the ability to experiment with and refine ideas as a cycle that can be used for the incremental upgrade process. Our project has begun to explore this new ground in Langrug as it pertains to sanitation facility upgrading, and we have found the these requirements of the aforementioned process:

  1. The upgrade process must be community led.
  2. A multi-partner scheme must be used in order to draw strengths from each.
  3. Upgrades to sanitation facilities must be multi-disciplinary and address other community needs.

Recommendations

Following these principles, we made recommendations for furthering the upgrade process. While many of these recommendations are discussed in relation to the D section block, most would cause the same level of improvement if implemented at other sites as well, as many of the same issues occur everywhere. We think that the installation of these things would be taking a large stride towards turning the current toilet blocks which are often misused and broken into valued community spaces.

Recommendations for Partnership Networking and Coordination

  1. WPI, municipal partners, and CORC should develop a tentative monthly schedule until November of next year.
  2. Co-researchers should meet during the last week of each month with municipal partners and CORC to report their month’s progress and outline the next month’s calendar with week by week objectives.
  3. Co-researchers should maintain direct contact with municipal partners and CORC by scheduling  regular meetings and check-in conversations in addition to the monthly scheduling meeting.
  4. Co-Researchers, municipal partners, and CORC should report progress to WPI
  5. Co-researchers meet regularly with municipal staff from engineering and with cleaning contractor to share information and discuss initiatives

Recommendations for Future Projects

Co-researchers being given WPI CTPC T-Shirts

We recommended that our co-researchers employ the WaSHUp Process Guide to one of the following projects, then report to WPI on activity and any recommended changes to the process.

  1. Erosion Wall
  2. Food and Waste Bins
  3. Laundry Wringer
  4. Lighting
  5. Locks
  6. Painting
  7. Signs
  8. Soap Dispenser
  9. Nappy Survey
  10. Facility Survey
  11. Open Space Upgrades

Recommendations for Multi-Purpose Hall

As the construction of the multi-purpose hall nears its start, there is a significant role the co-researchers can play in moving the WaSHUp facility concept forward. Much of the WaSHUp process should be used in this application. An example of the beginning of this process is below:

  1. Engage the community in review and constructive criticism of the facility design and its components that the WaSH team assembled
  2.  Stimulate discussion as to what other ideas the community would like to see in the multi-purpose hall, specifically as part of the WaSHUp facility
  3. Create a a concept using idea descriptions, sketches, and a floor plan for submission to CORC for review

Potential WPI Projects

Since much of our project was establishing a baseline for future work, it has naturally occurred that we have several preliminary ideas for WPI projects to pursue in 2012. These include:

  • Analysing, critiquing, and potentially upgrading the projects that our team implemented as well as any projects the co-researchers implement
  • Researching and implementing new projects in parallel with the above analysis
  • Working with the Langrug stakeholders to research and implement a pilot alternative, non-flush toilet system which embodies WaSHUp concepts
  • Continuing the design and review process for the Multipurpose Hall, depending on where the progress for the hall is at

Co-Researcher Blog

In order for the co-researchers to document and communicate their project activity, we have set up a WordPress blog for them found here. Although this webpage will continue to be under construction until our co-researchers begin undertaking projects after our depart, it is intended that it will be read by WPI, CORC, the Stellenbosch Municipality, and other interested parties as a semi-formal means of information transfer. This nature will make communication easier and likely more accurate than the consistent submission of formal, technical reports which may not capture the core of the work done by the co-researchers.

A Center for Learning

Above all, our work in Langrug was designed to be a source of learning for academia, NGOs, governments, and community leaderships. As the unique partnership in Langrug develops, it is hoped that countless resources will be produced which can be used for the overarching goal of incremental informal settlement upgrading.