Collective Knowledge Can Solve Water Issues Sustainably

A knowledge sharing platform that connects all people interested in sustainable water management to build human resources by engaging young people facing barriers to accessing social learning about water. An online app can share our activities interactively with people around the world who live in rural and remote areas.

My solution called "Smart Application for promoting water knowledge rural youth among people, especially women and disabilities people in rural areas" which is a kind of creative knowledge that can solve water issues sustainably. In rural area of Cambodia, young people especially women are vulnerable in accessing to clean water. Women stand as an important role that are often responsible for heavy burden to fetch water to their home and involve more with water related occupations including laundry, cleaning, or cooking. Lack of information is a root cause that limits involvement of young people in participating in dealing water related issues in their communities and learning about its importance. Why providing access of information and knowledge about water is important? Because the Center for Sustainable Water has created a number of training courses, workshops and other information regarding water issues including contamination of water, water saving, water supply sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and water resource management (WRM) practices. Through our smart application, rural youths will be educated and inspired from the online videos, online water games, and other features which appear on their smart phone that could they could access to improve their knowledge platform on water related issues to deliver equitable and sustainable solutions for all, bring a new creativity thinking and innovative knowledge to protect their water resources, and help the community to improve hygiene practices including drinking safe water. This model could be replicated and scaled up in other developing country using smart application to reach young people as social dynamic drivers to make a positive change for their communities and countries. In sum, smart application will connect young people from city to rural and from national to international.

Cambodia has a high proportion of young people who have barriers to accessing disappearing jobs because of agricultural mechanization and changes to global market. They also do not have access to quality education and professional development opportunities. This is particularly true for new water-related professions that are desperately needed to enable Cambodia’s sustainable development. Traditional education pathways are of low quality in rural areas and the lack of leadership in tertiary institutions often means that sharing the information, ideas, knowledge, resources across different networks and experiences does not happen. Local capacity is limited because young people are overlooked.

Our team has developed a framework that identifies that if government departments, schools, NGOs and private operators collaborate we can strengthen the skills and abilities of young people to work together in the water sector to innovate locally and solve the complex and persistent water-related issues facing Cambodia. If we provides internships and career advice, opportunities for youth to develop leadership skills, on-line and mobile opportunities to learn socially and interact with soft skills, cross sector communication and different languages, and avenues to share their experiences with others through exchange, then the capacity gaps in water will be diminished.

The target outcomes are that young people in rural areas will be exposed social learning opportunities that will change their perspective about their future and think of working to solve water issues as a worthwhile career opportunity. Local and national governments, universities, NGOs, and the private sector will view the contribution of young people in these areas differently and they will start to access employment opportunities, social networks and leadership roles in the sector. Young people will access these opportunities through the on-line learning platform equitably and support will be offered to those with barriers to participation.

Site statistics can be collected at regular intervals to map progress. - 10,ooo young people from all provinces in Cambodia become members of the online platform and complete training modules

Signed agreements are gathered that improve the quality and sustainability of the initiative. - 100 educational institutions and 100 employers with a water-related focus sign partnership agreements to formalize co-operation.

Membership list collects disaggregated statistics and participation levels are monitored and improved - The on-line learning platform is accessible to a broad range of participants who usually do not access professional development opportunities including rural youth (60%) women (at least 40%) and youth with disabilities (5%)

Our solution is unique because:

• It alters the way young people access education and jobs in water from formal and structured to complimentary, flexible and social.
• It attracts young people to professional development opportunities, through their own local resources and networks that can be animated by our solution.
• It encourages young people to use information technology for productive and useful purposes.
• It focuses on providing access to opportunities to rural or provincial youth who would usually need to access Phnom Penh for training and professional development opportunities.
• It is collaborative and encourages co-operation and knowledge sharing.

Our use of technology is human centred because:

• It was developed by young people who have an interest and motivation in sustainable water management through a young professional’s program.
• It is a knowledge sharing platform that integrates different types of knowledge and experiences in social learning.
• It can be used in all parts of Cambodia, especially the areas that usually have lower access to professional development opportunities. It is accessible by disadvantaged youth who can easily be provided with access to the technology through scholarships.
• It is innovative and the young people the solution is designed for control its implementation.

Young people will access our solution through their peers in rural areas who have already participated in professional development opportunities through the Center for Sustainable Water. They are well placed to compliment the online training opportunities the app provides, with mentoring and career advice and knowledge exchange and leadership opportunities. The Center already has some experience with pricing the social learning opportunities provided are experiencing high demand. Partnering and collaborating with universities, schools, the government and the private sector and valuing volunteerism and mutual exchange many of the benefits are associated with networks and communication that do not cost money. 

The CSW team has already established four confirmed partners, a base level of funding to enable the Center to complete a range of capacity development activities. We have a broad range of international and local volunteers and in-kind supporters who wish the see the Center succeed and enthusiastically support it. Our partnerships with the Institute of Technology of Cambodia and Pannasastra University enable us access a growing base of young people and engage them and others with the Young Professionals Program (YPP), which is being supported by WaterAid in addition the Water Corner networking events as can be seen on our Facebook page. We have a three-year strategic plan and are attracting interest in growing the reach of the Center. Our social learning programs are marketable and we have established a payment rate that is attractive to participants. We will continue with our strategy to develop a sustainable income.

The Center is quite successful at this stage. Our strategic plan is being followed, we have partners and considerable and interest and support for the initiative and we have already begun to establish a broad network of young Cambodian people to run the Center. The limitation is that it take time to establish a working sustainable model or innovative education that people can engage with and can be expanded to scale. In terms of the innovation, the develop of the on-line platform to support our existing resources required a budget and more content and networks. These are slowly building.

https://www.facebook.com/CenterforSustainableWater/

http://www.enrichinstitute.org/capacity-building/building-capacity-of-young-people-to-work-in-water-sanitation-and-hygiene-sector

My name is KHIN Seanghak. I am the Operations Manager of the Center for Sustainable Water and have recently graduated from a Masters of Water Engineering and Management. I am taking this opportunity with the CSW after graduation because I want to be more effective in realizing the goals of the Center. I am passionate about improving the way young people learn and develop their skills. The SOLVE opportunity will enable us to expand our goals more quickly and take advantage of the passion and commitment of the people involved. 

Water Aid, Engineers Without Borders Australia, Institute of Technology of Cambodia, Pannasastra University.

No competitors identified. We plan to integrate our solution widely.