SWITCH - training toolkit

Dissemination of information is one of a key factor for raising the public awareness about the sustainability of urban water management. Therefore, a training toolkit was developed within the SWITCH project in order to provide educational resources to raise conscience on this issue. This educative material aims to show how an Integrated Water Management can be decisive for greening urban environments and adapting cities to the future. It is structured around six modules that can be freely obtained from the existing Training Desk  

Module 1- Strategic planning: the main challenges for managing water in urban areas are addressed; then, a plan for developing and implementing a planning process is explained.Module 2-Stakeholders: this module addresses how to involve multiple stakeholders in Integrated Urban Water Management. Different approaches and ways to have real engagement are described.Module 3-Water Supply: presents an overview of the water supply in cities and its influence on the urban water cycle. This module addresses how changing the actual water supply systems could lead to a more sustainable management of resources, showing some alternative solutions that are successfully used nowadays (Aquifer Storage and Recovery, Riverbank filtration, active leakage management, etc.).Module 4-Storm Water: this module highlights the limitations of conventional urban drainage methods. It also explains the advantages of integrating stormwater with other water management and urban design measures: flood risk management and
flood preventing, environmental protection, urban regeneration and alleviation of water scarcity. Complementarily, the module shows new sustainable approaches for draining such as using ponds and wetlands for retaining stormwater and using aquifers for infiltration and reuse.Module 5-Wastewater: stream separation is the main topic of this module.
Separating wastewater streams is demonstrated in order to recycle resources and improve treatments performance. Additional benefits are explained, and several alternative water and wastewater treatment achievements are shown.Module 6-Decision Support Tools: different tools for water management and urban planning are introduced. These tools focus on specific areas of urban
water cycle management (stormwater, wastewater, water supply). Through this module users can better understand the advantages of using Decision Support Systems and indicators.

The related website also includes additional resources such as further training material, practical case studies and media. The contents of the Training Desk website are under a license of Creative Commons specified as Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0. Therefore, its content can be used and modified for non-commercial purposes.

 

Source:
http://www.switchtraining.eu/