New Project: A Systems Approach to Sustainable Sanitation Challenges in Urbanising China (SASSI)
Collaborators at the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Aberdeen, Tongji University and University of Tokyo have been awarded funding for a two-year research project placing human-environment interactions at the heart of achieving the UN global goals. ‘A Systems Approach to Sustainable Sanitation Challenges in Urbanising China (SASSI)’ is part of the Towards a Sustainable Earth (TaSE) research programme, funded by NERC and ESRC of UK Research and Innovation (£404,710 FEC), in collaboration with the Japanese Science and Technology Agency and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
The overall aim of SASSI is to enhance our understanding of complex human-environment interactions and their sustainability outcomes. It will define and advance a systems approach for sanitation which situates basic human functions within wider human ecosystems of critical social, economic and environmental resources and social institutions, cycles and order. With focus on Shanghai (China), the project will study sustainability outcomes across different sanitation systems, environments and temporal scales using various analytical approaches and state-of-the-art modelling. SASSI will address crosscutting issues in sustainable development and contribute to enhanced human well-being as the overarching goal of the Sustainable Development agenda.
Collaborators: Dr Deljana IOSSIFOVA (Lead and PI UK), Senior Lecturer in Urban Studies at the School of Environment, Education and Development, University of Manchester. Ulysses SENGUPTA (Co-I UK), Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Director of Complexity Planning and Urbanism (CPU) at the Manchester School of Architecture (Manchester Metropolitan University). Dr Nir OREN (Co-I UK), Reader in the Agents, Reasoning and Knowledge (ARK) group of the Department of Computing Science, University of Aberdeen. Dr Murilo da Silva BAPTISTA (Co-I UK), Reader at the Institute for Complex Systems and Mathematical Biology, University of Aberdeen. Prof Feng LUAN (PI China), Associate Professor at the Department of Urban Planning, Tongji University. Prof Nannan DONG (Co-I China), Associate Professor at the Department of Landscape Study and Assistant Dean of CAUP (College of Architecture and Urban Planning) at Tongji University. Prof Hongbin CHEN (Co-I China), Professor at the College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University. Dr Alexandros GASPARATOS (PI Japan), Associate Professor of Sustainability Science at IR3S, University of Tokyo.
Members of the Advisory Board: Dr Jan-Olof Drangert (Linköping University), lead author of ‘Sustainable Sanitation for the 21st Century’. Prof Em Clara Greed (University of the West of England), expert in inclusive planning and public toilet provision. Sarah Ichioka, Director of Desire Lines, a strategic consultancy for environmental and social-impact organisations based in Singapore. Dr Christoph Lüthi, Head of Department for Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development (Sandec) at EAWAG, Switzerland. Dr Tim Schwanen, Associate Professor in Transport Studies and Director of the Transport Studies Unit at the University of Oxford. Dr Jose Siri, Senior Science Lead for Cities and Health, Wellcome Trust.
Announcements | February 13, 2019 9:40 am