Introduction to the school seminar series: a WASH perspective on the need for multi-disciplinary dialogue Seminar

In this opening seminar of the series, Prof. Jim Wright (Deputy Head of School Research) will provide an overview of the school’s seminar series, its research groups, vision and values, and opportunities for research dissemination beyond the school. As the School of Geography and Environmental Science has a long tradition of multi-disciplinary research, one of the school’s values promotes multi-disciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration. Historically, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) have been grouped together for decades because of their close inter-connections, but this grouping may no longer reflect recent urbanisation trends and require reconfiguration. Drawing on the inter-connections between municipal solid waste management and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Jim will argue for greater integration of these two research areas, which remain disjointed in terms of Sustainable Development Goal monitoring. One rationale for linking WASH and waste management is because many cities have struggled to provide uninterrupted water services and adequate sanitation to their residents, with greater consumption of products such as packaged water sold in plastic bottles or bags. The potential synergistic risks to health as urban households are simultaneously exposed to mismanaged waste and inadequate WASH also remain under-explored, as do opportunities for sharing of innovative service delivery models. Thus, the WASH sector provides an example of an academic grouping that risks siloed thinking, and its reconfiguration highlights the need for multi-disciplinary working.

Speaker Information

Professor Jim Wright | Professor in GIS & Int. Development | University of Southampton