Improving the waste management value chain in Sri Lanka

Population growth and increased consumption lead to more and more waste. This video-clip shows that support for small-scale waste collectors can benefit the entire waste management value chain and reduce environmental and health problems.

Dehiwala, Mount Lavinia and Boralasgamuwa are rapidly developing cities in Sri Lanka. Piles of garbage are growing at an unprecedented rate and mismanaged waste is creating huge environmental and health problems. Informal collectors and small-scale entrepreneurs play a major role in the waste management process. The r4d project Challenges of municipal solid waste management: Learning from post-crisis governance initiatives in South Asia studies the difficulties faced by small-scale recyclers who have very little governmental support. Appropriate policies could significantly improve their social status and working conditions. Business development support could benefit the entire waste management value chain. Another video-clip from the project’s research in Nepal is published.

This video-clip was produced as part of the r4d programme Digital Storytellers synthesis project. Its contents were filmed and selected by Damitha Samarakoon, in collaboration with local partners in Sri Lanka. The digital storytelling process was accompanied and supported by Paitití Lab.

Link to the complete article.


Rights and protection for female waste pickers in Nepal

Mountains of household waste pile up outside Kathmandu. Informal waste pickers climb about, looking for reusable materials. These workers are mostly women, and form an essential link in the Nepalese waste management chain. But they lack formal acceptance and suffer from discrimination.

In spite of their important role, waste pickers – most of them women – lack formal acceptance in the official Municipal Waste Management system of Kathmandu. Women are especially vulnerable and exposed to numerous inequalities and health risks. The r4d project Challenges of municipal solid waste management: Learning from post-crisis governance initiatives in South Asia seeks to understand the different stages of waste management and the roles of its various stakeholders. The focus is on women who are involved in it both, formally and informally. This is crucial, because fast urban growth, economic development and growing consumption are resulting in increasing amounts of municipal solid waste. Another video-clip from the project’s research in Sri Lanka is published.

This video-clip was produced as part of the r4d Digital Storyteller synthesis project. Its contents were filmed and selected by Yash Man Karmacharya of the Centre for Integrated Urban Development, in collaboration with local partners. Nepal. The digital storytelling process was accompanied and supported by Paititi Lab.

Link to the complete article.


Waste Trails: travelling with the household waste in Kathmandu

Sisdole, the landfill site for municipal waste from Kathmandu, was planned to operate for three to four years but after 15 years it is still running, currently piling waste up to 120 metres. This photo gallery takes the reader on a journey with the household waste and visualises a fieldwork approach that helps to understand the waste chain and the various stopping points of the household waste related to key stakeholders.

Link to the complete article.


Online release of research documentary ‘Inequality and Conflict – Beyond us and them’

This film is the product of a two-year synthesis process of participatory filmmaking spanning boundaries between places and people and their different pieces of knowledge and experiences in working through inequality and conflict. The contributions of non-academic partners in the role of protagonists, sharing their life experiences, as well as the images of inequality, created connections between contexts, scales, concepts and research results that were not there before. The documentary contextualises findings and presents solutions for more peaceful, just and inclusive societies as stated in the sustainable development goal SDG16 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Selected results emerging from the diverse methodological approaches of three research projects on dealing with and mitigating social conflicts across the globe connect with and complement each other.

See more here.