SESP Welcome
Sandec’s research on Strategic Environmental Sanitation Planning aims to systematically address the complexity of urban sanitation problems and to develop appropriate solutions to these problems. Our research combines aspects of engineering (appropriate technology – cf. Compendium of Sanitation Systems and Technologies) with methods and approaches of planning and social sciences in order to tackle the under-provision of basic urban services in the global South.
Our work includes three fields of activity:
- Developing and validating people-centred planning approaches such as Community-Led Urban Environmental Sanitation (CLUES);
- Exploring the management interface (financial, technological and institutional) between city-wide and local service delivery;
- Applied research and validation of appropriate, cost-effective sanitation systems in low- and middle-income countries (e.g. ESRISS in Egypt)
Our current project
locations are:
Africa: Uganda, Egypt, Mauritania, Tanzania
Asia: Nepal, Thailand, India, Bangladesh
Latin America: Costa Rica and Honduras
Our main research partners are:
· Makerere
University (Kampala)
· International Water Association (The Hague)

