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Completed PAMS Projects

 

Sea dreams: Sanitation for sustainable communities by the sea. 
Duration: February 2011 to June 2012
Executing Agency: CoopeSoliDar R.L.
Partners: Sandec/Eawag
This PAMS improved sanitation infrastructure to support income-generating activities in Tárcoles, a small community along Costa Rica’s Pacific coast. The improved infrastructure reinforces local artisanal fishing and tourism, two crucial small-scale economic activities in the area. The project consisted of two parts. Part one emphasised participatory assessment of environmental management issues. Part two mainly concerned implementation: two mobile shelters were designed and built by community members. Further, an experimental mobile ecological sanitation system was installed, and community members were trained in its use and maintenance. The process of negotiation initiated between coastal communities and local authorities proved to be the project’s most important accomplishment – this process will continue beyond the project’s lifetime.

 

Strengthening governance processes for sustainable agriculture in western Mexico 
Duration: January to December 2009
Executing Agency: Red de Alternativas Sustentables Agropecuarias (RASA), Guadalajara
Partners: IHEID
RASA is an initiative ‘for farmers by farmers’ which offers training for sustainable agriculture (CSA) near Guadalajara. In this PAMS, researchers and farmers jointly implemented training for local farmers in organic farming and fair trade. The training involved an exchange of scientific and farmers’ knowledge, which led to learning on both sides.

 

Social Capital and Participatory Planning as instruments for improvement of a historic neighbourhood of Mexico City: Tepito 
Duration: May 2008 to April 2009
Executing Agency: Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mexico City
Partners: IHEID
This PAMS brought together different actors in order to develop an improvement plan for Tepito, a neighbourhood in Mexico city. In a participatory process, local people developed a vision of their neighbourhood in ten years as well as strategies to put this vision into practice. During this process, conflicts among stakeholders emerged which were mediated by the project team. Finally, an architectural proposal for the recuperation of a public place – the Plaza Santa Ana – was submitted to the Neighbourhood Improvement Competition by the Mexico City Government. It was approved and implemented after the completion of the PAMS project.

 

Community-based ecological greywater management in the municipality of Tepoztlán, Mexico 
Duration: January 2007 to April 2008
Executing Agency: Sarar Transformación S.C., Tepoztlán
Partners: Sandec/Eawag; EcoSanRes
Greywater – generated from domestic activities such as laundry, dishwashing, and bathing – is an abundant domestic effluent which represents around 70% of wastewater produced by households in Mexico. Treatment of greywater is quite simple and does not require much energy or space. In this PAMS, greywater filters were constructed and installed in households in Tepoztlán. These filters are easily replicable and were very well accepted by the local people.

 


 

Contact

For regional PAMS information:
Marian Perez, Regional Coordinator, Central America

For general PAMS information:
Eva Maria Heim, Coordinator of Partnership Actions