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Home > Basic Principles > Child-friendly Design > Stakeholder Involvement
Involve all stakeholders in the design of facilities
Active involvement of users is essential in all phases of the design process. In many countries standardized designs are used for water and sanitation facilities in schools to reduce costs and control quality. However, applying a standard design too rigidly can lead to disregard for specific local preconditions and needs.
With technical assistance, potential users are able to assess their existing practices and find solutions for their own needs. Their inclusion and participation in the design of water and sanitation facilities will result in better service options and increased acceptance of these options.
When setting about participatory design, implementation, and operation and maintenance (O&M) processes, project implementers should take into account the following considerations:
- It is often impossible for the entire community to directly participate in the design, implementation, and O&M process. When this is the case, a hygiene committee that represents not only teachers and students, but also parents and possibly other stakeholders such as the community leaders and primary health care staff, should be created. The committee should be balanced with regard to gender, race, ethnic group, and social class. To obtain commitment and consensus from the entire (school) community, this committee should report its findings and actions at the end of each phase.
- Stakeholders should be informed about the sequence of the design process. Progress can be ensured by structuring the entire process in clear phases and by informing stakeholders of the expected outcome of each phase. Technical information is best provided in response to needs identified by the stakeholders.
- Involvement of children is essential during the design and rehabilitation of water and sanitation facilities in schools. Children have a different view of the world than adults and therefore experience the use of facilities differently. Children can be frightened in situations that adults consider to be safe.
- In most cultures, sanitation is a sensitive subject, so it is important to create an environment in which children and adults feel free to talk about issues such as urinating, defecating, and menstruation. Better results can be expected from an informal group session than from a traditional classroom setup. To enable open discussion, women and girls can be separated from men and boys, and the children can be separated by age groups.
- The technical drawings that are normally used for design and construction purposes can be confusing to stakeholders because they do not illustrate how the facilities are going to look or function from a user's viewpoint. To address this problem, perspective drawings and scale models should be used. The latter are easy to construct and could be made by the older children. When an innovative solution is proposed, it is good to prepare a full-scale, "working" pilot model.
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