• General

    • Description

      This course is an open course version of the Online Course on Faecal Sludge Management (FSM) run by UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education as an independent online course or as part of the Graduate Professional Diploma Programme (GPDP). In order to qualify for a certificate or 5 ECTS credit points upon the successful completion of the FSM online course, you would need to enrol for the complete version which includes additional resources, assessments and ongoing support from UNESCO-IHE experts on the subject. This open version does not lead to any qualifications but is a source of very useful information on FSM issues.  

      Course Rationale: The sanitation needs of 2.7 billion people worldwide are served by onsite sanitation technologies. Even though it is often believed that onsite sanitation technologies mostly fulfil sanitation needs of the rural population,  a significant number of around one billion urban dwellers globally are also served by onsite sanitation systems. Despite the stark reality of the scale of dependency on onsite sanitation technologies in low and middle income countries, there are usually no management measures in place to deal with the resulting faecal sludge (FS) from these onsite sanitation technologies. This online course, is therefore designed with an objective to impart knowledge on the important aspects of faecal sludge management which include technical, management and planning issues.   

      For whom?

      The FSM online course is designed for professionals who deal with planning, promoting, designing, operating or managing faecal sludge for residents in urban, peri-urban, slum or rural areas in low and middle income countries and beyond. Background in chemistry and physics is essential to follow the course and some understanding of wastewater and its (biologica) treatment will strongly support the understanding of the course.

      Learning Objectives

      Upon completion of the module, participants will be able to.. 
      • State the treatment, management and planning aspects related to FSM and how they interact;

      • Recognise the importance of proper sludge characterisation for optimal collection, transport, treatment and reuse;

      • Apply engineering fundamentals to design systems for management and treatment of faecal sludge;

      • Select ways of effectively valorising faecal sludge in different contexts;

      • Place FSM in an urban waste management context for sustainable and feasible planning of FSM systems.

      This online course covers a number of topics divided into 6 sub-courses. Each sub-course has its own units and learning objectives. 

      References

      Books

      Lecturers

      Course materials are arranged by Dr. Martin Mulenga (Ph.D) and Dr. Mariska Ronteltap (Ph.D) of UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands.

      Reference course:

      The materials of this FSM OLC are provided as OpenCourseWare without support and interaction with lecturers. For full lectures and support from lecturers, kindly register online:  
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