International Training Programme

Sustainable Urban Water and Sanitation – Integrated processes

Change Project Manual

June, 2019
 International Training Programme
Sustainable Urban Water and Sanitation – Integrated Processes

The SUWAS Programme in General

The International Training Programme “Sustainable Urban Water and Sanitation – Integrated
Processes” (SUWAS) is organised by NIRAS International Consulting in cooperation with WaterAid. The
programme is financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The
overall Programme Objective is improved planning and implementation of urban water and sanitation,
resulting in more sustainable services, available for all.

The Programme is consisting of five phases and stretching over a period of about 14 to 15 months.
Phase 2 will be conducted in Sweden, and Phase 4 will be conducted in your Region. The remaining
three phases will be conducted on a part-time basis from home by you as participants and in your
respective organisations. The focus of these three phases will be on preparing, developing and
implementing the Change Project – the CP.

What is the Change Project?

The Change Project (CP) is a key feature of the SUWAS Programme, intended to support you in taking
concrete actions towards contributing to sustainable urban water and sanitation services for all.

The Change Project will gradually evolve during the five programme phases through a so-called
“Action Learning” process. It is a step-wise approach by which you will analyse and understand your
own urban WASH context, identify the particular problem or challenge that you and your organisation
wants to improve, define actions, and start putting those actions into practice. The actions taken over
time, taken together, comprises your Change Project.

You will work in a team with participants from your own country. Through regular and structured
meetings, the team members will support each other to continually reflect on the actions taken –
accomplishments and challenges – and then identify your next steps. In this way, your Change Project
will evolve over time. By working step-wise and adapting your actions to difficulties and opportunities
that arise along the way, you will ensure that your Change Project actually addresses the real issues at
hand. The Action Learning process will help you make the new knowledge and insights from the SUWAS
programme relevant to your own organisation and context. The team’s exchange of experiences is a
key part of your learning, and also supports the cross-agency collaboration that the programme seeks
to spur. Please note, there are no funds available from the SUWAS programme, from Sida or the
organisers for the Change Project. Your Change Project is about doing better or differently with what
you already have.

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 International Training Programme
Sustainable Urban Water and Sanitation – Integrated Processes

Figure 1. The Change Project evolves in a step-by-step manner from the participant’s own situation
analysis and ideas. The Change Project is comprised of the actions that are taken over time.

The Five Phases of the Programme

The SUWAS programme runs for 14 to 15 months and is divided into five phases:

Timing (app
Phase Description
roximately)

1 Inception 3 months

2 Training in Sweden 3 weeks

Change Project Development

3 4 months
(Action Learning Process)

4 Training in Region 2 weeks

Change Project Development and

5 Implementation 6 months
(Action Learning Process)

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Sustainable Urban Water and Sanitation – Integrated Processes

The development of the Change Project during the different phases

In phase 1 you will undertake a context analysis, and analyse your own organisation and the
challenges it faces in relation to providing sustainable and equitable water and sanitation services and
also discuss and review the city level situational analysis with your country team and national
facilitator.

During phase 2 in Sweden, you will get new perspectives and jointly and individually work on a
problem analysis. What are the causes behind the problems related urban water and sanitation? This
problem analysis will expand over time as you receive new information and perspectives about the
urban water and sanitation sector during the three weeks in Sweden. You will define the specific
problems that you, and your organisation, may address. This is your change area. You will be equipped
with tools to analyse and understand the stakeholders and actors related to that change area, and
what possibilities you have to start addressing the particular problem. By the end of Phase 2, you will
have a vision of what you wish to accomplish with your Change Project and you will have defined some
first actions to take during Phase 3.

In phase 3, you will work closely with your Country Team to ensure an Action Learning process. You
will try to take the first actions defined during Phase 2 and you will seek support from your
organisation to progress with your Change Project. You will have regular meetings with your country
team, structured around sharing reflections on the results of the actions taken thus far, and then
defining your next actions. You will be asked to document the process and the learning from it.

When we meet in phase 4 in the region, each participant and country team will present their Action
Learning experiences during Phase 3. You will deepen your context and problem analysis, by
considering additional perspectives presented during the two weeks. You will plan for further actions
to accelerate your Change Project work during Phase 5.

During Phase 5, you will maintain the Action Learning process with your country team, take further
actions in support of your vision, and expand the support for your Change Project within your
organisation and with key stakeholders. Together with your country team, you will arrange a national
seminar, at which you will present the problem analysis, your vision and the results of your Change
Project to your organisation and other stakeholders. You will also submit a final Change Project report
to the SUWAS programme organisers.

After the 14 months you will have completed the SUWAS ITP and you will have made a change, no
matter how small or big. During the five programme phases, you will gradually have developed your
Change Project by taking small steps at a time, working towards a vision of resolving a specific
problem of concern to your organization. The programme is then over for you and your fellow
participants, but your work for change and improved water and sanitation will continue. Hopefully
your organisation will continue to participate in the programme and build on what you have achieved.
Change and improvement is a never-ending process: we are never done with it, and we can always get
better at it.

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Sustainable Urban Water and Sanitation – Integrated Processes

Mentorship and your Country Teams

A key feature of the Change Project process is the mentorship. All SUWAS participants from one
individual country form a Country Team. Each Country Team is supported by one National Facilitator
(NF) and one Mentor, together forming the mentor team. The National Facilitator will be your main
contact for the work with your Change Project. The NF will provide individual advice, feedback,
encouragement and facilitation of country team meetings. He/she will be available during all phases
both for country team work and for individual meetings. The NF will also support and encourage the
Country team to cooperate and help each other. The mentor will meet you in Phase 2 for strategic
guidance on your selected change idea, and will also carry the main responsibility for reporting and
other communication with the Programme Management.

Phase 1 - Inception
The aim of Phase 1 is for you to get a basic understanding of the programme objectives and
components and to prepare yourself for the trip to Sweden. Your Country Team is established,
creating a platform for local networking. The Change Project will be initiated by conducting the initial
analysis of your organisations' challenges and priorities.

Introductory Meeting
Early in Phase 1 the National Facilitator arranges an introductory meeting with the country team - all
participants from your country. This should take place at one of the participating organisations. The
national facilitator presents the programme and the tasks for Phase 1 and some practical information
for the trip to Sweden. The meeting provides you with an opportunity to get to know each other and
start building your country team spirit. The Country Team will hopefully be a supportive working
group for mutual help and exchange throughout the Action Learning process and in advancing with
your Change Project during the program. It will also enable integrated processes, or even joint change
projects, between organisations taking part in the programme. Together with the NF, the Country
Team will review the draft city situational analysis developed by the Mentor Team, and update and
improve it as relevant. Your country team should be prepared to make a short presentation (5-10
minutes) of your city situational analysis in Phase 2 in Stockholm.

Internal Meeting
Soon after the introductory meeting, you will arrange an internal meeting at your organisation to
introduce your management and colleagues to the SUWAS programme, to the concept of the Action
Learning process and the Change Project and to the up-coming organisational analysis. The purpose of
this meeting is to engage your organisation and start building support from your management.

Support Group
We recommend that you also take the initiative to form a small “support group” of colleagues in your
organisation. The members of the support group shall have an interest in the SUWAS programme and
its objectives. The role of the support group will be to give guidance and to assist you in the various
tasks related to the development and realisation of the Change Project. This may include giving
feedback on your problem analysis, identifying which specific problem that your organization will
address, help preparing and participating in meetings, provide you with expertise and information, and
possibly even take an active role in the planning and implementation of the Change Project actions.

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Sustainable Urban Water and Sanitation – Integrated Processes

It will be your responsibility to continually communicate with your support group by sharing and
discussing plans related to your Change Project progress; information provided in the training;
involving them in decisions; and ensure that you use the skills and abilities they offer. You will, of
course, maintain the main responsibility for leading the Change Project.

Organisational Analysis
A main activity in Phase 1 is the organisational analysis. In short, you will make a rapid analysis of your
own organisation, its mandate and role within urban water and sanitation, its governance, and key
challenges and opportunities. The organisational analysis will be important in identifying a specific
problem or challenge related to urban water and sanitation that you will address through your Change
Project. It is also important to ensure that your actions are linked to the mandate and interests of your
organisation.

For more details regarding how to carry out the organisational analysis, please see the separate
Guidelines for Organisational Analysis.

Poster and Presentation

We ask you to prepare a poster to be shown to your fellow participants in Sweden at the start of Phase
2. We recommend that your poster outlines:
 A short summary of your organisation’s mandate and role in urban water and sanitation
 Key challenges (or opportunities) for your organisation, related to your organisations mandate
and capacity within urban water and sanitation

Other recommendations:
 The poster should be about paper size A1 (841 x 594 mm)
 Just make it simple. You can produce it as 8 sheets of standard size A4 paper and join them
together when in place
 Use large font size for the text to make it easy to read when exhibited
 If possible, add illustrations such as maps, charts, or images

The National Facilitator will during Phase 1 to give you guidance and support. If you need additional
support to get the required engagement from your organisation, the NF can make a visit to your
organisations, if deemed necessary.

Summary of your tasks in Phase 1:

1.1 Jointly in the country team review the national and city situational analysis and
prepare a presentation for Phase 2
1.2 Hold an internal meeting in your organisation
1.3 Form your support group within your organisation (recommended)
1.4 Carry out an organisational analysis.
1.5 Prepare a simple poster for Phase 2. Please bring the printed poster to Sweden.

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 International Training Programme
Sustainable Urban Water and Sanitation – Integrated Processes

Phase 2 - Training in Sweden

Phase 2 begins with each country team presenting their city situational analysis, to provide an
overview of the context in which the participants from each country works. All participants will also
present their posters prepared during Phase 1, outlining their organisations’ mandates and challenges
related to urban water and sanitation.

In Phase 2 you will conduct a problem analysis jointly with your country team. The aim is to formulate
a shared, overall problem or challenge concerning urban water and sanitation in your city and to map
out causes and sub-causes to this overall problem. This is the start of your Action Learning process,
from which you will start developing and sharing information and perspectives from your respective
organisations.

The overall problem analysis, combined with your organisational analysis, will help you identify a
particular problem or challenge that you and your organisation wish to address, linked to your
mandate and capacity. This will be your change area. You will formulate your change goals for what
the problem will look like resolved, which will provide guidance to the actions you will take as part of
your Change Project.

You will conduct a stakeholder analysis for your change area, and also a more detailed analysis of
actors within your own organisation and/or with the key stakeholder agencies. The stakeholder
analysis will provide important input to thinking strategically about how you will communicate your
vision and your Change Project to build support for pursuing it.

Once you have developed a Change Project Goal, you will estimate how far you will have come in
resolving the problem by the end of Phase 5 of the SUWAS programme. You will ‘back-cast’ to estimate
how far you might have come by Phase 4, by the middle of Phase 3, and in a month from the end of
Phase 2. With these envisioned “check-points”, you are ready to identify 2-4 very specific actions that
can be accomplished in the first few weeks into Phase 3.

In all the steps above, you will work closely with your country team. The team will be joined around
the shared overall urban water and sanitation challenge of your city, but each participant will identify
their own specific change area and vision, related to their own organisation and ‘sphere of influence’.
Your team will work towards a shared goal, addressing it from different perspectives and sectors.

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Sustainable Urban Water and Sanitation – Integrated Processes

During Phase 2, the country teams will decide how they will work together during Phase 3, to test and
maintain an Action Learning approach to developing your Change Project. Each country team will
decide a date for their first Phase 3 meeting, who will host it and how everyone’s progress will be
documented.

Summary of your tasks in Phase 2 in Sweden:

2.1 Present the organisational analysis, with focus on challenges and opportunities
2.2 Develop a country team problem analysis and formulate an overall problem statement
2.3 Identify your change area and formulate your change goals
2.4 Back-cast in time to develop ‘check-points’ for your goals
2.5 Identify 2-4 specific actions to undertake during the first few weeks of Phase 3
2.6 Agree on a country team plan for maintaining an Action Learning process during Phase 3

Phase 3 – Change Project Development (Action Learning Process)

During Phase 3, you will start working in an Action Learning process, with the support of your country
team. You will carry out your first actions and make observations of the results and challenges in
doing so. You will also, as part of those actions, start communicating with colleagues and/or other
stakeholders and actors within your organisation to start building support for your vision and Change
Project.

You will meet with your country team within a few weeks into Phase 3. You will be provided with a
format for facilitating your discussion, which will help you to reflect jointly and systematically about
the results and challenges of taking your first actions, the struggles you may be facing, and how you
may adapt your course of action and identify the next steps to be taken. Your National Facilitator will
also help keep the momentum of the team, and ensure that all participants do their best in adhering
to the process and progressing with their actions.

Ideally, the second set of steps should be conducted within the following 2-4 weeks, after which you
will meet again in your country team to carry out another round of reflections on the outcomes of
your actions. Your country team should try to meet 3-5 times during Phase 3.

In this step-wise manner, you will gradually take actions, learn from the results of your actions, adapt
your thinking, and define new actions. The shared reflections and step-wise actions is the core of the
Action Learning process and the accumulated actions and results thereof comprise your Change
Project.

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 International Training Programme
Sustainable Urban Water and Sanitation – Integrated Processes

As you progress through the Action Learning process, you will be encouraged to document your results
and accomplishments (including the challenges). This account will help you demonstrate the
legitimacy of your Change Project and gradually build support from within your organisation and
among key stakeholders.

Throughout Phase 3, you will be in close communication with your National Facilitator, who will in turn
communicate with the mentor. The mentor team will support you and encourage you to stay on track.
About 2 before the start of Phase 4, you will be asked to submit a phase 3 Progress Report and later
a brief presentation on the Action Learning process so far, to your mentor. She/he will provide
feedback for you to finalize this before the start of Phase 4 in your Region.

Summary of your tasks in Phase 3:

3.1 Carry out your first actions (document the results)

3.2 Meet with your Country Team to initiate the Action Learning process (document the discussion)
and define new actions
3.3 Carry out the next set of actions (document the results)
3.4 Meet with your Country Team to continue the Action Learning process (document the discussion)
and define new actions
3.5 Carry out several rounds of actions and Action Learning meetings (document the results and the
discussions)
3.6 Prepare and submit a progress report of Phase 3
3.7 Prepare a presentation on the Phase 3 process and outcomes, to be shared in Phase 4

Phase 4 - Training in the Region

Phase 4 begins with the participants presenting their experiences of the Action Learning process
during Phase 3 - actions taken, challenges and accomplishments. How far have we come in addressing
the change areas and realizing the visions? How far have we come in addressing the team’s shared
overall urban water and sanitation problem?

At this stage, each participant will have progressed differently with their Change Projects. Some
Change Projects may have evolved rapidly, while others have had to adapt the course of action and
take a slower route. This is quite alright. The focus will be on sharing and learning from each other’s
experiences.

Phase 4 will provide additional knowledge and perspectives on the urban water and sanitation sector,
and participants will be asked to revisit their problem analysis and, possibly their organisational
analysis. Additional exercises and lectures will also be provided on change management, Action
Learning and communication strategies, which will further support the development of your Change
Project.

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Sustainable Urban Water and Sanitation – Integrated Processes

During Phase 4, you will be encouraged to refine your Change Project Goals, and the ‘check-points’ in
the back-casting conducted during Phase 2. Such revision will help you adapt your actions to the real
needs and conditions that you have encountered so far, and help you progress with a Change Project
that is realistic and useful.

You will again work in your Country Team and decide on a plan for furthering the Action Learning
process during Phase 5. At the end of Phase 4, you will have defined 2-3 specific actions to undertake
during the first few weeks of Phase 5, and you will prepare and submit to your mentor team a note on
your reflections and plan for entering Phase 5.

Your National Facilitator will participate during parts of Phase 4 and will provide additional support for
ensuring that you and your country team are progressing with your Change Projects, and that the
Action Learning process of continuous exchange of learning is maintained.

Summary of your tasks in Phase 4:

4.1 Presentation on experiences during Phase 3: Change Project obstacles and accomplishments
4.2 Revise the Change Project Goal
4.3 Identify 2-4 specific actions to undertake during the first few weeks of Phase 5
4.4 Prepare and submit your plan for Phase 5
4.5 Agree on a country team plan for maintaining an Action Learning process during Phase 5

Phase 5 - Change Project Development – Continued (Action Learning Process)

During Phase 5, you will continue working through the Action Learning process, with the support of
your country team and national facilitator. Working towards your vision for change, you will gradually
add and implement actions which, taken together, comprise your Change Project. At this stage, you
will expand the legitimacy of your Change Project vis-à-vis key actors and stakeholders, internal to
your organisation, and externally. You will expand the support for your Change Project and, as such,
you may be able to take more comprehensive actions.

As you did during Phase 3, you will meet regularly with your country team, and continue to reflect
jointly and systematically about the results and challenges of progressing with your actions. Your
National Facilitator will, again, support the team in maintaining momentum, documenting the
progress, and advising on next steps, as appropriate. Your country team should meet 3-5 times during
Phase 5.

Shortly after returning from Phase 4 in your Region, you shall arrange a follow-up meeting at your
organisation with relevant colleagues, your support group and your management. Special notice
should be taken of potential participants to upcoming SUWAS programmes. If possible, the National

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Sustainable Urban Water and Sanitation – Integrated Processes

Facilitator should also be present. You will share your new knowledge and experiences from Phase 4
and share your plans for next actions to progress with your Change Project.

Before the end of Phase 5, you will as a country team arrange a City Seminar, at which you will deliver
a presentation and lead a discussion on the national and city baseline analysis, the overall problem
analysis and vision, the Change Project visions, how the Change Projects have evolved over time and
what has been accomplished and learned to date. Both internal and external stakeholders may be
invited to attend the seminar, and both the National Facilitator and mentor will participate and
support, as appropriate. The Seminar should take place at one of the participating organisations.

To fulfil the SUWAS programme participation you will also deliver a final report on the Change
Project according to a provided template; and you will answer a few results-related questions in an
internet-based survey.

Summary of your tasks in Phase 5:

5.1 Continue to carry out actions to progress with your Change Project (document the results)
5.2 Meet with your Country Team to continue the Action Learning process (document
the discussion) and define new actions
5.3 Arrange a follow-up meeting at your organisation to present experiences from Phase 4
5.3 Contribute to arranging a final city seminar
5.4 Presentation of experiences and results at the city seminar
5.5 Delivering a final report on the Change Project
5.6 Answer questions in a brief internet-based survey

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