A Case Study of Brasília and the Federal District: Community Participation and Sanitary and Environmental Education in Condominial Sewerage Systems at CAESB
A Case Study of Brasília and the Federal District: Community Participation and Sanitary and Environmental Education in Condominial Sewerage Systems at CAESB
- César Augusto RissoliCésar Augusto RissoliWater and Sanitation Company from the Federal District - CAESB
- , and Maria Martinele Feitosa MartinsMaria Martinele Feitosa MartinsWater and Sanitation Company from the Federal District - CAESB
Summary
Adding a social component to sanitation work has traditionally been done as a separate, “decorative element,” which can be seen as dispensable. By this logic, a direct relationship is not forged between the objective of the project and the interest of its beneficiaries, and so the sanitation intervention is rendered ineffective.
The Federal District Environmental Sanitation Company (Companhia de Saneamento Ambiental do Distrito Federal) (CAESB) has used the Condominial Sewerage System for over 30 years with a great deal of success. It has become a reference point for this type of sanitary sewage modal, where the community mobilization social component, which involves community participation and environmental education, demonstrates that these areas are key to achieving success and effectiveness in a sanitation intervention, which is a fundamental element in the current context of chronic service deficits of this type of infrastructure as well as of insufficient resources.
This article seeks to describe the defining aspects of the Condominial Sewerage System in the Federal District and provide an overview of the key features of the methodology as used by CAESB and its experience in developing the social components of community participation and environmental education which are used in implementing this type of sanitary sewerage system. At CAESB, this social component is absolutely inseparable from the technical component, which is why it is called “technical-social mobilization.” It is a set of actions, always transversally linked with the technical procedures, establishing the common objective of universalization of sewerage system service. Operating in this way for more than 30 years has established a strong relationship between the company and the community, based on a sense of civic duty. This has optimized resource use and allowed every family to connect to the system, with more than 350,000 sewage connections, serving more than 1,500,000 inhabitants throughout the Federal District.
Keywords
Subjects
- Global Health
- Health Services Administration/Management