43 water & sanitation practitioners and wider development specialists from both humanitarian aid and development cooperation gathered in Gwatt, Switzerland from 18 to 22 June, 2012 within the framework of the 28th AGUASAN Workshop. This year’s event was dedicated to the issue of achieving long-term financial sustainability of rural and small town WASH services. Presentations from resource persons, plenary discussions, group work on topic cases, crash course on the life-cycle cost approach, individual sustainability clinics and an excursion into the Swiss context supported the exchange and learning process as well as the development of new ideas. At the end of the workshop, different results could be highlighted: learning for the participants, peer assisted cases and clinics presenters as well as an outline of a framework for a successful approach to financial sustainability of WASH services. Within this framework, six key conducive elements were underlined: appropriate sector governance, comprehensive cost analysis, financially viable and socially equitable services, a solution suitable to the context, organizational capacity of relevant actors as well as ownership and commitment.

For further information, please see http://www.aguasan.ch or contact roger.schmid@skat.ch.