City-San connect kicks-off with first webinar on Climate-Resilient WASH

On 26 August 2025, the inaugural session of City-San Connect successfully convened over 80 participants from municipalities, government agencies, NGOs, academia, private sector operators, development partners, and international experts. Organized by ITN-BUET under the SaniRepo platform, the 90-minute virtual dialogue aimed to strengthen cross-city learning and collaboration in urban sanitation.

The 90-minute virtual dialogue, themed “Climate-Resilient WASH”, was moderated by Alauddin Ahmed, Project Manager at ITN-BUET, and featured national and international experts presenting innovative approaches for climate-smart sanitation systems. Key highlights of the session focused on multiple challenges and solutions.

Local solutions in action: AHM Khalequr Rahman, Superintending Engineer at DPHE, shared practical experiences in flood-prone areas, including flood-resilient water supply systems, raised latrines, and modular treatment plants. He emphasized community ownership and climate-adaptive municipal planning as critical for sustainability.

Sanitation as an investment: Kaveri Dhawan, Senior Manager at Dasra, highlighted sanitation as central to public health and resilience, showcasing women-led initiatives, participatory approaches, and innovative financing mechanisms. She called for stronger policy frameworks and partnerships to scale up climate-smart WASH solutions.

Visual Insights: A short documentary by ITN-BUET was screened, illustrating how climate change is already affecting urban sanitation, and highlighting city-level innovations such as modular STPs, container-based sanitation, sensor-driven monitoring, planning tools, and governance strategies

Interactive Exchange: Participants engaged in a lively Q&A, exploring ways to:

• Integrate fecal sludge management (FSM) into municipal plans
• Mobilize financing for resilient infrastructure
• Advance a national framework for climate-smart WASH

Way forward: With strong participation and knowledge exchange, City-San Connect reaffirmed its role as a collaborative platform for showcasing real-world solutions, inspiring peer learning, and driving collective action toward achieving SDG 6.

All proceedings and recordings will be available on SaniRepo (www.sanirepo.com), ITN-BUET’s digital knowledge hub for WASH learning.