Speaker
Description
Vulnerable groups at the margins of societies in Europe, such as people experiencing homelessness and Roma people, often live in deprived areas and under problematic conditions, excluded from access to safe drinking water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH) and waste management. Understanding the extent of related high health risk, and providing assistance through targeted interventions, are complicated by the invisibility of this group, and the inaccessibility of reliable, up-to-date information.
Two exploratory case studies will be presented that use novel approaches to understand and strengthen water and health security in Europe’s marginalized communities. A study conducted in Germany aimed to i) understand challenges that people experiencing homelessness face regarding WASH insecurity, by ii) co-design methods most suitable to capture these challenges, and iii) jointly identify interventions with inclusive participatory mapping. A study conducted in Slovakia aims to i) improve the acquisition of information on water insecurity and related health risks among Roma communities, and ii) develop an innovative assessment system that iii) integrates social, medical, geoinformation and earth observation science methods.
As urban and rural poverty, homelessness, multiple vulnerability factors and related (health) challenges keep growing, co-research and citizen science, and novel integrated research approaches become key to inform targeted interventions.
