<h2 style="margin:0; font-size:130%; text-align:left; color:#535353; padding:0.2em 0.4em;">What's happening now</h2>
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|<font size="3">'''Have a look at Try out our all new Sustainability Portal[[Water Compass|Water Compass]]!'''</font>[[Image: water-maintenancecomp.png|right|200px|link=http://akvopedia.org/wikisandbox/Sustainability_PortalWater_Compass]]
The [http://www.irc.nl/ IRC] and Akvopedia have teamed up to produce an all new [[Sustainability PortalWater Compass|Sustainability PortalWater Compass]] based on the Dutch WASH Alliance [http://wwwis our new decision support tool that can help you decide which drinking water technologies best fit your situation.washalliance.nl/fietsIt contains almost 70 water management methods or technologies applicable in asset-strategy/ F.I.E.T.S. principles] of financialpoor, institutional, environmental, technological, and social sustainabilitydeveloping regions. Included are the 10-part [[Sustainability Frameworks and Tools|Triple-S building blocks]] Grouped from IRC and other sustainability frameworks. With over 50 new article pages and many more sustainability tools, slideshows, and videos... water and sanitation project members can now think about their WASH system's longevity with confidence. '''Helpful topics include:''' [[Participatory methods|Participatory methods]]; [[3R (water) – Recharge, Retention and Reuse|3R (water) – Recharge, Retention and Reuse]]; [[Capacity support - local government|Capacity support - local government]]; [[Life-cycle costing|Life-cycle costing]]; [[Ecological Sanitation (EcoSan)|Ecological Sanitation (EcoSan)]]; [[Community-Led Total Sanitation|Community-Led Total Sanitation]]; [[Self Supply|Self Supply]]; [[Osources &M extraction to household water supply|Otreatment &M storage, they are the current best practices in developing water supply]]; and [[Monitoring|Monitoring]]sectors.
In '''three easy steps''' you can discover what you need — 1) Select from a panel of criteria to specify the relevant factors for your situation, 2) Assemble a chain of technologies, and 3) Document your results. The automated selection, based on researched sustainable & suitability factors, will help you plan or discuss your options in an objective and transparent fashion. Excellent for focus group discussions or other multi-stakeholder events.
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* '''NEW PORTAL:''' [[Sustainability Portal|<font size="2">'''Sustainability Portal'''</font>]] - [http://www.irc.nl/ IRC] and Akvopedia have teamed up to produce an all new [[Sustainability Portal|Sustainability Portal]] based on the Dutch WASH Alliance [http://www.washalliance.nl/fiets-strategy/ F.I.E.T.S. principles] of financial, institutional, environmental, technological, and social sustainability. Included are the 10-part [[Sustainability Frameworks and Tools|Triple-S building blocks]] from IRC and other sustainability frameworks. With over 50 new article pages and many more sustainability tools, slideshows, and videos... water and sanitation project members can now think about their WASH system's longevity with confidence.
* '''NEW ARTICLE PAGE:''' [[Community Based Savings|<font size="2">'''Community Based Savings'''</font>]] - Community-based saving is a microfinance model that is considered to be an effective method for financing projects in sustainable sanitation and water management. This is an effective method for saving a small amount of money by organising or joining a saving group of up to 25 people. These people might be colleagues, friends or neighbours coming from the same community. The method is very simple and easy to implement.
* '''NEW ARTICLE PAGE: [[Gender Mainstreaming|<font size="2">Gender Mainstreaming</font>]]''' - Gender mainstreaming is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally (gender equality) and inequality is not perpetuated.
* '''NEW ARTICLE PAGE: [[Transparency & Accountability|<font size="2">Transparency & Accountability</font>]]''' - '''Transparency''' refers to the right of citizens to access relevant information. Openness and public access to information are vital, so that water-users can understand the decision-making processes that affect them. '''Accountability''' is a broad concept that entails several dimensions and is often used in different ways. Some see it as a mechanism to hold people and institutions accountable, whereas others may see it as a concept referring to the actual application and implementation of rules and standards.
* '''NEW ARTICLE PAGE: [[Harmonisation & Coordination|<font size="2">Harmonisation & Coordination</font>]]''' - Harmonisation and coordination enables all actors – national and local government, donors, lending banks, NGOs and other water sector stakeholders – to recognise and adhere to common principles and approaches when supporting rural water services. For instance, the principle of aid effectiveness, which means external actors will better coordinate amongst themselves and align behind a recipient country's national policies, priorities, and systems.
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