About Akvopedia

From Akvopedia, the open knowledge source for water and sanitation.

This is an introduction to the Akvopedia project for visitors

Akvopedia is a Web-based, free content project about water and sanitation subjects. The name Akvopedia is a portmanteau (combination of words and their meanings) of the words akvo (water in the language Esperanto) and encyclopedia. Akvopedia articles provide links to guide the user to related pages with additional information.

The Akvopedia is written collaboratively by volunteers and specialists mainly from the water and sanitation sector since the creation of Akvopedia during the summer of 2007.

Visitors do not need specialized qualifications to contribute, since their primary role is to write articles that cover existing knowledge; this means that people of all ages and cultural and social backgrounds can write Avopedia articles. Most of the articles can be edited by anyone with access to the Internet, simply by clicking the edit this page link. Anyone is welcome to add information, cross-references or citations, as long as they do so within Akvopedia's editing policies and to an appropriate standard. Substandard or disputed information is subject to removal. Users need not worry about accidentally damaging Akvopedia when adding or improving information, as other editors are always around to advise or correct obvious errors, and Akvopedia's software (MediaWiki, which also powers the Wikipedia) is carefully designed to allow easy reversal of editorial mistakes.

The Akvopedia started as an open collaborative effort of Akvo, initiated by Netherlands Water Partnership, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, UNESCO-IHE, GreenOcean and the Movement Design Bureau. Prototype funding has been provided by Partners voor Water.