Identification of feasible sanitation concepts and services

Sub step 5: Final decision making process

As soon as a comparison of the alternatives has been carried out and the results are available, a participatory decision-making process can be started. With the revised set of system alternatives, a final workshop can be held with the decision-makers in the project area. The information obtained during previous community workshops should be already reflected in an adapted design of the various system alternatives. At this point, the sanitation planning team should have information on cost estimates and the availability of construction material, tools, skilled labour and other essential components for the construction works.

The target of this workshop should be to conduct a participatory decision-making process that integrates all stakeholder groups and attempt to reach an agreement on an option considered most appropriate. The process is iterated until a mutually acceptable system is agreed upon by experts (in terms of technical robustness) and stakeholders (in terms of usability and affordability).

What techniques can I use to obtain the options of a large group of stakeholders?

Depending on the location, the resources available, the number of people in attendance, literacy, and the local culture, a variety of methods can be used to gain the opinions of the stakeholders:

Surveys and/or questionnaires can be used to obtain personal, potentially private information from a large number of people during a guided session or from private household visits.
Pocket voting is a simple technique to use for a limited number of questions -e.g. which of three options do people prefer. Stakeholders are given a number of chips (stickers, paper squares, etc.) and allowed to put them into the ‚"pocket" which they like best.
Focus group discussions are a good way to break down large groups into smaller more manageable groups with more unified ideas: different groups could include women, religious leaders, children, farmers, etc.
Well-moderated public meetings where people are allowed to stand and speak are good where there is an opportunity for everyone to be heard, and where there is good leadership and moderation to prevent anyone from dominating or disrespecting the views of others.

Additionally, pairwise ranking is a useful tool both to start discussion and to make a ranking in a systematic way, also it is considered important when evaluating a system. For more information, click here to download it.