HCA - The Household-centred Approach

This report is about a concept and a workshop.

The concept is called the “Household-centred Approach” and it concerns the way we plan development projects. The basis is that planning should start by considering the needs and perspectives of the smallest possible unit, and should seek to solve problems as close as possible to this level. This report explains this idea, describes how it can be applied to environmental sanitation in urban and peri-urban contexts, and investigates whether it can usefully be applied to various other kinds of projects.

The Workshop was subtitled with a question: A new way to increased sustainability of water and sanitation projects ? The Household-centred Approach (HCA) is new, and so there were many questions and comments about its requirements and implications, and how it could be used in various situations. These reactions have been recorded in this report, because they will provide useful guidance for trainers and resource persons who are preparing to explain the HCA to other groups.