Regional Water and Environmental Sanitation Centre Kumasi

Regional Water and Environmental Sanitation Centre Kumasi

facility

Country	Ghana
Edey de administrative territorial entity insyd	Kumasi
Dema official website	https://rwesck.knust.edu.gh/

RWESCK Building for KNUST Campus insyd

Regional Water and Environmental Sanitation Centre Kumasi (RWESCK) be research den postgraduate training centre for Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) for Kumasi, Ghana. De centre dey de Department of Civil Engineering for de College of Engineering, den e dey specialise for postgraduate programmes, professional development courses den applied research for water den sanitation.

De centre be part of de Africa Centres of Excellence initiative, World Bank-supported programme wey dem design make e strengthen postgraduate training, applied research den regional capacity for selected development fields. Ein work dey cover water resources, climate change, water treatment den supply, waste management, environmental sanitation, den water, sanitation and hygiene governance.

History

RWESCK come from earlier water den sanitation capacity-building work for KNUST. De centre trace ein beginning to de Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation Project, wey start for 1996 with money support from de Government of de Netherlands. Dem revise de project for 2004 den rename am Water Resources and Environmental Sanitation Project.

For 2016, Graphic Online report say de World Bank dey provide US$8 million to support de establishment of de Regional Water and Environmental Sanitation Centre for Kumasi. De report say dem go locate de centre for KNUST campus, den e go scale up research, training den capacity building for students and other stakeholders for de water den sanitation sectors.

World Bank audited financial statement identify RWESCK as Africa Centres of Excellence project wey KNUST implement, with de International Development Association as project financier. De 2016 Graphic Online report san state say de centre be collaboration among de centre, de World Bank den de Government of Ghana.

Aim den focus areas

Dem establish RWESCK to support postgraduate training, research den capacity development for water den environmental sanitation. WASCAL describe de centre as regional centre of excellence for de Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, KNUST, wey dey specialise for postgraduate programmes at MSc den PhD levels, plus professional development courses for water den sanitation.

De centre ein focus areas include water resources, climate change, water treatment den supply, waste management, environmental sanitation den WASH governance. WASCAL list ein thematic areas as innovative water treatment technology, innovative water distribution den smart technology, environmental sanitation and waste management technology, climate resilience and water resources management, den water and sanitation governance.

RWESCK ein official mission statement describe ein purpose as to provide environment for teaching, research den mentorship training in water and sanitation science and technology for industrial and socio-economic development.

Academic programmes

RWESCK dey offer postgraduate programmes through KNUST ein Department of Civil Engineering. Ein MSc programmes include Environmental Sanitation and Waste Management, Water Supply Engineering and Management, Water Engineering with water resources focus, den Disaster Prevention and Management.

De centre san dey offer doctoral programmes in Water Supply and Treatment Technology, Water Resources Management, den Environmental Sanitation and Waste Management. Ein doctoral programme structure include coursework, proposal development, internship, research den thesis work.

Applications dey open to candidates from Ghana den other African countries. De centre state say candidates from non-Anglophone countries must show evidence say dem fit communicate in English.

Professional training den short courses

RWESCK dey run professional short courses for water den sanitation. De centre describe ein short-course methods as lectures, group exercises, case-study analysis, hands-on sessions den field trips.

De courses wey dem list include sustainable onsite sanitation and faecal sludge management, integrated municipal solid waste management, climate-resilient urban drainage, water and sanitation master planning, borehole drilling and construction, GIS applications in water resources management, drinking-water safety planning, advanced water treatment membrane technology, water instrumentation and automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence applications in water and sanitation management, den water and sanitation infrastructure governance.

For 2025, de NEPAD Water Centres of Excellence network report say RWESCK host delegation from Nigeria ein National Water Resources Institute as part of collaboration wey link to water resources management training. De report say de delegation visit RWESCK ein water quality laboratories, hydraulic laboratories den water resources engineering laboratories.

Research

RWESCK dey organise ein research around water, sanitation den environmental systems. Ein research groups include de Water Resources Research Group, Water Supply Research Group, Environmental Sanitation Research Group, den WASH Governance and Policy Research Group.

De Water Resources Research Group dey focus on areas such as climate change, integrated water resources management, transboundary basins, irrigation development, scientific computing den modelling. De Water Supply Research Group dey work on water treatment den water-supply service delivery in relation to de Sustainable Development Goals. De Environmental Sanitation Research Group dey cover environmental protection, environmental health, waste treatment, composting, nutrient recovery, bio-waste-to-energy den modelling of development impacts. De WASH Governance and Policy Research Group dey focus on infrastructure development, financing, governance, settlement upgrading, women empowerment den behavioural-change communication.

De centre list publications by affiliated researchers for areas such as water supply, sachet-water quality, rainwater harvesting, water services for de urban poor, small-town water service delivery, faecal sludge den latrine use, solid-waste services, groundwater, irrigation-water quality den hydrological modelling.

Applied research den innovation

RWESCK don involve itself for applied research on sanitation, wastewater treatment den resource recovery. For 2023, MyJoyOnline report say RWESCK and Sewerage Systems Ghana Limited use activated charcoal wey dem derive from faecal sludge to purify wastewater. De report state say de work evaluate faecal sludge-derived activated charcoal for wastewater pollutant removal, den say de results appear for Advances in Materials Science and Engineering.

De Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence programme report for 2024 say RWESCK undertake digital-skills development activities in artificial intelligence, machine learning, de Internet of Things, GIS data analytics den digital literacy for de water den sanitation sector. De same report say de centre dey work with de Ghana Standards Authority toward ISO/IEC 17025:2017 certification for ein laboratory facilities.

Another Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence report describe RWESCK projects for non-intrusive water-leakage detection den unmanned aerial vehicle surveillance of illegal mining. De report say de leakage-detection work use passive acoustic sensing, machine learning den signal processing, den dem dey develop am with de Community Water and Sanitation Agency.

Digital water den sanitation training

RWESCK don work on digitalisation for de water den sanitation sector. For 2023, MyJoyOnline report say RWESCK, in collaboration with AgroParisTech, identify digital skills gaps for application of digitalisation innovations den smart circular economy for water and sanitation utilities management.

De same report say RWESCK organise national workshop on digital transformation skills development for de water and sanitation sector for Accra. E san report say de Nyansapo Project, wey de French Embassy in Ghana fund, be intended to introduce digital transformation skills into water and sanitation education for graduate training, research den internships.

Conferences den sector engagement

RWESCK don participate for sector conferences den knowledge-exchange activities on climate change, water security den environmental sanitation. For 2017, Graphic Online report say climate change den sanitation experts, together with early career scientists working in Africa, meet for Accra to discuss research on water insecurity, climate change, flooding den sanitation issues wey dey affect Ghana den other parts of de continent.

De report describe de event as de first regional conference and school for West Africa dedicated to water, climate change den environmental sanitation. E state say de event be jointly organised by KNUST, de Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences den de World Bank. De thematic areas include climate change, climatic systems, resilient WASH systems, integrated water resources management, hydrology, hydrogeology, water security, vulnerability den early warning systems.

Community outreach

RWESCK san involve for hygiene education den school-based WASH outreach. For 2023, MyJoyOnline report on RWESCK ein handwashing education activities for rural communities, including education for pupils on proper handwashing den donation of tissue, liquid soap den handwashing stations to schools. De report name Ampabame, Odaho den Kwaso M/A primary schools among de schools wey de activities reach.

Laboratories den facilities

RWESCK develop laboratory den teaching facilities to support research den postgraduate training. De centre state say one of ein objectives be to build laboratory and lecture facilities for postgraduate education in water, environment den sanitation.

For 2024, de centre publicise laboratory characterisation services including X-ray diffraction analysis den scanning electron microscopy. De centre describe de X-ray diffraction facility as portable desktop instrument for powder diffraction applications, den de scanning electron microscope as tool for morphology den elemental analysis across research den quality-control applications.

De NEPAD Water Centres of Excellence network report for 2025 say visiting delegation from Nigeria ein National Water Resources Institute tour RWESCK facilities including water quality laboratories, hydraulic laboratories den water resources engineering laboratories.

Partnerships

RWESCK dey work with academic, public-sector den industry partners. De centre list regional academic partners including de National Water Resources Institute den de University of Benin for Nigeria, plus Cheikh Anta Diop University for Senegal.

Ein national partners include de Water Resources Commission, Ghana Water Company Limited, Community Water and Sanitation Agency, Ghana Irrigation Development Authority, CSIR Water Research Institute, den de Environmental Protection Agency. WASCAL san describe RWESCK as centre with local academic and industrial partners plus international relations with universities outside Ghana.

Role for water den sanitation education

RWESCK be part of Ghana ein water den sanitation education and research infrastructure. Ein activities relate to drinking-water treatment, water resources management, faecal sludge management, municipal solid waste, urban drainage, water-safety planning, climate resilience den WASH governance.

De centre ein regional role connect to de need for trained engineers, researchers den practitioners wey fit work on water access, sanitation services, waste management, environmental health, climate-related water risks den governance of WASH infrastructure.

External links

• Official website