University-Community Partnership For Water Technology Deployment And Co-Innovation: A Decade Of Engagement

• Main Authors: Cabacungan, Paul M, Tangonan, Gregory L, Cabacungan, Nerissa G
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2020
• Subjects: Co-Innovation; Community Empowerment; Innovative Water Technology; University-Community Partnership; Engineering; Environmental Sciences; Sustainability
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/aic/1; https://archium.ateneo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=aic
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

The Ateneo de Manila University (Philippines), through its Ateneo Innovation Center (AIC), integrated existing simple technologies into one system – the Water-Electricity-Lighting System (WELS) – to respond to the need for potable water, lighting and communication. WELS is a portable clean water system with provision for lighting and cellular phone charging. It can be connected to a rainwater harvesting facility. Ten years of WELS deployments revealed its flexibility for customization in order to address varied water needs, especially for disaster response. Review of documentations done on past installation experiences highlights the value of engagement between university-based technology providers and community-recipients. This engagement leads to technology improvement and sustainability through co-innovation and contributes to community resilience and education through hands-on training. This paper narrates a decade of deployment experiences and presents the process of community involvement. We present a model of engaging the stakeholders that brings mutual benefit to both university and community through this partnership.