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NGOs fostering transitions towards sustainable urban sanitation in low-

income countries: Insights from Transition Management and Development
Studies

Article in Environmental Science & Policy · August 2017

DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2017.08.011

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Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Environmental Science and Policy

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envsci

NGOs fostering transitions towards sustainable urban sanitation in low-

income countries: Insights from Transition Management and Development
Studies
⁎
Mara J. van Welie , Henny A. Romijn
Eindhoven University of Technology, School of Innovation Sciences, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Globally, 756 million people in urban areas have no access to improved sanitation, while the urban population is
NGOs increasing rapidly. Providing toilets has often not been a sustainable solution because of failure to link them to
Transition management the necessary service infrastructure. Resolving urban sanitation problems in low-income countries requires in-
Process approaches to development projects novations in approaches covering infrastructure, technology, social embedding, financial mechanisms and cost
Community development
recovery. This paper explores the potential challenges and contribution of NGOs in facilitating new, integrated
Urban sanitation
solutions to urban sanitation problems that address the entire sanitation chain, promising better social, financial
Low-income countries
and environmental sustainability. A case study of a sanitation project initiated by a large Dutch NGO is pre-
sented, using reconstruction of project documentation and interviews with project stakeholders. The analytical
framework combines elements from Transition Management (TM) with insights from process approaches to
development projects and community development. The choice of the TM concept is motivated by the notion
that the new NGO approaches could be conceived as efforts to initiate a sustainability transition process in urban
sanitation, whereas its complementation with insights from the development studies domain answers to the need
to attune a TM-based framework to participation in the socio-institutional context in low-income countries, to
understand the progress of governing transition processes in informal, low-income settings. This context requires
special attention for capacity-building and creation of organizational structures in poor local communities. The
case study shows that this entailed specialised groundwork, with which the NGO laid a crucial foundation that
enabled transition frontrunners to act. Simultaneously, this focus on bottom-up empowerment created chal-
lenges for the NGO in effectively involving the right frontrunner actors who could put pressure on incumbent
societal structures and institutions. We conclude that transitions in low-income contexts require extra attention
to local empowerment and institution building to lay the required foundations for a locally rooted transition
process. Development NGOs like the one in our case study have the skills to do this, but need to learn how to
combine these with additional necessary competences to facilitate systemic change.

1. Introduction excreta at the point of generation, in contrast with off-site systems,

particularly sewerage that transport excreta to another location for
Four billion people, about 54% of the world’s population, live in treatment, disposal or use (WHO, 2006). The faecal sludge collected
urban areas, where inequalities are rising (UN-Habitat, 2016). Many of from on-site systems is often (illegally) dumped, causing large-scale
the urban poor live in informal settlements characterized by unsanitary health hazards. Storm water drains fill up with human waste, which
conditions because of high population density, inadequate (solid) waste frequently contributes to flooding and contamination (Galli et al.,
management and poor drainage systems (Hawkins et al., 2013). 2014). Residents of informal settlements suffer from cholera, diarrhoea
Worldwide, approximately 756 million urban residents have no access and worm infections and thus have a lower quality of life and are less
to improved sanitation (Galli et al., 2014). In urban areas of sub-Sa- productive than other people (Hawkins et al., 2013).
haran Africa up to 80% of sanitation access is established with on-site The rapid urbanization in many low-income and lower-middle-in-
technologies (Diener et al., 2014), for example latrines that store come countries1 will seriously aggravate these challenges in the future

⁎
Corresponding author. Present address: Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 133, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
E-mail address: [email protected] (M.J. van Welie).
1
Low-income countries: Gross National Income (GNI) per capita $1025 or less; Lower-middle-income countries: GNI per capita between $ 1026 and $ 4035 (World-Bank, 2017).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2017.08.011
Received 29 June 2016; Received in revised form 17 July 2017; Accepted 9 August 2017
1462-9011/ © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY/4.0/).

Please cite this article as: van Welie, M.J., Environmental Science and Policy (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2017.08.011
M.J. van Welie, H.A. Romijn Environmental Science and Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

(UN-Habitat, 2014). Access to improved sanitation needs to be in- settings requires more specific consideration and attentiveness to the
creased on a much larger scale (Hawkins et al., 2013). Therefore, in- participatory process for capacity building and empowerment. This has
novative approaches in infrastructure, technology and cost recovery are been out of scope of western applications of the TM framework. Process
needed (Diener et al., 2014). This paper focuses on the challenges and approaches to development projects (Bond and Hulme, 1999; Korten,
contributions of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to sustain- 1980) and community development (Campfens, 1997; Mathie and
able sanitation in urban informal settlements in low-income countries. Cunningham, 2005) seem particularly useful literature streams to gain
While the humanitarian impact from improved facilities can be sub- insights into the specifics of participatory change processes in low-in-
stantial, most of the existing NGO approaches have not resulted in so- come countries.
lutions that last beyond the external support (Murray and Ray, 2010). In this paper, we analyse the challenges encountered by an NGO in
Provision of free latrines to poor populations lack reliable solutions for applying its holistic approach in a specific project, based on project
emptying, transporting and treating faecal sludge and wastewater documentation and interviews with project stakeholders. We comple-
(Koné, 2010). Furthermore, many approaches have been supply led, ment this with information from reflective conversations with re-
failing to take into account the characteristics of sanitation demand at presentatives from several other sanitation NGOs in order to get a grip
household level, which has resulted in unwillingness to pay for, main- on issues of generalizability of the case findings.
tain, and use new sanitation facilities (Jenkins and Sugde, 2006). Section 2 reviews Transition Management theory and its applica-
In response, several NGOs are developing new integrated ap- tions in low-income countries to date. These applications reveal certain
proaches addressing infrastructure, technology, social embedding, en- limitations arising from TM’s western roots. The literature strands from
vironmental contamination and cost recovery. This shift is reflected in development studies are introduced to deal with these issues, yielding a
the adoption of the sanitation value chain concept (e.g. Galli et al., contextually relevant framework for analysis. Section 3 outlines the
2014). This conceptualizes sanitation as a system with inputs and methodology. Section 4 contains the case analysis. Section 5 contains a
outputs, comprising sub-components of capturing, storing, trans- broader discussion of challenges of transition facilitation in low-income
porting, processing and/or recycling of faecal sludge (Fig. 1). The countries and the potential contribution and role of NGOs in such
concept is also embraced by knowledge institutions (Evans et al., 2015), processes, using the case findings and insights from other sanitation
international development organizations (WSP, 2014) and specific do- experts. It also draws lessons from using a combined theoretical fra-
nors (Gates-Foundation, 2010). In this paper, we speak of a ‘holistic mework consisting of transition and development studies literature. We
approach’ when referring to these fundamentally new approaches that conclude with the challenges of, and opportunities for, NGOs in fos-
are based on recapturing waste streams to create value for financial, tering change processes in low-income countries with a holistic ap-
social and environmental self-sustainability, as opposed to old stand- proach.
alone latrine provision.
The holistic NGO approaches are more complex than the earlier
2. Theory
approaches because they address the entire sanitation chain and ne-
cessitate cooperation with new types of actors in the different parts of
With the theoretical framework we should be able to analyse how
the chain, for example non-conventional financiers and regulatory
well an actor facilitates systemic change in a low-income country con-
bodies. To oversee these collaborations and create a financially self-
text. In this section we review Transition Management (TM) and its
sustaining sanitation chain, actors need to be found who are able to
applications in low-income countries for this purpose. We identify
orchestrate and govern the whole chain. An additional complication is
certain limitations of TM that emanate from its Western European sci-
the changing funding context in which NGOs work, caused by recent
entific roots. This leads us to explore bodies of literature of potential
policy changes in the development sector that call for NGOs to become
relevance that have grown out of experiences in low-income country
increasingly financially self-sufficient. For instance, the Dutch govern-
contexts, for essential complementary insights.
ment has adopted a new policy paradigm, From Aid to Trade
(Rijksoverheid, 2011) and ended one of the main governmental subsidy
programmes for NGOs in 2015 (Rijksoverheid, 2016). Similar changes 2.1. Transition Management
have been underway in, e.g., the UK, US and Australia, affecting NGOs
that significantly depended on government funding (Smedley, 2014). TM deals with complex societal problems and governance
The goal of this paper is to explore the challenges and opportunities (Loorbach and Rotmans, 2010) and is said to be ‘a promising model for
of development NGOs that are moving towards more holistic ap- sustainable development, allowing societies to explore alternative so-
proaches in sanitation in cities in developing countries. What are their cial trajectories in an adaptive, forward-looking manner’ (Kemp et al.,
challenges, and how can they contribute to processes of structural 2007, p. 2). It develops fundamental and also practical knowledge to
change? We primarily use a framework based on Transition influence and direct transitions towards sustainability (van den Bosch,
Management (TM) to answer these questions (Loorbach, 2007, 2010). 2010, p. 38). The new holistic sanitation approaches of NGOs can be
TM is a transition-governance approach, and the challenge of these conceived as efforts to govern a process aiming for long-term structural
NGOs can be framed as one of initiating and governing a socio-technical changes towards sustainability. Therefore, the principles of TM can be
transition process. However, the use of TM in informal, low-income useful for analysing how well an actor such as an NGO structures or
‘manages’ an ongoing governance process in society (Loorbach, 2010, p.

Fig. 1. Conceptualization of the sanitation chain (authors’ figure, inspired by Gates-Foundation (2010), Simavi (2015)).

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M.J. van Welie, H.A. Romijn Environmental Science and Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

There is no rigid sequence of steps in TM and the importance of

steps can differ across cycles. Effective TM creates space for fron-
trunners in transition arenas: virtual spaces or networks providing room
for reflection and experimentation (Grin et al., 2010).
In order to succeed in achieving structural change, the TM process
needs operational activities that function as transition experiments (van
den Bosch, 2010), which contribute to fostering change towards a
common long-term vision (Loorbach, 2010). An experiment is an ’in-
novation project with a societal challenge as a starting point for
learning aimed at contributing to a transition’ (van den Bosch and
Rotmans, 2008, p. 8). Transition experiments aim at solving persistent
societal problems, and their goals are not limited to technological
change or environmental sustainability (Grin et al., 2010; van den
Bosch, 2010).
TM can contribute fundamentally towards analysing the challenges
and potential contributions of an actor, e.g., an NGO that facilitates
holistic change in the sanitation sector in low-income environments.
However, TM has been developed in a Western European context.
Therefore we elaborate on the specificities of its application in low-
Fig. 2. The Transition Management Cycle (Loorbach, 2010, p. 173). income countries in the next sub-section.

163). TM can be applied at different societal levels: societal system, 2.2. Transition Management in low-income countries
subsystem, or project level (Loorbach, 2010, p. 171). For example, TM
been used at national/sector level to change future health care systems Until recently, non-OECD countries did not receive much attention
radically; at regional level to increase cooperation between munici- in the sustainability transitions literature (Markard et al., 2012).
palities; and at local level to initiate a sustainable roof transition pro- However, transition frameworks, including TM, have begun to be ap-
gramme by a firm (Grin et al., 2010; Loorbach and Rotmans, 2010). plied in more diverse geographical contexts. In Global South settings,
The TM framework is based on the multi-phase model of transitions cultures, societies, economies and institutional infrastructures can be
and the multi-level perspective (MLP), two concepts used to analyse very different from those in Western Europe; widespread poverty, low
transitions in society (Loorbach, 2010, p. 167). The multi-phase model levels of industrialization, inequality and deprivation greatly influence
distinguishes four transition phases: predevelopment, take-off, break- the processes of change (Ahlborg, 2015; Murphy, 2015). Transition
through and stabilization (Grin et al., 2010). The MLP is based on the studies in such contexts must not only focus on nurturing the social
notion that transitions result from interactions between processes at support base for environmentally responsible change, but also pay at-
three levels of structuration: (i) the regime, the dominant extant way of tention “…to the ways in which innovations, technologies, policies, and
thinking and doing things in a particular sector, (ii) the niche, which practices might decrease the vulnerability of communities and liveli-
offers a protected space in which radical innovations can develop hoods, foster and sustain distributive forms of economic growth, and
without being subjected to the selection pressures of the regime, and empower developing regions in an age of rapid globalization” (Murphy,
(iii) the contextual landscape, which conditions the regime, contributing 2015, p. 88). This could challenge the conventional transition frame-
to its stability or to pressure for change and destabilization, creating works. In recognition of this, Loorbach (2010) called for their empirical
windows of opportunity for niche innovations (Grin et al., 2010). validation in different societal contexts. Others are skeptical about their
The transition management cycle (Fig. 2) can be used to systemically applicability in these contexts (Baker et al., 2014).
analyse a holistic governance approach. This is a practical management We deliberately confined the scope of our review to papers that
framework including a cyclical four-phase process comprising different have taken up Loorbach’s challenge using a TM approach specifically.
types of governance activities that have different functions in the pro- We acknowledge the existence of many other transition studies set in
cess of stimulating societal transitions (Loorbach, 2010). The first is the the South that use Multi Level Perspective (MLP), Strategic Niche
strategic governance domain, in which ‘vision development, strategic Management (SNM) and Technological Innovation Systems (TIS) fra-
discussions, long-term goal formulation, collective goal and norm set- meworks, but without a TM governance lens which is of special interest
ting and long-term anticipation’ take place (Loorbach, 2010, p. 168). and importance for the purpose of this paper. We conducted a Scopus
TM starts with the development of a shared problem definition and a search for TM studies, using the keywords ’sustainability transitions’
shared transition vision about the desired sustainable future state of the and ‘Transition Management’ with a ‘title/abstract/keyword’ search
system. The selection of the right actors is essential, and should balance query. Transition studies with a South focus but without a specific TM
out frontrunners or niche-actors, and some representatives from the focus; as well as TM studies not focusing on the Global South were
incumbent regime-level (Loorbach, 2007). People should be selected removed from the resulting set through a scan of the abstracts. We
who are willing and enthusiastic to invest regular time and energy (Grin traced a few additional relevant studies by following up literature re-
et al., 2010). The second phase is the tactical governance domain, with ferences given in the remaining relevant studies; but confined our se-
agenda building, negotiating, networking and coalition building. Coa- lection to peer-reviewed published works. The end result was a set of
litions are built that develop a transition agenda, a joint action pro- 14TM papers focused on a diverse range of countries in the Global
gramme including the transition vision and ideas for projects and ex- South: South Africa; Kenya; India; Peru; Laos; Tanzania; Nepal;
periments (Loorbach, 2007). The third phase is the operational Vanuatu; Indonesia; Philippines; Morocco; and China.
governance domain, in which experiments, project building and im- All except one (Vreugdenhil et al., 2012) call for adjustment in TM
plementation take place, with a short-term horizon (Kemp et al., 2007; for use in the Global South. Nine advocate adjustment of the conceptual
Loorbach, 2010). The fourth phase is the reflexive governance domain, lens (Lawhon, 2012a, 2012b; Marquardt, 2015; Mutoko et al., 2014;
comprising reflexive activities related to monitoring, assessment and Ortiz et al., 2012; Pant et al., 2015, 2014; Woodhill, 2009; Xia and Pahl-
evaluation of ongoing policies, and ongoing societal change (Loorbach, Wostl, 2012); one argues for different ways of structuring, communicating
2010). Reflexivity and learning are important throughout the cycle. and executing TM in practice (Poustie et al., 2016); three argue for a
contextually sensitive TM application (Kemp and Never, 2017; Marquardt,

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M.J. van Welie, H.A. Romijn Environmental Science and Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

2014; Marquardt et al., 2016). adaptation to strong hierarchy, in the form of applying different criteria
An argument found in 12 studies is that, while there is clear value in for selecting frontrunners; connecting the visioning in the arena to
using the TM approach in Global South settings, the framework is external government actors; and practicing “mediated participation” as
Eurocentric in the sense of assuming that transitions can be pursued it was found to be unacceptable and counterproductive to bring parti-
through rather egalitarian processes. It does not do justice to the reality cipants from different levels of hierarchy together into one common
of highly politicized projects and complex power relations associated discussion forum. The other two studies in this sub-set analyse the ef-
with profound inequalities among stakeholders, which deeply affect the fectiveness of national renewable energy policy (Kemp and Never,
direction and outcome of transitions in low-income countries. In the 2017; Marquardt, 2014). Their findings, as well as Poustie et al. (2016)
nine studies that call for conceptual adaptations, insights from en- point towards the key importance of government capacity. This is
vironmental governance perspectives (Lawhon, 2012a), political something that poor developing countries typically lack, with poor
ecology (Lawhon, 2012b), and participative approaches to (community- connections between levels and agencies of government resulting in
based) projects (Marquardt, 2015; Ortiz et al., 2012; Woodhill, 2009) fragmented policy-making and weak policy implementation capacity.
are called upon to complement TM in order to grasp these complex Poustie et al. (2016) also report powerful insights about the main ex-
dynamics. It is noted that although some TM scholars have attempted to ternal donor. The local TM participants in this study identified the role
bring in power (e.g., Avelino and Rotmans (2009), van Buuren and of the Asian Development Bank as a core barrier to a successful tran-
Loorbach (2009)), they “…tend towards categorizing types of power sition. It had historically exercised dominant control over the local
without consideration of diverse ways of enacting power to shape the urban water management agenda, causing lack of ownership, frustra-
outcome of a transition, let alone normative responses to redressing tion, passivity and despondency among domestic government and so-
power imbalances” (: 955). The common acknowledgement in TM of cietal actors. Problems associated with such lack of domestic ownership
the need ‘to include a diversity of stakeholders’ is also deemed to be of development strategies and interventions are common in poor
insufficient. We need to pursue more strategic and sensitive questions: countries (Castel-Branco, 2008). Participation in these settings is not
‘Who gets what?’ and ‘Who decides?’ (Lawhon, 2012b, p. 956). only necessary for evolving more appropriate local innovations and
Marquardt et al. (2016, p. 24) note that the mainstream TM approach growing a broad innovation support base, but also for capacity building
often remains silent about causes of project impact such as power and for empowerment and awareness-raising of local stakeholders to ad-
capacity. These authors find the extensive participation literature to be dress structural power inequalities and external dependencies. This core
particularly insightful, as it draws on decades-long experience with issue has remained out of scope in western TM publications.
development aid in many different countries. This is the domain of Some of the studies make salient remarks about institutions.
political economy, dealing with ‘ownership’ and control over change Woodhill (2009) points out that formal, legal institutions (rules and
processes, conflict and power struggles, nepotism, corruption, margin- regulations as well as organizations) are often less important for the
alization and exclusion, structural dependence on foreign stakeholders functioning of Southern societies than unwritten informal customary
for funding or knowledge, as well as democratization, so-called ‘good institutions. Pant et al. (2014) note that barriers such as traditional
governance’, capacity building, empowerment, rights and justice gender norms or strong hierarchy can, and do, affect participatory
(Marquardt, 2015; Ortiz et al., 2012; Woodhill, 2009). dynamics through such complexities like ‘elite capture’ not taken into
Other authors who adapted TM conceptually did so because of account in conventional TM. Closely intertwined with this is poverty
fundamentally different physical realities (Mutoko et al., 2014; Pant itself: uneducated people lacking confidence to speak out in public,
et al., 2015, 2014). For example, the Pant et al. (2014) study is set in a inability to analyse problems coherently due to lack of awareness and
poor mountainous region of Nepal where the urban-centric, technology- insight into problems, and fear of retaliatory action by powerful parties
abundant and innovation-driven context that has shaped TM lacks re- with vested interests in the status quo. Overlaid on this is a complex of
levance. Subsistence smallholder farmers struggle to make a living unequal relations with external (often western) parties such as aid
without access to adequate technologies in a deteriorating ecosystem. donors, companies or NGOs (Poustie et al., 2016; Woodhill, 2009).
The starting point of a transition is fundamentally different. In line with
Murphy’s (2005) observation noted above, the authors observe that a 2.3. Insights from development studies
transition in this context should aim for durable poverty alleviation
through ecosystem regeneration and improved agricultural practices, The literature review reveals many specifics of low-income country
rather than adoption of innovations with a lower environmental foot- contexts that influence the governance and impact of transition pro-
print per se as in high-income Europe. The authors extend TM with a cesses. One major aspect is participation, a cornerstone of the TM ap-
Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) framing which sheds light on how to proach, which needs more specific consideration and attention in in-
engage poor and vulnerable communities in a process of social learning formal low-income settings than what can be gathered from most
about, and local adaptation to, their changing ecological environment. western applications of the TM framework. In general TM is focused on
Their approach (see also Pant et al., 2015) points up issues of govern- an egalitarian participatory process by a diversity of stakeholders. Two
ance of eco-systems, participation, and capacity building as central literature streams are particularity useful to address this issue: Process
pillars in transition strategies in poor rural settings. The study of Approaches to Development Projects (hereafter: PA) and Community
Mutoko et al. (2014) about poor smallholder farmers in Western Kenya Development (hereafter: CD). These literatures belong to people-man-
and the study by Xia and Pahl-Wostl (2012) about the transitioning to a aged development theorizing and praxis (Greig et al., 2007;
new water saving regime in Chinese regions show noteworthy simila- Martinussen, 1997). Compared to TM, the approach by CD and PA re-
rities in approach and findings, and likewise adopt a SES/resilience garding participatory change emphasizes commitment to organization
perspective alongside TM. of an inclusive process that recognizes profound institutionalised in-
Among the four studies that do not call for conceptual adaptations equalities among the stakeholders in a context of informality and
to TM, only (Vreugdenhil et al., 2012) do not argue for any adjustments poverty and focuses centrally on the difficulties in achieving mean-
to − in this case a South African − context. This study had a different ingful inclusion. We highlight the participation arguments from these
aim, exploring how TM could learn from experiences with pilot projects literatures that have remained underexposed in TM applications in
and focusing on an environmental transition, so complex social pro- western industrialized settings.
blems might have been out of its scope. The other three studies argue in Beneficiary participation is one of the essential characteristics of PA
favour of contextually sensitive operationalization or implementation. (Bond and Hulme, 1999). Involvement of ordinary citizens is empha-
Poustie et al. (2016), reports on an actual urban water management sized for several reasons, ranging from normative/ethical to instru-
experiment in an island in the Pacific, where TM experiments needed mental. Stakeholder participation is a means of reducing the likelihood

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M.J. van Welie, H.A. Romijn Environmental Science and Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

of further marginalization of those on the decision-making periphery. It

may increase confidence building, and the ability to analyse and debate
among the poor, thus equipping them to tackle severe power inequal-
ities vis-à-vis other stakeholders. It can also foster legitimacy of domi-
nant actors (i.e. donors or governments) by promoting transparency.
Mistrust of government is common in the Global South. Along with
transparency, it is important that procedures are kept simple and easily
comprehensible for disadvantaged groups that are generally less edu-
cated (Uphoff et al., 1998). Participatory systems of local organization
need to be appropriate to the capacities of local people. Special (edu-
cational) programs are needed to give stakeholders more skills for
participation, especially for the inclusion of women and disadvantaged
groups that suffer from social stigma and economic deprivation (Uphoff
et al., 1998). This helps to be sensitive to inequalities, informality and
marginalization that need to be addressed in order to achieve “inclusion
of a diversity of stakeholders” in TM (Lawhon, 2012b).
Necessary capacity building can cover the acquisition of technolo-
gical capabilities to adapt innovations with foreign origins to local
conditions; and organizational, negotiation and management skills
(Korten, 1980). Participation can lead to learning from the people,
which is essential because they understand their situation best, and
their involvement, including investment of local resources increases Fig. 3. Analytical framework for a TM analysis in an informal, low-income setting.
local ownership (Bond and Hulme, 1999; Korten, 1980; Uphoff et al., Adapted from Loorbach (2010, p. 173).
1998). Better decisions in development efforts result from the addition
of local or indigenous knowledge to the knowledge that more formally structure to the framework and analysis. The activities of each phase
and technically educated persons bring in (Uphoff et al., 1998). (i.e. envisioning in the strategic phase and experimenting in the op-
Creating and maintaining such social infrastructure needs considerable erational phase) are added into the framework. A layer is added to the
investment of effort, ideas, and material resources from both the local TM cycle, informed by insights from PA and CD. This layer in the fra-
people and supporting agencies (Uphoff et al., 1998, p. 64). mework feeds the TM cycle continuously with activities that ensure
CD attempts to foster structural change at local community level attentiveness to the socioeconomic inequalities to enable a TM inspired
(Cook, 1994). It is characterized by bottom-up approaches to planning process to function and progress in a context of poverty and inequality.
and intervention and contributes to understanding of the specifics of These activities are among others: the deliberate inclusion of margin-
participation with its attendance to the internal social complexities of alized people and local knowledge through capacity building and em-
communities (Campfens, 1997). One should avoid addressing a com- powerment. The activities are not bound to a specific TM phase, but
munity as homogeneous; their political and social values and practices should be continuously considered in each step that is taken in the
can be highly diverse as a result of social class and ethnicity (Campfens, process. The framework enables an analysis of the different TM phases
1997). CD adds insight into how to deal with issues in TM experiments including reflections on the specifics of governing a transition process
such as those identified by Poustie et al. (2016) in which bringing in an unequal, low-income setting.
participants from different levels of hierarchy together into one
common discussion forum was found unacceptable and counter-
productive. Its essential focus is on how to address empowerment 3. Methodology
problems of specific stakeholders in communities, especially the mar-
ginalized and excluded (Campfens, 1997; Wilkinson and Quarter, 3.1. Case selection
1995). The setting up of local community-based organizations, fa-
cilitated by community developers, in which (often unrecognized) so- This study adopted a case study approach (Yin, 2009) to analyse a
new holistic sanitation project initiated by a large Dutch NGO in the
cial assets and talents are mobilised and built upon can be a means for a
community to foster social cohesion and raise awareness about, and informal settlements of Kisumu, from its start in 2008 to 2014, when
the empirical research for this paper was conducted. The rapid urba-
attention for its problems and advocate for improvements (Campfens,
1997; Mathie and Cunningham, 2005). CD thus helps to overcome the nization and associated sanitation problems in Kisumu’s slums are re-
presentative of the conditions faced in many developing country cities.
“Eurocentric” assumption in TM that transitions can be pursued
through egalitarian processes. The NGO is one of the biggest development organizations in the
Netherlands and works in (post-) conflict and fragile states on various
The particularities of participation in informal, low-income settings
are characterized by attentiveness to problems that are inextricably issues, urban sanitation among them. It has a long history and reputable
linked with poverty and inequality: ways of including marginalized record. Like other NGOs in the sector, it is facing the need for major
people through empowerment, awareness raising and education activ- change in its delivery approach for more sustainable project results,
ities, mobilization of specific community assets, facilitation of com- while also moving towards internal financial self-sufficiency, in line
munity-based organization building, and use of local/indigenous with the general trend of declining international funding.
knowledge. These additions to the western TM framework help to
overcome its Eurocentric assumption that transitions can be pursued 3.2. Data collection and analysis
through a rather egalitarian process of stakeholder participation.
Documents, notes and reports were gathered and studied, including
2.4. Framework for analysis ‘unobtrusive’ data such as company reports, written statements by
members of staff, and contracts (Gray, 2004, p. 327). The NGO’s Pro-
From the previous sections we derive three theoretical building gramme Expert on sanitation, its Senior Corporate Strategist and Pro-
blocks: TM, CD, and PA, to construct a framework for analysis (Fig. 3). ject Coordinator in Kenya, and 11 other relevant stakeholders in Kenya
The four different phases that form the cyclical model of TM give and the Netherlands were also interviewed face to face, through Skype,

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M.J. van Welie, H.A. Romijn Environmental Science and Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Table 1 4. Results
Interviews.
Rural-urban migration causes rapid population growth in the in-
No. Position Organization Type
formal settlements in Kenya (Okurut and Charles, 2014; UN-Habitat,
Case study interviews 2016). This leads to a higher demand for sanitation services, and puts
1 Local Project Coordinator The NGO Skype interview pressure on the limitedly functional existing sanitation infrastructure
Kenya
and services. The regime structures of the sanitation sector in informal
2 Programme Expert, The NGO Interview
Sanitation areas need to change fundamentally to be able to deal with the chal-
3 Senior Corporate Strategist The NGO Interview lenges caused by urbanization. The intended holistic change in sanita-
4 Advisor Strategic Dutch water utility 1 Interview tion in Kisumu will affect the “slum sanitation-regime” in the city‘s
Intervention and Innovation informal areas. Basic sanitation coverage in these areas is much lower
5 Project Manager Dutch water utility 1 Interview
than elsewhere due to the unique challenges of providing services, such
6 Intern Dutch water utility 1 Email
correspondence as the lack of space for toilets, the high percentage (> 90%) of tenancy,
7 Kisumu Municipal Municipal Council Email and the low payment capacity of the residents (Okurut and Charles,
Councillor of Kisumu correspondence 2014; Simiyu, 2015). Less than 1% of Kisumu’s slum residents have an
8 Project Coordinator Kenyan NGO 1 Interview
individual household connection to the sewer (Okurut and Charles,
9 Project Coordinator Kenyan NGO 1 Interview
10 Project Officer, Urban International NGO Email 2014). Sanitation is not provided by the local government or public
Services correspondence utility, but by private entrepreneurs and community groups. The main
11 Team Leader Kenyan NGO 2 Skype interview type of toilet is the (communal) pit latrine, which is predominantly
12 Project Officer Kenyan NGO 3 Email emptied manually even though this practice is not formally recognized
correspondence
by the authorities (Simiyu, 2015). The usage of communal sanitation
13 Environmental Manager Dutch water utility 2 Interview
14 Manager, Integral Water Dutch water utility 3 Interview facilities is relatively low because of high costs and challenging access
projects at night. People find it irrational to pay for these services, thus beha-
Additional interviews with other NGOs vioural change embracing the use of communal facilities is difficult to
15 Project Manager Dutch NGO 1 Skype interview achieve (Simiyu, 2015). A holistic change process of the slum-regime
16 Programme Manager, New Dutch NGO 2 Interview has to deal with a complexity of different user practices, absence of the
Sanitation public utility, low payment capabilities, and lack of awareness about
17 Programme Coordinator, Dutch NGO 3 Interview
WASH
the importance of adequate sanitation services among the residents.
18 Programme Manager, WASH Dutch NGO 4 Interview Elsewhere in the high income neighbourhoods of Kisumu, sewerage
19 Global Sector Coordinator, Dutch NGO 5 Skype interview systems linked to household flush toilets are often used. This ‘sewerage-
WASH regime’ is where the utility is in charge and where its expertise, capacity
20 Senior Sanitation Adviser, Dutch NGO 6 Interview
and engagement lie. It is essential for the NGO to involve the utility in
Trainer and Project Manager
its coalitions that target change in informal areas, because it is the
mandated institution to provide utility services in the city, and has
or through written correspondence (Table 1). The interview guideline power and influence to create changes in formal institutions and reg-
followed a semi-structured format, covering the main aspects of the ulations. However, a holistic change should address the utility’s capa-
theoretical framework, while allowing ample room for the interviewees cities and rationale that are solely aligned to household flushing toilets,
to elaborate on additional aspects that they considered relevant. All the and lack awareness about alternative types of sanitation, that might be
interviewees had been involved in the process in Kisumu for several needed to change the slum-regime.
years. The interviews were recorded and transcribed, and the tran-
scriptions sent to the interviewees for validation (Cresswell, 2009). 4.1. The NGO’s holistic approach to sanitation
Additionally, relevant observations were gathered by the first author
during a seven-month internship in the NGO’s team in 2014-15. To- The new holistic NGO approach is a niche-innovation for Kisumu’s
gether, the different sources were used to build a coherent picture of slum-regime. It is based on a chain concept, comprising on-site sanitation
experiences in Kisumu and to triangulate the information. services with proper management and re-use of the waste. All relevant
Six semi-structured interviews with representatives of other Dutch stakeholders − residents, community organizations, (local) governments,
NGOs working in the urban sanitation sector of low-income countries the private sector, NGOs and investors − are all meant to be involved.
were conducted in order to gain insight into the generalizability and The approach is intended to foster activities that should continue running
broader relevance of case findings (Table 1). All selected re- sustainably in the long term and lead to systemic change (3).
presentatives were working on sanitation in low-income countries Together with several Dutch experts, the NGO developed a model of
within their organizations; they were knowledgeable about the sector a fully closed-loop sanitation chain consisting of decentralized (on-site)
and the role of their NGO in it. These interviews covered factual in- communal sanitation services; frequent collection services for trans-
formation about the NGO’s urban sanitation activities and its approach porting human waste without using sewerage to a decentralized treat-
to sanitation; and the representatives’ view on (the future) role and ment point, and re-using this waste as bio-energy, biogas or organic
challenges of NGOs in the sector. These interviews were recorded, fertilizer. The re-used products are sold to recover some of the collec-
transcribed and sent back for validation. Information provided by in- tion costs. The idea is to offer sanitation at an affordable price by trying
terviewees will be referenced with the numbers in Table 1. to maximize the value from the re-use of waste and minimize the costs
We use the analytic progression approach as described by Miles and within the sanitation cycle.2 The approach can additionally contribute
Huberman (1994), meaning that we first describe the story-line to the self-sufficiency of the NGOs’ own operations. It avoids costly
chronologically, after which we explain what happened through spe- hardware supply, instead aiming to obtain funding for the NGO as
cific analysis. During the analytical process, the first author con- temporary process manager. The NGO facilitates the formation of a
tinuously consulted the NGO’s Programme Expert and the NGO’s Local diverse stakeholder coalition with parties that can complement the
Project Coordinator in Kenya to verify the case findings. NGO with technical knowledge on sanitation services.

2
Internal NGO publication.

6
M.J. van Welie, H.A. Romijn Environmental Science and Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

4.2. Evolution of the project Board, three Kenyan NGOs, two Dutch utilities and the Dutch NGO.7 It
proposed creating hygiene awareness and sanitation coverage in Man-
The NGO started in 2008 by mapping the problems and possibilities yatta; establishing a (private) company for faecal sludge and urine
of basic services delivery in different neighbourhoods in Kisumu. This collection; upscaling the project outcomes to all informal settlements in
was led by an external consultant, who held discussions with residents, Kisumu; and dissemination to 20 other Kenyan towns.7 The proposal
community-based organizations (CBOs) and the local government. was approved in 2014, but implementation had not yet begun at the
After this, the ‘Manyatta’ neighbourhood was selected by the experts for time of this research.
piloting and intervention (2). Manyatta houses half of Kisumu’s in- The bio-centre was constructed and handed over to the community
formal settlement population and is characterized by poor housing, in 2013. It is operated by local community members; the communal
water and sanitation services, lack of planning and high levels of pov- toilets and showers are used and the community hall is rented very
erty.3 Thematic fact sheets were developed by the NGO to gain a good frequently (2). Its success, compared with the conventional communal
overview of the sanitation problems and opportunities for intervention toilets, could be ascribed to the popularity of the additional services
in Manyatta (1). offered and the feeling of community ownership, as also observed in
The next step was a ‘Work Week’ in Kisumu in 2009. Nine Dutch Simiyu (2016) study of other bio-centres in Kisumu.
actors (mainly water companies) visited 30 Kenya-based actors, in- Another project proposal was written in 2014 by three Dutch water
cluding NGOs, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), CBOs, the Kisumu companies that partnered with the utility and the Municipal Council,
utility and the municipal council, with the aim of exploring colla- the regional Water Board, Kenyan NGOs and the Dutch NGO.8 Its aims
boration opportunities (1). Thematic meetings on water & sanitation were similar to the first proposal, with an addition of a solid waste
were held. Housing, employment and environmental issues were also service in the chain (14). The coalition applied for funding from a large
discussed.4 Ideas and pressing issues were shared among the stake- Dutch fund but was unsuccessful, mainly because the subsidy condi-
holders, which resulted in a common future vision under the title ‘A tions did not match the needs of the proposed project well.
Livable and Sustainable Manyatta’. It included ideas on housing quality, At the time of writing, the NGO had used its holistic approach in
settlement planning, youth employment opportunities, household in- Kisumu for about six years and had managed to facilitate coalition
come, and a healthy environment, including improved non-sewered building, a visioning process, the implementation of a bio-centre, and
sanitation (1). Detailed thematic action plans were developed, identi- consortium processes leading to at least two big project proposals, of
fying specific actions to solve pressing problems indicated in the which one had been approved by 2014.
meetings, such as ‘sanitation and hygiene education within schools in
Manyatta’.5 As a result of the Work Week, thematic groups were
launched in Kisumu (still existent in the summer of 2015) consisting of 4.3. Case analysis
local leaders and residents.
After the promising start of coalition building and visioning during The joint development of plans and a common vision for Manyatta’s
the Work Week, the residents in the thematic sanitation group in future during the Work Week can be conceptualized as the setting up of
Kisumu held meetings in which they mainly discussed local health- and a transition arena in the strategic TM phase as described by Loorbach
sanitation-related problems (1, 2), but these meetings did not directly (2007). A project manager of a Dutch water utility typified the start of
lead to initiation of projects. Additionally, the Kenyan NGOs and CSOs the project as:
and the Dutch water companies were waiting for each other to take “… an umbrella under which all type of activities take place (…) the
action (2). One of the challenges for all actors was the lack of financial NGO tries to create a platform which makes different parties meet with
resources to realize the ideas developed in the initial vision building each other” (5)
process (2). In 2010, under pressure of the high expectations that had
been raised, the NGO finally decided to initiate and fund a project itself The local residents and local leaders were involved from the start (1,
(2, 11). A coalition consisting of several Kenyan NGOs, the municipal 2) and the NGO took time to facilitate their involvement, in line with
council and utility of Kisumu, the local water board and a Dutch water best-practice principles from CD approaches. Thematic groups were
company was formed to start a project called ‘Quick Wins’. This project organized to gain political influence and negotiation power. The group
was meant to give the visioning and coalition-building process visibility leaders were, for example, able to negotiate with the local government
and tangibility, and to prevent loss of trust among Manyatta’s residents for investments in Manyatta (1). In line with PA, local empowerment
(2, 11). The project consisted of several components, one of which was was considered essential to prevent certain powerful stakeholders from
the construction of a bio-centre: a public sanitation block with biogas dominating. The thematic groups also increased the awareness among
digestion, combined with services such as bathrooms, rental offices and the communities about the importance of issues such as water and sa-
a community hall.6 Its implementation was led by a Kenyan NGO (11, nitation, and opportunities on how to improve the situation (1).
12). Through supporting the thematic groups, the Kenyan NGOs also re-
The Quick Wins coalition resulted in re-establishment of coalitions ceived a lot of information and feedback about problems, developments
between the actors that had been involved in the Work Week. In 2011 a and pressing issues in the local community (7, 12), thus learning a lot
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Kisumu’s from the beneficiaries. The capacities of the community were built
utility, two Dutch water utilities and several Kenyan NGOs (2). This through training (e.g. in negotiation and business skills) by the Kenyan
formed a basis for the development of several project proposals for NGOs (1, 12). The utility was also supported with capacity building by
interventions that would contribute to the establishment of a closed- two Dutch water companies, which provided training and shared their
loop on-site sanitation value chain. One proposal was submitted to large knowledge and experiences to improve the utility’s O & M processes and
African donor in 2012. The coalition that wrote the proposal consisted operational efficiency (4, 5, 13). This also raised the utility’s awareness
of the utility and the Municipal Council of Kisumu, the regional Water about alternative sanitation solutions.
A visioning process − essential in TM (Loorbach, 2010) − took
place. However, the vision did not contribute enough to support
3
Internal NGO report, 2008. structural change of the slum-sanitation regime through niche
4
The NGO was also working on these other issues as part of integrated neighbourhood
development.
5 7
Internal NGO Report Work Week Kisumu, T. Glad, September 2009. Internal NGO Project proposal Innovative sanitation value chain for the unsewered
6
Internal NGO Report Kisumu Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion Quick Wins urban poor in Kisumu, Kiwasco, 2012.
8
Project, SANA, 2012. Internal NGO Project proposal Integrated Basic Interest Service, Unkown, 2014.

7
M.J. van Welie, H.A. Romijn Environmental Science and Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

development. In the strategic TM phase it is fundamental to involve asked to identify a site to build the bio-centre (1) and community
people who are able to develop new discourses and visions. These are members were involved in improving its design and provided physical
niche actors, who simultaneously represent the incumbent regime for labour for its construction (1, 12). The use of the community members’
purposes of legitimacy and financing (Loorbach, 2007, pp. 117–118). In local knowledge and labour align with the CD approach (Mathie and
this case, the coalition building and visioning was mostly centred on the Cunningham, 2005). Moreover, the capacity-building component of the
beneficiaries from the slum-sanitation regime, while not involving im- Quick Wins resulted in four resident associations, which eventually
portant actors in the sewerage-regime (e.g. regulators) (2, 3) that could spawned strong neighbourhood structures (1) in line with PA writings
have acted as frontrunners and shape innovations (Loorbach, 2007). on how empowerment occurs. Yet, the NGO had difficulties in treating
The vision-building process became too bottom-up and problem-or- this project as a proper transition experiment, using its lessons to foster
iented, and lacked precision. As the NGO’s Program Expert Sanitation a broader change process. Making this connection is essential (Loorbach
explained: and Rotmans, 2010).
Still, a few years later, Dutch water companies initiated new coa-
“The common vision was very broad… the problems were named… but it
lition-based proposal writing to develop the idea of chain-based sani-
was not a concrete plan” (2)
tation, but without the NGO (2, 4, 5, 13). They acted as frontrunners,
While involving marginalized communities is at the heart of tradi- developing coherent and meaningful new discourses about a new sa-
tional NGO work and essential for successful participative innovation, nitation concept, essentially tactical TM activities (Loorbach, 2007, p.
the NGO lost grip on the requirements of a broader transition and fell 117). The frontrunners could work with well-organized community
back into old “NGO-regime” routines. The visioning activities were groups that the NGO had set up within the local communities (4,5). The
mainly confined to changing local socio- economic aspects and daily proposals written by the frontrunners also benefited from the efforts of
practices of local residents in the communities, e.g., setting-up local capacity building, awareness raising, and empowerment that the NGO
community groups, learning about toilet preferences; and investigating had initiated together with the Kenyan NGOs in the community. The
the residents’ (lack of) financial capacity to contribute to sanitation communities were well able to inform the utility and the Dutch water
provision. companies about their problems (1).
TM also stresses cooperation with regime actors because of their It was time-consuming for the Dutch water companies to convince
awareness of, and power over, existing regime structures that need to the sewerage-focused utility to participate (13). However, their ex-
change (Loorbach, 2007). In this case, these are physical structures pertise and knowledge about sanitation helped them to relate to the
(absence of a faecal sludge treatment plant causing sludge dumping), utility’s practices and mind-set, and they could also capitalize on the
institutional arrangements (no legislation to enable the levying of sa- relations established through their earlier capacity-building efforts with
nitation charges in water bills) and cultural aspects or practices (lack of the utility. The earlier efforts by the NGO to involve technical knowl-
experience with safe collection of waste from on-site sanitation facil- edge partners thus came to fruition. Certain innovative aspects of the
ities). These issues were left unaddressed since the national regulator proposal required institutional changes, for example, a levy for an on-
and policy makers were not involved. site sanitation collection service in residents’ (future) water bills (13).
The lack of this ‘translation’ of the long-term vision into a concrete This required a change in utility mind-set, as much as changed reg-
agenda with possible projects and action points to realize the objectives ulation to allow water rates to rise. National regulators needed to be
(Loorbach, 2007, p. 120) caused about two years’ delay. Expectations consulted. The Dutch companies advocated for the necessary change in
about roles and responsibilities among the various stakeholders were incumbent structures/regulation.
divergent and unclear (2). As the Project Manager of a Dutch water The NGO itself was only assigned a marginal role, as a trainer of
utility describes: communities in one proposal part. According to the NGO’s Local Project
Coordinator and Senior Strategist, this emanated from their low nego-
‘The in-between phase: the phase between one, the project is accepted,
tiation power (1, 3). The NGO could not recoup the costs of its initial
and two, we really start implementing. That phase we have never ex-
efforts through subsequent funding for actual project implementation,
plicitly heard anything about and we never really participated in it.’ (5)
undermining its own financial sustainability (1, 3). Obtaining donor
Tactical activities such as formulating concrete actions and building funding for the sanitation proposals proved difficult, because most
agendas (as described by Loorbach, 2007) were hindered because no funders prefer low-risk projects with concrete performance indicators
strategy was developed to acquire financing for the plans, causing for tangible project results. This is unhelpful for financial empowerment
stakeholders to wait for one another (2). Unclear land ownership in of frontrunners, viewed as crucial in TM (Loorbach and Rotmans,
Manyatta also hampered investment planning and infrastructure 2010).
building (1). The stagnation was harmful, as explained by the Team
Leader of a Kenyan NGO: 5. Discussion
“…the people in Manyatta thought at the start of the process that
This section addresses the broader lessons arising from the case
something big would happen. Managing these expectations is a barrier. In
study about governing transition processes in low-income countries and
the end we came up with the Quick Wins to start a project at least” (11)
the role of NGOs in this. We also reflect on the added value of using a
The Quick Wins project can be conceptualized as an activity in the combined theoretical framework composed of TM and development
operational phase of TM (Kemp et al., 2007; Loorbach, 2007), char- literature.
acterized by collaborative project building and implementation. This
project profited for a great deal from the empowerment activities, ca- 5.1. Facilitating transition processes in low-income countries
pacity building, and community groups that had been set up by the
NGO a few years earlier. The awareness that was created among the The Dutch NGO experienced many difficulties. Empowerment and
community members about their priority issues and opportunities capacity building among poor beneficiaries to help them overcome
proved useful for the implementation and adoption of the Quick Wins disadvantages arising from poverty, low education and (power) in-
project (1). The bio-centre component was implemented by two Kenyan equality constitute lengthy and complex tasks. This grassroots work was
NGOs (2, 11). The project had several positive impacts. Most im- the traditional strength of the NGO, and clearly is still its dominant
portantly, it improved sanitation and hygiene for the nearby commu- concern in its interventions in Manyatta. With this mind-set, the NGO
nities, and it improved the livelihoods of certain community members found it difficult to embrace an essential new task: involvement of key
who generate income from the facility (1, 12). The community was change actors with money and political clout − potential frontrunners

8
M.J. van Welie, H.A. Romijn Environmental Science and Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

and regime players that need to come on board for successful niche enable a socially just and inclusive TM process in a low-income country
development. context, cannot easily be acquired by other types of actors.
The work of the main change facilitator is thus more diverse and These points illustrate what NGOs can do ideally to foster a transi-
complex compared to a conventional TM process in industrialized tion process. In the case study of this paper, several of these qualities of
countries. Moreover, the international nature of the project actor net- the NGO proved essential to the progress of the TM process. The work
work limits possibilities of face-to-face meetings and slows down done by the NGO was important for the mobilization of actors in the
communication, which can impede the functioning of a transition arena operational phase and the frontrunners that wrote innovative propo-
as a continuous enabling process as envisaged by Loorbach (2007). The sals. However, the NGO in our case also faced major challenges in
representatives’ diverse socio-economic backgrounds, perspectives and practice, such as: involving the right actors to put pressure on incum-
working cultures (e.g. slum dwellers vs. western water companies) call bent societal structures and institutions; facilitating a broad enough
for extensive capacity building, awareness-raising and establishing of visioning process; obtaining project funding; and failure in articulating
modalities to develop mutual understanding and respect and evolve its unique network-facilitating role to other stakeholders. There was a
effective working relationships, in order to avoid situations where gap between the NGO’s aspirations towards structural change and its
western concepts are introduced into environments where they are current practices and actual capacities for effective implementation.
rejected for lack of fit and local engagement.9 Thus, learning and capacity building are needed within the NGO, too. It
The case also pointed up how frontrunners were impeded by a lack needs to learn how to combine its valuable competences at the com-
of suitable funding for their proposals. The push for results-based fi- munity level, with additional necessary competences to facilitate a
nancing among large donors (GPOBA, 2009) and the emphasis on systemic change process. The NGO needs to shed the remnants of its
leading roles for the private sector in development work (UN, 2015) are ‘old NGO-regime’ thinking and doing. These lessons are likely to be
adverse landscape developments. Performance-related subsidies are not equally valuable for other NGOs in the sanitation sector with similar
open to experimentation, flexibility, testing, learning and uncertain ambitions, given their shared history.
outcomes (16, 18), and investment in so-called Base of the Pyramid The greater their own awareness about their expanded role, the
ventures is often viewed as risky in corporate boardrooms (London and more effective NGOs are likely to be in convincing others that they have
Hart, 2004). a legitimate role as coordinating facilitators of structural transforma-
tion in low-income country contexts − a task that should be financially
rewarded. The NGO in our case was unable to capture enough of the
5.2. The role of NGOs in TM processes value that it helped to create: a classical public goods problem. TM asks
for big investments in time and money from the initiators of transition
The interviews with representatives from the six other Dutch NGOs processes with uncertain outcomes, and benefits can be claimed by
confirmed that these organizations, too, increasingly embrace long- others. Especially in contexts in which financial means for initiators are
term systemic change (16, 17, 18, 20). They also indicated that our case scarce and social processes highly complex, it remains a question who
illustrates certain typical NGO skills that are valuable in fostering such could assume the role as pioneer/facilitator. This problem has received
transition processes in low-income countries, especially skills for ca- little attention in the TM literature so far.
pacity building and empowerment of local residents (17, 18, 19).
Capacity building can be done, for example, through awareness crea- 5.3. Combining transition and development theory
tion. Increasing the awareness about pressing health and environmental
issues, and opportunities to solve these issues, can help local commu- The combined TM, PA, and CD theoretical framework has been
nities to participate actively in a TM process. It enables them to be useful for unravelling complex transition challenges. More specifically,
equivalent partners to other actors in a TM process, such as policy- the development literature made the analysis sensitive to the NGO’s
makers, business people, or international development agents. efforts in fostering participation for empowerment and capacity
Empowerment can be created, for example, through setting up of alli- building, activation, and awareness raising in local communities. These
ances of different local organizations and supporting their effective activities proved to be essential for several tactical and operational
local coordination, as an alliance is a stronger stakeholder than a local activities of the TM process in the case study. A sole TM analysis would
organization operating individually (17). These local organizations can not have been attentive to this preparatory work that enabled fron-
be essential actors in a transition arena, because they can give other- trunners to act, induced mobilization of actors in the operational phase,
wise marginalized people, a voice in a TM process. and furnished a smooth ground for the inclusive implementation of a
NGOs are effective brokers and coalition builders; this is important bio-centre. A TM framework without PA and CD would have wrongly
when new types of consortia have to be built (16, 17, 18, 19, 20), not attributed this progress solely to the frontrunners as it would have been
only between “formal” and powerful actors, but also with local com- blind to the need for extensive ‘groundwork’ among marginalised
munities. This prevents a one-sided focus on powerful actors in the communities. The combined approach further revealed the underlying
development of coalitions in a TM process, and thus exclusion (as reasons for the shortcomings of the NGO in giving attention to regime
noted, e.g., by Lawhon (2012a), Lawhon (2012b) in the electronics changes in physical structures, laws, customs, and standards, which lie
waste recycling sector in South Africa). The roles of actors need to be in the complexity of combining these new tasks with its traditional
redefined because innovative solutions often require different ar- grassroots work and focus. In this way, the use of a combined frame-
rangements of responsibilities to grasp the opportunities (16). A final work could give useful pointers for better practice in other projects in
important quality of NGOs is their large international networks and similar contexts.
connections with actors working in different sectors. NGOs thus have
the ability to spread and share knowledge across a large network of 6. Conclusion
actors around the world, and are able to initiate international coalition
building (1, 4, 5, 14, 17). This can enable important learning across This paper aimed to understand the challenges, and opportunities of
different low-income country contexts in which structural change pro- NGOs that apply a holistic approach in sanitation in informal settle-
cesses addressing similar challenges take place. These qualities, that can ments in developing-country cities. The case illustrated that the NGO
was successful in initiating activities of capacity building, empower-
9
The earlier-mentioned local ‘elite capture’ that can arise from heterogeneity among
ment, awareness raising about sanitation, and involvement of local
grassroots stakeholders was not found in our case, but development NGOs always have to communities. The NGO created important local networks and raised
be alert to these issues and skilled in handling them (Mansuri and Rao, 2004). awareness that proved to be essential for the progress of the subsequent

9
M.J. van Welie, H.A. Romijn Environmental Science and Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

TM process. The NGO also faced challenges, it lacked the capacity to sites/wsp.org/files/publications/WSP-Poor-Inclusive-Urban-Sanitation-Overview.
pdf.
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pirations towards structural change and its actual practices and capa- Millennium. UNDP, London (Retrieved from). http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/
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