Flushed with success

By Anokhee Shah

Clean, accessible and most importantly, sustainable sanitation is a global issue. Sustainable toilet blocks should minimise consumption of local resources and continue to be maintained and used long after the builders have left. The ‘Ikotoilet’ is a toilet block that solves a long standing sanitation problem with an easily replicable model, and also contributes to important research on waste reuse.

David Kuria, an architect and founder of Ecotact, the sustainable sanitation consultancy behind the Ikotoilet, decided to improve sanitation in cities by initiating a toilet revolution. He wanted to transform public toilets from places to be avoided into attractive focal points for communities. The model is a corporate funded building, which is then self maintaining, as a toilet block as well as a place of social, economic and aesthetic value. The architecturally attractive block includes toilets, showers, sanitary bins and hand washing.  The entrance charge is used to employ full time cleaners, friendly staff who use the rainwater harvested from the toilet roof to keep the toilets clean and fresh. The building itself is no longer only a toilet block, it is a vibrant toilet mall housing small local enterprises. There are kiosks selling sodas and local snacks, electronic money transfer, shoe cleaners and even beauty salons. The toilet malls have become social hubs and are places to be proud to ‘do your business’ in either sense of the phrase.

The Ikotoilet is also taking sustainable resource use a step further by collecting liquid waste from one of the blocks. This is being used in Ecotact’s innovative collaboration with a Kenyan agricultural university, on ways to process urine on a larger scale for use as an affordable urea based organic fertiliser.

The Ikotoilets are serving over 30,000 visitors a day with 40 toilet malls across Kenya. The future will see Ikotoilets across East Africa with young sanitation entrepreneurs receiving the support to replicate this model. And with the continued university collaboration, the Iko toilets could one day be producing affordable organic fertiliser for farmers.

why vivacity

This is the century of the city.

Over half the world’s population now live in cities. This is projected to rise to three-quarters of all people in 2050. With population increases, this means 6.75 billion of us will be city dwellers, an increase of 3.75 billion from today. As the future success or failure of mankind lies in cities, new ways of using them are needed.

The city represents an incredible paradox. We have never been closer together physically, but we have never been further away from each other emotionally. At vivacity we celebrate city movements around the world that change and re-define the way we interact with and use cities. Whilst cities cannot cope with the numbers now and the resultant strain on the world’s natural resources and eco-systems are already painfully evident, we believe that human spirit and endeavor will overcome, as it has done before.

vivacity promotes city movements that are connecting people & creating new types of communities. They are typically low impact, highly sociable, enabled by technology, using public and private spaces in new ways and empowering people to act locally.

vivacity promotes new ways of feeling alive, new ways of being invigorated, and new things to be a part of. We call it grassroots stuff in the city. We hope you get involved and share your experiences with us.

who we are

Andy Marks vivacity founder and editor

Social entrepreneur, lecturer, writer and curator, Andy Marks is an agent of positive social change practicing at the intersection or fault-line of business, society and culture. Andy is the founder of research and consultancy network Salad Worldwide, an advisor to some of the world’s leading companies on Corporate Responsibility and an advisor to a number of non-profit organizations. Andy is an expert on grass roots city movements, and a founding partner of an upcycling enterprise launching in 2010.

Julian Broadhead contributor

With a background in advertising, branding and corporate responsibility, Julian works with blue-chip companies from a wide range of industries and sectors, advising on strategy and new ways of connecting with people. He is currently developing a number of new opportunities in the environmental sector, with a particular emphasis on making environmental action more accessible.

Shane Solanki – contributor/distributor/carburettor/carbon-ara

Artist, writer, performer, producer and director, Shane’s first short film was commissioned by the BBC and directed by Peter Cattaneo. His first record was produced by Mercury Prize Winner Talvin Singh. He worked for years to forge the unique identity of independent record label Ninja Tune. We at Vivacity like to think of him as a grass roots detective, covertly operating under the pseudonym of the Last Mango in Paris; imagine him skulking around the world in a beige macintosh, recording and documenting our shift into a society where social responsibility and public creativity are norms.

contribute

become a vivacity scout

As more and more of us live in urban areas, individuals and communities can feel overwhelmed and isolated by the sheer intense-city of it all.

However we at vivacity believe that human spirit and endeavor will overcome as it has done so many times before. That is why we are celebrating movements around the world that are changing and re-defining the way we interact with the city. We would like to hear from you about grassroots movements or activities that bring people together face to face and use cities in new ways. The more original and imaginative the better.

Please email us describing a movement you would like to see on vivacity using a maximum of 300 words. info@vivacity.me