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Welcome to VERNA Ecology Inc
  
VERNA Ecology, Inc. is an independent consulting company specializing in ecological sanitation, recycling of nutrients from wastewater fractions to arable land and in sustainable solutions for small scale sanitation systems. We also carry out environmental investigations and environmental impact assessments (EIA). VERNA consists of five consultants including sanitary engineers, system ecologists and one horticulturalist. VERNA celebrated its 10 year anniversary in Oct 2005.
VERNA has been engaged for several international assignments at the request of various departments of Sida (the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency), through EcoSanRes and also by the WHO.
Read more about VERNA, version for print >>
Read about VERNAs internationall assignments, version for print >>
Read more about some of VERNAs recent international assignments below.
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VERNA has recently compiled a report on a large scale system för reuse of urine from a housing area outside Stockholm, Sweden. The report is in swedish, with a summary in english, download here >>. Results indicate that in a regional level, the reuse of urine from 250 households can be reused in agriculture. The agricultural reuse is not a hindering factor, not even in a large city region. Issues explored are quality control, responsibilities and ownership of the system, logistics and communication. Full report for download here >>
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VERNA supports Buffalo City Municipality in South Africa with expert competence in ecological sanitation. Elisabeth Kvarnström, together with Håkan Jönsson of SLU and Peter Ridderstolpe of WRS, carried out a workshop in may 2006 in order to educate inhabitants and project management in practical aspects of ecological sanitation. The group constructed a local grey water filter, among other things. For more information, elisabeth@verna.se
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VERNA has during 2005 assisted CREPA (Centre Régional d’Eau et Assainisssement à faible coût) in the development of a five-year research program in ecological sanitation for ten West African countries including large-scale collection and treatment of urine and feces, innovative financial mechanisms, entrepreneurial development, greywater treatment, introduction of ecological sanitation in municipal planning processes etc. For more information, elisabeth@verna.se
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VERNA supports Kampala City Council to establish agricultural use of urine in Kampala. Urine is now used for cultivation of vegetables and vanilla, and the project has generated demand among the farmers for urine as fertiliser. For more information, anna@verna.se
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VERNA has contributed to the production of WHO Guidelines for Safe Use of Excreta and Greywater in Agriculture. We have been involved in the chapters covering agricultural, institutional and environmental aspects of agricultural use of excreta and greywater. For more information, anna@verna.se
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VERNA has supported EcoSanRes ecological sanitation pilot projects with agricultural expertise. We have co-organized workshops on agricultural/horticultural use of urine and feces in Buffalo City Municipality (South Africa), Tepoztlàn (Mexico) and Dong Sheng (China). For more information, elisabeth@verna.se
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VERNA has carried out planning and tendering of a pre-feasibility study on sanitation upgrade in a peri-urban area in Dakar, Senegal. For more information, elisabeth@verna.se
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VERNA has organized or co-organized a number of international meetings and discussions;
- Post-Conference Seminar on Agricultural/Horticultural Aspects of Ecological Sanitation after the Durban Ecosan Conference in May 2005.
- Stockholm World Water Week (Aug 2005) side event on the development of a vision, a research agenda and an implementation plan for the EU Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform (WSSTP), see below.
- Stockholm World Water Week (Aug 2005) discussion about Political Aspects of the new Swedish Water Management System.
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Swedish assignments include support to municipalities in development of waste water policies, organisation of recycling systems and support to decisionmakers regarding small sanitation systems.
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Publications available on the EcoSanRes website www.ecosanres.org:
- ESR 2006-1 Urine Diversion: One Step Towards Sustainable Sanitation. Kvarnström et al. 64p. (PDF 2.68 MB)
- ESR 2005-1 Review of Sanitation Regulatory Frameworks. Johansson & Kvarnström 60p. (PDF 1.4 MB)
- 2004-2 Guidelines on the Use of Urine and Faeces in Crop Production. Jönsson et al. 35p. (PDF 2.26 MB)
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VERNAs contributions to the World Water Week in Stockholm, 21-27 August 2005.
Elisabeth Kvarnström at VERNA was the moderator of a World Water Week Side Event concerning the development of a vision, a research agenda and an implementation plan for the EU Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform (WSSTP).
For more information, contact Elisabeth: Elisabeth@verna.se
Mats Johansson at VERNA lead a discussion about Political Aspects of the new Swedish Water Managment System on the 24th of August.
More information (in swedish)
Mats held a talk on the topic "How Swedish Solutions be useful to Developing Countries and
Countries under Transition" during a seminar called "Bridging the Gap Between Decentralised and Centralised Water and Sanitation Systems and Services."
More information.
VERNA organised a Technical tour - "New Sanitation Solutions in Stockholm"
More information
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South African Workshop on recycling of urine and feces for cultivation purposes
Dr Elisabeth Kvarnström (VERNA) and Professor Håkan Jönsson (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) held an EcoSanRes-financed (www.ecosanres.org) workshop on recycling of urine and feces for cultivation purposes in Buffalo City Municipality in South Africa on May 31 to June 2, 2005. The workshop was held in Buffalo City in order to inspire for use of urine and feces for cultivation purposes in their EcoSanRes-financed ecological sanitation pilot project.
The workshop was of national South African interest with participants from Durban, among other municipalities. Ecological sanitation experts from Burkina Faso, Mali, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Mexico made the workshop a real “tungviktare” in ecological sanitation expertise! For more information, contact Elisabeth: Elisabeth@verna.se
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Urine Diversion Swedish Experience
VERNA Ecology is responsible for the production of a report that describes the current state-of-the-art of urine diversion in Sweden. The work is a joint effort where the Swedish ecological sanitation expertise is engaged. The report is financed by Sida, through EcoSanRes (www.ecosanres.org ). For more information, contact Elisabeth: Elisabeth@verna.se
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Review of Sanitation Regulatory Frameworks
VERNA has produced a report concerning legal aspects of ecologcial sanitation at the request of Sida, through EcoSanres. The report includes 4 case studies from differents parts of the world and points out how which opportunities and obstacles for ecological sanitation that arises from the regulatory frameworks.
Download the report here or from EcoSanRes website.
Contact: Elisabeth Kvarnström or Mats Johansson
2005-08-10
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