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Distinguished Associate Award, 2017

Dr Kerstin Danert

Dr Danert graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Strathclyde, UK and the University of Hanover, Germany, and received master’s and doctorate degrees from Cranfield University, UK. Her professional career integrates the institutional, socio-economic, cultural and technical aspects of water supplies and has focussed on countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Kerstin has led numerous thematic and in-country studies and has authored several guidelines for practitioners and professionals. She has extensive experience in improving domestic and agricultural water supplies in rural areas. From 2009 to 2017, Dr Danert was the Director of the secretariat of the Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN). She was coordinator in Uganda of ‘Cost-Effective Boreholes’, the flagship of RWSN in Uganda, where she developed partnerships with UNICEF, the Water and Sanitation Programme of the World Bank, WaterAid, USAID, Skat, the National Groundwater Association and UPGro.

Kerstin has raised awareness of both the potential and the challenges of manual drilling for domestic water supplies, with studies in Chad, Niger and Nigeria, and through conferences and webinars. She has provided in-country capacity strengthening for drilling professionalism in over 15 countries. Kerstin has developed publications and animated films that provide guidance on borehole siting, costing and pricing, supervision, procurement and contract management, and she has produced guidance for UNICEF on Professional Water Well Drilling.

We are pleased to acknowledge Kerstin Danert’s personal contribution to the enhancement of wastewater management and groundwater protection worldwide with this award.

Watch RWSN video – “Why are some boreholes better than others?”

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