Seminar Abstract: Sustainable infrastructure planning is critical in all places. But in the developing world, the lack of basic water and sanitation services for over three billion people still contributes to disease, death, low productivity, and poor school attendance (especially for girls). Brazil is a critical case for examining the role of innovation, community participation, and discourse in transforming the sanitation sector on a large scale. Known locally as condominial sewers, the new technology is making sanitation services more inclusive. In this presentation, the author will shed light on the driving discourses of development that emerged during the innovation period, and will introduce comparative techniques for evaluating participation and infrastructure performance.

Biographical Sketch: Earthea Nance is an Associate Professor at Texas Southern University. She has over 20 years of experience in the fields of environmental planning and management, and environmental engineering. Her work investigates the intersection of environmental hazards and vulnerability in diverse urban settings, including developing countries and underserved neighborhoods. Dr. Nance served as a public official during New Orleans’ recovery from Hurricane Katrina, and her post-Katrina research has examined the social and environmental impacts of hurricanes, floods, climate change, and oil spills in the US Gulf Coast. Dr. Nance is the author of the book Engineers and Communities: Transforming Sanitation in Contemporary Brazil (2012). She has written numerous journal articles, including a 2012 article in Duke Forum for Law and Social Change. Dr. Nance received her PhD from Stanford University and is a registered professional civil engineer and certified floodplain manager. She previously taught at the University of New Orleans, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Virginia Tech.