logo
logo logo
ETH Ambassadors

  • Home
  • #TOPICS
    • All Topics
    • Connecting & Exploring
    • Society
    • Events
    • Development & Sustainability
    • Science & Technology
  • #Tags
    • Sort by

      • ABC
      • Most used
      • Most recent
      • #myNYUAD
      • Abu Dhabi
      • aCentauri
      • Africa
      • Asia-Pacific
      • Berlin Science Week
      • Bloomberg
      • Chemistry
      • China
      • Climate Change
      • computer science
      • CSNOW
      • CYBATHLON
      • Digital Einstein
      • Diplomacy
      • Diversity & Inclusion
      • EHW2023
      • Energy
      • Energy Transition
      • Engineering
      • ENHANCE
      • ETH Alumni
      • ETH Entrepreneurship
      • ETH Global Lecture
      • ETH GreenLabs
      • ETH Meets NY
      • ETH Meets You
      • ETH Meets You in Davos
      • ETH Student Project House
      • ETH Studios
      • ETH4Development
      • ETHCircle
      • Europe
      • Events
      • Exchange Programme
      • Exchange Semester
      • focusTerra
      • Food
      • Foresight
      • Future of Work
      • Geography
      • GYSS
      • Hackathon
      • Health
      • How we connect
      • How we cope
      • How we learn and work
      • How we reflect
      • How we respond creatively
      • Hyperloop
      • IChO 2023
      • Information Technology
      • Innovation in Architecture
      • Jets
      • Latin America
      • LINO23
      • Locarno Film Festival
      • Machine Learning
      • Mathematics
      • Milano Design Week
      • Nestlé
      • North America
      • Open Your Eyes
      • Projects
      • Quantum
      • Rebuilding Ukraine
      • RETHINKING LIVING
      • Robotics
      • Science Communications
      • Singapore-ETH Centre
      • Smart Cities
      • Solar Physics
      • South Asia
      • Space
      • Sports
      • Study Abroad
      • Summer Internship
      • Summer School
      • Sustainable Development Goals
      • Sustainable Switzerland
      • togETHer
      • United Nations
      • VSETH
      • WE ARE ETH
      • WEF Davos
      • your 2040

  • #TAGCLOUD
  • About
  • Submit
  • Search
  • Resilience in Adversity: Meeting Children from Kyaka II Refugee Settlement, Uganda
    Turning a new LEAF for lab sustainability
    Header orem ipsum dolor sit amet
logo logo
ETH Ambassadors

  • Home
  • About
  • #TOPICS
    • All Topics
    • Connecting & Exploring
    • Society
    • Events
    • Development & Sustainability
    • Science & Technology
  • #Tags
    • Sort by

      • ABC
      • Most used
      • Most recent
      • #myNYUAD
      • Abu Dhabi
      • aCentauri
      • Africa
      • Asia-Pacific
      • Berlin Science Week
      • Bloomberg
      • Chemistry
      • China
      • Climate Change
      • computer science
      • CSNOW
      • CYBATHLON
      • Digital Einstein
      • Diplomacy
      • Diversity & Inclusion
      • EHW2023
      • Energy
      • Energy Transition
      • Engineering
      • ENHANCE
      • ETH Alumni
      • ETH Entrepreneurship
      • ETH Global Lecture
      • ETH GreenLabs
      • ETH Meets NY
      • ETH Meets You
      • ETH Meets You in Davos
      • ETH Student Project House
      • ETH Studios
      • ETH4Development
      • ETHCircle
      • Europe
      • Events
      • Exchange Programme
      • Exchange Semester
      • focusTerra
      • Food
      • Foresight
      • Future of Work
      • Geography
      • GYSS
      • Hackathon
      • Health
      • How we connect
      • How we cope
      • How we learn and work
      • How we reflect
      • How we respond creatively
      • Hyperloop
      • IChO 2023
      • Information Technology
      • Innovation in Architecture
      • Jets
      • Latin America
      • LINO23
      • Locarno Film Festival
      • Machine Learning
      • Mathematics
      • Milano Design Week
      • Nestlé
      • North America
      • Open Your Eyes
      • Projects
      • Quantum
      • Rebuilding Ukraine
      • RETHINKING LIVING
      • Robotics
      • Science Communications
      • Singapore-ETH Centre
      • Smart Cities
      • Solar Physics
      • South Asia
      • Space
      • Sports
      • Study Abroad
      • Summer Internship
      • Summer School
      • Sustainable Development Goals
      • Sustainable Switzerland
      • togETHer
      • United Nations
      • VSETH
      • WE ARE ETH
      • WEF Davos
      • your 2040

  • #TAGCLOUD
    • #Africa #Asia-Pacific #Climate Change #CYBATHLON #Diplomacy #Diversity & Inclusion #Energy Transition #Engineering #ENHANCE #ETH4Development #ETH Alumni #ETH Global Lecture #ETH Studios #Europe #Events #Exchange Programme #Food #Foresight #Future of Work #GYSS #Health #How we connect #How we cope #How we learn and work #How we reflect #How we respond creatively #Hyperloop #Information Technology #Innovation in Architecture #Latin America #Machine Learning #Mathematics #North America #Open Your Eyes #Quantum #RETHINKING LIVING #Robotics #Singapore-ETH Centre #Smart Cities #South Asia #Sports #Sustainable Development Goals #togETHer #WE ARE ETH #your 2040
  • Submit
  • Search

Change of Plans: Lessons on Appropriate Technology from Blantyre, Malawi

March 14, 2024
The value of challenging the problem statement and being flexible. An engineering student’s perspective of failure in a research trip to Malawi.

“If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail.” – Abraham Maslow, 1966

Visiting Blantyre’s waste collection skips with our local collaborator Hope Chilunga (left) and waste management supervisors (right) (Nicolas Seemann-Ricard)

My hammer was a piece of software that I developed during a semester project at the Global Health Engineering research group. It recommends schedules for emptying the waste containers around the city of Blantyre, Malawi’s second largest city. And thanks to an ETH4D Research to Action Grant, I could travel to Blantyre to gather data for the software and discuss it with the Blantyre City Council. I was hopeful that it would prevent some plastic from ending up in a river, or pests from feeding on overflowing organic waste.

Overflowing skips at a market in Blantyre. Overflowing waste is piled up in the background (Nicolas Seemann-Ricard)

However, every meeting and interaction with stakeholders on site convinced me of one thing: the model I had developed would not work. What I thought was an issue that could be solved with better scheduling turned out to be a multi-faceted problem involving communications, information management, finance, but also politics and personal interests. For instance, the main bottleneck to waste collection is not always a lack of vehicles per se. Some trash compactors and skip handlers are donated by development agencies. However, these overcomplicated machines break down quickly, and the city council cannot afford to repair them. Beyond that, fuel allowances for the functioning trucks are not managed by the public health department, and are severely constrained.

One of two skip handlers. The other has been out of commission since June for repairs that the city cannot afford (Nicolas Seemann-Ricard)

Instead of pushing a solution I developed in an office in Zurich, I took the opportunity to learn from our project partners and residents, and understand and report on the more important issues behind Blantyre’s waste management challenges. Beyond looking at the hard statistics, I looked at how the organization works, how the decisions are made, and what strategies are being implemented.

Before leaving, I also delivered some products that could actually be useful for the waste collection managers. This includes a map of the public waste infrastructure and distances between the different points of interest in the city. Hopefully, this is only the first iteration of a useful, people-centric information management system we will develop with Blantyre City Council.

Conclusion meeting with the Blantyre City Council and WASTE Advisers (Nicolas Seemann-Ricard)

What was meant to be a neatly wrapped-up project has shifted into an effort to inform decision-makers in Blantyre and at the World Bank on how to best invest in waste management in Malawi’s economic capital. And while my hammer was not the right fit, we are delving into the broader Global Health Engineering toolbox to work towards appropriate solutions to Blantyre’s waste challenges.

Connecting & Exploring, Development & Sustainability ETH4Development
Avatar photo
Nicolas Seemann-Ricard I am a masters student in Energy Science and Technology, attempting to apply the methods I have learned in my academic journey to challenges faced in low- to middle-income countries. Initially a semester project student at the Global Health Engineering research group, I recently became a research assistant to continue the project into 2024.

Related posts

CYBATHLON @school: Empowering Inclusion and Advancing Technology Through STEM Education
  • global.ethz.ch

  • Subscribe to our Newsletter

    Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

© ETH Zurich Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect those of ETH Zurich. In addition, ETH Zurich is not responsible for the content of external links.
Data Protection
#Africa #Asia-Pacific #Climate Change #CYBATHLON #Diplomacy #Diversity & Inclusion #Energy Transition #Engineering #ENHANCE #ETH4Development #ETH Alumni #ETH Global Lecture #ETH Studios #Europe #Events #Exchange Programme #Food #Foresight #Future of Work #GYSS #Health #How we connect #How we cope #How we learn and work #How we reflect #How we respond creatively #Hyperloop #Information Technology #Innovation in Architecture #Latin America #Machine Learning #Mathematics #North America #Open Your Eyes #Quantum #RETHINKING LIVING #Robotics #Singapore-ETH Centre #Smart Cities #South Asia #Sports #Sustainable Development Goals #togETHer #WE ARE ETH #your 2040