VIDEO - Exploring local workshops in Rajshahi area. /  by federico trevia

During the trip, we visited several small local businesses around Rajshahi area to understand what is available in terms of materials, tools and expertise, but also to get the opportunity to explore traditional processes that are getting lost with the development of a modern Bangladesh. The openness to help and their welcoming attitude was great to collect many information and expand our research domain even more. 

Here you can find a short clip to get the feeling for what happens in local workshop, what materials are processed but, most important, the people working there.

The different locations we visited include a mill/wood workshop, a brick factory, a pottery workshop, a pillow/mattress maker, a silk factory, waste pickers, a bamboo bazar, a rickshaw painter workshop, a plastic recycling facility.

Mid-term DELTAP project review, Dhaka 29th - 30th October 2018 /  by federico trevia

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Deltap is an international project, planned to run for four years. It started in 2016 and now, after two years, it was time for a mid-term review to assess what has been done so far and discuss about future plans. On October 29thand 30th, all the members of DELTAP gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh to attend the two days venue.

 

The first day, the Stakeholders meeting was held at BRAC headquarters: presentations from local partners such as EPRC, Max Foundation, Rajshahi University, Dhaka University, RUET, Mahavir Cancer Institute and Research Center were given. Following those presentation Annemarie Mink from TU Delft presented the work she has been doing on the field as PostDoc and the three subprojects were given some time as well to illustrate their work.

The morning continued with group discussions related to each subproject that sparked new insights and positive feedback from partners.

In the afternoon, at EPRC headquarter, cross disciplinary discussions went on, allowing subproject holders to clarify ideas and align plans for the next phases.

 

The second day was less crowded but not less interesting; this time only the strict circle of Deltap subprojects, together with the reviewers Jurg Keller and Priyanka Dissanayake, joined professor Kazi Matin at Dhaka University for a more in-depth analysis on the state of the art. 

The three subproject and PostDoc work were presented and discussed extensively together with the reviewers that, at the end of the day, gave their first comments on what had been presented. 

Feedback highlighted the multidisciplinary integration and connection between the subprojects, which produced a highly engaging and collaborative project overall.

It was largely appreciated the multi-solutions approach to the problem of arsenic in ground water, strengthening the idea of developing different ideas and applications for different purposes; divergent opinions have been a mean to improve common positions and, instead of creating a gap, generate positive discussion within project boundaries.

Another area that the reviewers valued positively, is the increasing power given to the end users and the effort made to empower communities to become part of the solution; their advice is to expand even further the topic, getting on board new local communities and new stakeholders, such as local authorities, policy makers, municipalities and public health organizations.

 

Overall a very positive two-days meeting in Dhaka, with activities, discussions and planning for the future. Feedback have been enthusiastic, meaning that what has been done so far is on a good track; now it is time to keep on building on existing work and complete the mission for positive impact that DELTAP aims to achieve.

VIDEO - Investigating Materials Experience in rural context /  by federico trevia

 

Following the guidelines of the Experiential Characterisation Map created by Material Experience Lab, we showed the people of Uttar Kazir Para some local materials and some product made with recycled plastics, asking them to relate those to emotions and meanings.

The aim of this study is to get from local people feedback on materials, creating an understanding on how they perceive different classes of materials. We displayed and asked questions on eight different materials, spanning from natural to manufactured, from traditional to innovative: bamboo, terracotta, steel, fibre based bioplastic, jute, polystyrene, date leaves and recycled plastics.

Reactions and insights to materials, together with the exploration conducted on local products within the village, will be crucial to develop in a second phase of the project, new materials and product concepts.

It was the first time that these methods were applied within a rural context, therefore it has been a huge opportunity to test the methodology as well, collecting important feedback on how to tweak and adapt to such a context.

Enjoy the video!

 

VIDEO - Geological Field Work /  by federico trevia

The presence of arsenic in the groundwater is dependent on the geology of the area. The aim of the Geo-Team (Tiemen Wegman and Bart Veenings) is to find a suitable location for a future water treatment unit in Harian. Finding a water source with low arsenic concentration would reduce the effort and the costs of a new filter. 

In order to study the geology, will perform three drillings in total. One drilling takes places in an area where the groundwater is severely contaminated with arsenic, one drilling in a medium arsenic contaminated area and the last drilling in a arsenic safe area. A method that is normally used for the installation of tube wells has been used for the drillings. Every 5 feet a soil sample has been taken. As a result of the drilling technique that is used the samples are disturbed, the samples give however still a good indication of what is down there.

Immediately after extraction of the sample a physical inspection and classification of the soil will be done. That means that the grains size, mineralogy, texture and colour of the soil is noted down. After classification of the samples, all samples are placed after each other to get a soil profile. We hope to see a difference in the sand layers between the different drillings. Theoretically the sand that is encountered in the arsenic contaminated area should black or dark grey, while in the arsenic safe area it is expected to be reddish.

The drilling shown in the video was located in an arsenic contaminated area. The aquifers that are encountered during the drilling contained rather dark coloured sand. This is an indicator of arsenic in the groundwater. The maximum depth that was reached is 170 feet (51 metres). A stiff clay layer was encountered at this depth, the drillers where not able to drill through the hard layer and had to stop the drilling.Many villagers were really interested in our Geo research and they all helped us with their knowledge  of the soil and the area.