Kavita Wankhade

Associate Dean - School of Systems and Infrastructure
Head - Practice (Governance and Services)
| kwankhade at iihs dot co dot in

EDUCATION:
2005    MSc City Design and Social Sciences, London School of Economics, London
2003    BArch, School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi

 

 

Countries: India, United Kingdom
States: Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal
Cities: Bangalore, Gujarat, Katihar, Kanpur, Karur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, multiple villages in Orissa
Languages: English, Hindi, Marathi

Kavita Wankhade: Kavita Wankhede has a Masters in City Design and Social Sciences from the London School of Economics, U.K. Trained in architecture, urban design and social sciences, Kavita’s work primarily revolves around urban service delivery and the interface between physical infrastructure and socio-economic dynamics. Kavita has worked as a researcher, project manager, educator and has built her expertise through a rich mix of field research, managing complex projects with multiple stakeholders, teaching and training. She has engaged with various state governments in India, multilateral institutions, and with public sector enterprises in the UK. Some of her recent research and consultancy projects have included the review of the urban sanitation sector in India that contributed to the development of the National Urban Sanitation Policy 2008; and also impact assessment of the JNNURM in selected urban locations.

 

At IIHS, Kavita is Senior Lead – Practice. Currently, she leads the Tamil Nadu Urban Sanitation Support Programme (TNUSSP) that is working to establish two model towns in Tamil Nadu, as well as enabling state-wide scaling up. Kavita has managed the International Curriculum Development Project at IIHS with a team of over 180 leading academics, practitioners and policy makers from across the world. She also co-led the 9-month IIHS Programme for Working Professionals in Urban Development (PWP-UD) that tested the interdisciplinary MUP framework and pedagogical approach.

 

She is a faculty member in the IIHS team’s LBSNAA’s Phases IV, III, II programmes on urban water and sanitation. She also completed a three-month Urban Knowledge Network Asia (UKNA) fellowship at the Development Planning Unit, University College London in 2014. She has anchored the development of a national policy paper on water and sanitation in urban India; carried out monitoring and evaluation of an urban sanitation project in Katihar (Bihar), provided knowledge support to a national groundwater sanitation nexus programme.

Practice Projects at IIHS

2015 onwardsTamil Nadu Urban Sanitation Support Programme (TNUSSP)
2013India Urban Policy Support Partnership
2013Research Support for MHT Sanitation Intervention in Katihar, Bihar

IIHS

Urban Planning/Urban Development
Civil and Structural Engineering
Environmental Sciences
Public Policy/ Social Policy & Administration

 

UPP

HUDCO MDP
HUDCO Roundtables
Anchor, Urban India and Environmental Sustainability
  • Priscilla, S. L., Clara, D. M., Rani, A. J. C., Rajeswari, R., Chakraborti, N., Ambalavanan, L., Kannan, M., Sinha, A., & Wankhade, K. (2023). Wellbeing and occupational health and safety of sanitation workers in Trichy. Paper presented at the 7th International Faecal Sludge Management Conference, FSM7.
  • Yaseen, S. M., Vijendra, M., Sudhakar, S., Eswaramurthy, S., Govindaraj, S., K., Sakthi, B., Mohan, P., Raj, S., Ahmed, F., Jeevanraj, S., Athira, S., Ragavan, S., & Wankhade, K. (2023). Governance mechanisms for shared FSM services: Intricacies of implementation across local bodies in Tamil Nadu, India. Paper presented at the 7th International Faecal Sludge Management Conference, FSM7.
  • Sudhakar, S., Vijendra, M., & Wankhade, K. (2021, May 31 -June 4). Roles and responsibilities of public and private sector actors in FSM: Case study of Tamil Nadu. Paper presented at the 6th International Faecal Sludge Management Conference, FSM6.
  • Krishnamurthy, R., Wankhade, K., Sarangan, G., & Abhilaasha N. (2021, May 31 -June 4). Gender and social inclusion issues across sanitation chain in Tamil Nadu: Assessment and strategy development. Paper presented at the 6th International Faecal Sludge Management Conference, FSM6.
  • Priscilla, S., Wankhade, K., Rani, A. C., & Rajeswari. (2021, May 31 -June 4). Women managed community toilets–sustained service, combating COVID-19. Paper presented at the 6th International Faecal Sludge Management Conference, FSM6.
  • Vijendra, M., Sudhakar, S., Ramamoorthy, R., Wankhade, K., & Ganesan, O. L. V. (2021, May 31 -June 4). Governance mechanisms for a cluster-approach to FSM service delivery in Tamil Nadu, India. Paper presented at the 6th International Faecal Sludge Management Conference, FSM6.
  • Gautam, M., Mantri, M., Wankhade, K., & Sudhakar, S. (2021, May 31 -June 4). Feasibility of solutions to improve occupational safety of desludging workers. Paper presented at the 6th International Faecal Sludge Management Conference, FSM6.
  • Nagarajan, A., Eswaramurthy, S., Wankhade, K., Vignesh, M., & Rehel, S. (2021, May 31 -June 4). Positioning FSTPs as resource centres. Paper presented at the 6th International Faecal Sludge Management Conference, FSM6.
  • Wankhade, K., Raman, R., Ramesh, G., Ramasamy, N., Sudhakar, S., Vijendra, M., & Majhi, A. (2021, May 31 -June 4). A systematic approach to securing capital and O&M funds for scaling FSM. Paper presented at the 6th International Faecal Sludge Management Conference, FSM6.
  • Kumar, S. G., Narayan, D., Ragavan, S., & Wankhade, K. (2021). Approach to scale-up co-treatment of fecal sludge in STPs- case study from Tamil Nadu, India. In 42nd WEDC international conference: Equitable and sustainable WASH services: Future challenges in a rapidly changing world. WEDC.
  • Wankhade, K., Nagarajan, A., Chakraborti, N., & Priscilla, S. (2021). Behaviour change communication approaches for FSM. In 42nd WEDC international conference: Equitable and sustainable WASH services: Future challenges in a rapidly changing world. WEDC.
  • Vijendra, M., Wankhade, K., Ramamoorthy, R., Sudhakar, S., & Majhi, A. (2021). Sustainable and equitable de-sludging services: A Tamil Nadu case study. In 42nd WEDC international conference: Equitable and sustainable WASH services: Future challenges in a rapidly changing world. WEDC.
  • Wankhade, K., Ragavan, S., & Vijendra, M. (2021). Sanitation programme design and set-up to scale FSM in Tamil Nadu. In 42nd WEDC international conference: Equitable and sustainable WASH services: Future challenges in a rapidly changing world. WEDC.
  • Gautam, M., Wankhade, K., Chakraborti, N., & Sudhakar, S. (2021). Ensuring occupational safety of de-sludging operators/sanitation workers using hierarchy of controls. In 42nd WEDC international conference: Equitable and sustainable WASH services: Future challenges in a rapidly changing world. WEDC.
  • Gautam, M., Mantri, M., Na, A., Wankhade, K., Ramamoorthy, R., Raman, R., & Sudhakar, S. (2019, February). Emptying and de-sludging practices: An occupational safety needs assessment study. Paper presented at the 5th International Faecal Sludge Management Conference, AfricaSan5, FSM5, Cape Town, South Africa.
  • GaneshKumar, M., Wankhade, K., Raman, R., Devaraj, R., Rajkumar, S. D., & Sudhakar, S. (2019, February). Management information system for septage management for the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Paper presented at the 5th International Faecal Sludge Management Conference, AfricaSan5, FSM5, Cape Town, South Africa.
  • Ramesh, A., Wankhade, K., Ramasamy, N., Raman, R., Devraj, R., Somasundaram, L., & Malladi, T. (2019). GIS-linked MIS for effective FSM in two Town Panchayats in Tamil Nadu, India. Poster session presented at the 5th International Faecal Sludge Management Conference, AfricaSan5, FSM5, Cape Town, South Africa.
  • Raman, R., Wankhade, K., Rao, N., Raghunathan, N., & Kaul, V. (2017, February). Promoting safe on-site sanitation in urban Tamil Nadu: Case Study of Tiruchirappalli and Periyanaickenpalayam, India. Paper presented at the Fourth International Faecal Sludge Management Conference, Chennai.
  • Wankhade, K., & Anand, G. (2014, September). Sustainable Urban Water and Sanitation in India: Review of a National Programme. Paper presented at the 37th WEDC International Conference on the sustainable water and sanitation services for all in a fast changing world, WEDC- Water, Engineering and Development Centre, Hanoi, Vietnam.
  • 2014 Panel Discussion at NIAS
  • 2014 Seminar at DPU, UCL