Abhilaasha N

Consultant – Practice | abhilaashan at iihs dot ac dot in
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EDUCATION:
2017    MPlan, Urban and Regional Planning CEPT University Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
2015    BArch SRM University Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

 

 

 

Countries: India
States: Tamil Nadu, Gujarat
Cities: Chennai, Ahmedabad
Languages: English, Hindi, Tamil

Abhilaasha N is an architect-urban planner with a strong passion for working on urban inclusion. A Specialist at the Tamil Nadu Urban Sanitation Support Programme, her work for the past five years has been primarily on inclusive sanitation, specifically around gender equity issues across the full cycle of sanitation.

 

With keen interest in teaching, she has been part of the programme’s capacity building efforts around learning visits and events. She has anchored multiple learning visits, including an international delegation from the Development Planning Unit, UCL and Overdue JUST Sanitation project, Africa. She also teaches at the Urban Fellows Programme at IIHS.

 

She has been an instrumental part of behaviour change and communication efforts of the programme, including campaigns like Kakkaman, Women in Sanitation and the We Speak Too seminar series. She has anchored several side events, and presented at international conferences like the IWA Water and Development Congress & Exhibition 2023, UN Water Conference 2023, UNC Water and Health Conference 2022, FSM 6, WEDC 42nd Conference and World Water Week.

 

Apart from TNUSSP, Abhilaasha is one of the lead researchers in the Chennai Slum Sanitation Projects, funded by HCL Foundation. She is also part of the Study on the Spatial Distribution of Employment and Income Categories in Chennai Metropolitan Area, commissioned by the CMDA.

 

Previously, she worked as a Teaching Associate at Faculty of Planning, and Research Associate (Urban Housing and Informality) at the Centre for Urban Equity, CEPT university, Ahmedabad. She is an avid traveler and doodler!

Teaching

  • Infrastructure and Services, Water and sanitation, Urban Fellows Programme (UFP), IIHS
  • Exposure visits to Tamil Nadu, Water and sanitation, Urban Fellows Programme (UFP), IIHS

 

Training

  • One-Day Orientation and Training Programme: Promoting Gender-inclusive Sanitation in Tamil Nadu,Project-related training, IIHS
  • Orientation Programme for the Elected Women Representatives of Greater Chennai Corporation on Urban Sanitation and Gender, Project-related training, IIHS
  • Urban Sanitation Management (TNUIFSL), Urban Practitioners’ Programme (UPP), IIHS

Other Writing

  • Wankhade, K., Nagarajan, A., & Sudhakar, S. (2023, February). The Women in Sanitation campaign: Celebrating women sanitation professionals. International Water Association. https://iwa-network.org/iusstory-tamil-nadu-3/
  • Eswaramurthy, S., Pai, R., Sethuraman, S., Balasubramani, S., Loyal, J., Nagarajan, A., Sinha, S., Ragavan, S., & Wankhade, K. (2022). Detailed commissioning and operation & maintenance (O&M) manual for fecal sludge treatment plants in Tamil Nadu. TNUSSP.
  • Nagarajan, A., & Eswaramurthy, S. (2020). Support for landscaping and aesthetic uplift for FSTPs in Tamil Nadu. TNUSSP. https://muzhusugadharam.co.in/support-for-landscaping-and-aesthetic-uplift-for-fstps-in-tamil-nadu/
  • Abhilaasha, N., & Sudhakar, S. (2020, November 19). Let’s talk sanitation! Kakkaman is here, this WTD2020. India Water Portal.
  • Senthalir, S., Nagarajan, A., & Sudhakar, S. (2020, June 09). COVID-19: Sanitation workers require access to menstrual health. The Wire.
  • Krishnamurthy, R., Sarangan, G., Nagarajan, A., Rajesh, Devaraj, R., Oviya, B., & Natarajan, N. (2019). Gender and social inclusion across the sanitation chain in Tamil Nadu – assessment and strategy. TNUSSP. https://muzhusugadharam.co.in/gender-and-social-inclusion-across-the-sanitation-chain-in-tamil-nadu-assessment-and-strategy/
  • Abhilaasha, N., & Suryanarayanan, A. (2019, June 10). #PeriodTalk: High time we challenge the secrecy around menstruation. The Wire.
  • Mahadevia, D., Williams, G., & Abhilaasha, N. (2019). Delhi Mumbai industrial corridor in Gujarat: A mirage or a reality? (Policy Brief-01). Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Centre for Urban Equity, CEPT University.
  • Mahadevia, D., Williams, G., & Abhilaasha, N. (2019). Land acquisition for mega industrialisation: Is Town planning Scheme a solution? (Policy Brief-02). Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Centre for Urban Equity, CEPT University.
  • Desai, R., Sanghvi, S., & Abhilaasha, N. (2018). Mapping evictions and resettlement in Ahmedabad, 2000-2017 (CUE Working Paper 39). Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Centre for Urban Equity, CEPT University.
  • Mahadevia, D., Bhatia, N., Abhilaasha, N., & Patel, Shaurya. (2018). Improving women’s safety on Sabarmati Riverfront. Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Centre for Urban Equity, CEPT University.
  • Abhilaasha, N., & Mahadevia, D. (2018). Community Level Planning and Gender [monograph – 01]. Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Centre for Urban Equity, CEPT University.
  • Wankhade, K., Abhilaasha, N., Roy, A. S., Arora, K., Najib, H., & Patil, N. (2023, 10-14 December). We speak too: Foregrounding the voices of sanitation workers in India (Poster presentation). IWA: Water and Development Congress & Exhibition: Water, sanitation, and climate resilience Keys to a water-wise future. University of Rwanda, Kigali.
  • Nagarajan, A., Ragavan, S. K. V., Barai, S., Nepak, S., Eswaramurthy, S., Subashini, M., & Sakthi, B. (2023, October). Demonstrating best practices for operations and maintenance of community and public toilets in Chennai [Poster presentation]. 2023 UNC Water and Health Conference at UNC, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
  • Eswaramurthy, S., Pai, R., Sethuraman, S., Balasubramani, S., Loyal, J., Nagarajan, A., Sinha, S., Ragavan, S., & Wankhade, K. (2022). Detailed commissioning and operation & maintenance (O&M) manual for fecal sludge treatment plants in Tamil Nadu. TNUSSP.
  • Ravi, M., Chakraborti, N., Murukesan, V., Oviya, B., Nagarajan, A., & Priscilla, S. (2021, May 31 -June 4). Key messaging and dissemination around Menstrual Health Management (MHM). 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.
  • Krishnamurthy, R., Wankhade, K., Sarangan, G., Abhilaasha N. (2021, May-June). 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.
  • Tamil Nadu Urban Sanitation Support Programme (TNUSSP)
  • Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS)
  • Study on the Spatial Distribution of Employment and Income Categories in Chennai Metropolitan Area
  • Sanitation assessment of slums in Chennai