Stef Smits

Key activities

Stef is the coordinator of the Latin America Regional Programme, and of IRC's innovation and advocacy work.

He is mainly working on sustainability of rural water supplies and the linkages between WASH services provision and local-level IWRM, through action-research projects, as well as capacity building activities. His particular attention goes out to multiple-use services, or the provision of water for both domestic and productive uses at household level. Amongst others, he is the secretary of the Multiple-Use Services Group (MUS Group www.musgroup.net).

His main experiences are in Latin America (Bolivia, Colombia and Honduras) and in Southern Africa (Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe), as well as in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Background

Stef Smits graduated as an Irrigation Engineer (MSc) from WageningenUniversity. He joined IRC in 2001 as part of the Junior Professional Officer (JPO) programme. In that programme he was based at IRC's partners Cinara (in Cali, Colombia) and The Mvula Trust (in Johannesburg, South Africa) for almost three years. Since 2004 he works from IRC's offices in the Hague, working on the above-mentioned themes and regional programme.

Selected publications

Batchelor, C., Smits, S. and James, A.J., 2011. Adaptation of WASH services delivery to climate change and other sources of risk and uncertainty (Thematic Overview Paper 24). The Hague: IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre http://www.irc.nl/page/66836

Smits, S., Dietvorst, C., Verhoeven, J. and J. Butterworth. 2011. Scanning the 2020 horizon An analysis of trends and scenarios in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector. Occasional Paper Series 45, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, the Hague http://www.irc.nl/page/65919

H. Lockwood and S. Smits. 2011. Supporting Rural Water Supply: Moving towards a Service Delivery Approach. Practical Action Publishing, UK

Smits, S., Galvis, A., Zambrano, D.A., Herrera, M., Andersson, K. and D.P. Bernal. 2011. Cali: city of seven rivers. In:  Butterworth, J., Mcintyre, P. and C. da Silva Wells (eds.). (2011). SWITCH in the City: putting urban water management to the test. IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, The Hague. http://www.irc.nl/page/66812

Butterworth, J.; Warner., J.; Moriarty, P.; Smits, S. and Batchelor, C. 2010. Local approaches to Integrated Water Resources Management.  Water Alternatives 3(1): 68-81

Smits, S.; van Koppen, B.; Moriarty, P. and Butterworth, J. 2010. Multiple-use services as an alternative to rural water supply services: A characterisation of the approach. Water Alternatives 3(1): 102-121

Smits, S., Da Silva Wells, C. and Evans, A. 2009. Strengthening capacities for planning of sanitation and wastewater use ; experiences from two cities in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The Hague, the Netherlands, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre (Occasional Paper Series 44). http://www.irc.nl/page/51911

Van Koppen, B.; Smits, S.; Moriarty, P.; Penning de Vries, F.; Mikhail, M. and Boelee, E. 2009. Climbing the water ladder: Multiple-use water services for poverty reduction. Technical Paper Series 52. The Hague, The Netherlands, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre and International Water Management Institute http://www.irc.nl/page/49834

Smits, S.; Moriarty, P. and Sijbesma, C. (eds). 2007. Learning alliances: scaling up innovations in water, sanitation and hygiene. Delft, The Netherlands, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre. (Technical paper series; no. 47) http://www.irc.nl/page/35887

Languages

Dutch, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese