The AGUASAN group, based in Switzerland, is one of the oldest existing sector specific communities of practice on the Swiss development scene. Founding members belong to several Swiss development and development research organisations, including the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries (SANDEC), Helvetas and the Skat Foundation. Since 1984 AGUASAN has regularly brought together water and sanitation experts from around the world in 3-monthly meetings to discuss current trends and innovations in the field of water supply and environmental sanitation.

Above the regular meetings, AGUASAN also holds annual summer workshops in Switzerland, bringing together project field staff, desk officers, researchers, experts and consultants for a week of exchange and reflection on selected development issues. AGUASAN workshops are clearly intended to foster a mutual learning experience, particularly making participants with a technical background more aware of non-technical aspects of water and sanitation development. Besides this major goal, the workshops also aim to utilise the broad and multi-faceted knowledge and experience available within the group, by developing and examining strategies and conceptual tools that will be of practical use in development cooperation.

Recent themes of AGUASAN workshops include private sector involvement, the household-centred approach and the impact of personal paradigms.

The reports of the most recent AGUASAN workshops are available for download in the publications section of the Skat website.