Dr Anne Schiffer

Co-creation, facilitation of conference workshop + panelist at ICLEI World Congress 2021-2022

The dataset includes 39 questionnaire responses from water consumers in an Indian case study context. These were conducted as part of the MANTIS - Monitoring and ANalytics To Improve Service project.

Innovate UK Phase 1 MANTIS (Monitoring and ANalytics To Improve Service) Project, Work Package 2, Water Professional Interviews dataset

The 'Shenjing water map' version 1 was produced in collaboration between Leeds Beckett University and South China University of Technology. It depicts 'bodies of water' including ponds, rivers and streams, ponds, public wells and water tanks as well as water related services such as water sellers, public toilets, public wash basins, drinking fountains, water sellers, the local ferry terminal, piers and dragon boat river dock. The map is published under the Creative Commons license BY-NC-SA 4.0 which can be accessed here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

There is an urgent need for a rapid and just transition away from the harmful fossil fuel-based energy system, to a renewable energy system based on energy sufficiency for all. This report explores energy transitions in four countries of the Global South: India, Palestine, Bangladesh and Argentina. It highlights key barriers and gives recommendations for implementing renewable energy in the Global South in a way that protects the rights of peoples.

How do energy professionals in the Global South facilitate the brokerage of gender equity and empowerment in energy access? Energy sector professionals, including planners and members of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), are crucial development actors in off-grid contexts. They operate at the intersection between grassroots-level energy access in off-grid household and community buildings and overarching policy frameworks. However, despite their central role, the relationship between their professional practices and gender empowerment in energy access has received little attention. This paper investigates ‘energy brokers’ across Ghana, India, Nigeria and Pakistan based on interviews (n = 86). Subsequent thematic analysis explores these energy brokers’ overarching understandings of gender equity and empowerment, their agency, and brokering practices for energy access (including in relation to emerging energy technologies). Analysis shows ‘differentiated brokerage’ in that energy professionals from the NGOs and the delivery sectors are often better positioned to broker gender equity and women’s empowerment in energy access. However, linkages between equitable access and empowerment need to be better understood, especially at the ‘top’ and go beyond women’s economic productivity. Women’s participation across supply chains of emerging energy-access technology, in energy governance and as energy brokers needs strengthening. Practice relevance Energy professionals occupy an important ‘middle’ position and can help to create changes to overcome gender bias in access to energy. They facilitate the brokerage (understandings, agency and practices) of gender equity and empowerment in energy access in off-grid contexts, including household and community buildings. The evidence from this study shows the performance of energy professionals is critical in facilitating women’s empowerment in energy access. Key recommendations are: (1) energy professionals at the top need to recognise differentiated brokerage across the grassroots–policy spectrum to better identify and equip key actors; (2) energy brokers need to move beyond gender neutrality and economic participation acting on the breadth of women’s empowerment, including psychological dimensions; and (3) women’s participation across energy system transitions needs to be strengthened, with regard to energy supply chains, energy governance and as energy brokers.

Gendered experiences are only beginning to gain recognition in energy research. Little is yet known about gendered dynamics of energy systems change as they play out in situated practices, such as those relating to everyday mobility. This chapter explores the intersection of gender and justice in energy demand through a comparative analysis of historical energy practices in Ireland and The Gambia. Employing a gender-sensitive biographic-practice approach, it investigates the lived experiences of energy systems change among Irish and Gambian citizens to explore how energy-related practices evolve in tandem with socio-technical change. Using the exemplar of mobility practices, common and divergent themes relating to the evolution of gendered mobility careers and the socio-technical contexts shaping this process are explored. Findings reveal that, despite differences in development pathways in Ireland and The Gambia, similar processes of gendered inequities emerge. Across both contexts, power-laden and gendered forms of exclusion and dependence regarding the development of mobility-related capabilities transpire in the evolution of mobility meanings, competences and access to material resources. Differences concerning gendered mobility experiences suggest a need for gender-sensitive policy interventions. The chapter concludes by calling for greater consideration of gendered patterns of inclusion and exclusion in energy systems in efforts to achieve just energy transitions.

This guide is intended to support communities who wish to develop their own urban prototyping workshops to develop ideas about how to change the urban environment. It is based on a design thinking workshop developed for the Mapping Green Dublin (MGD) project in August 2020 which was facilitated to support individuals and groups to develop their own local greening projects.

This book investigates energy access through the lens of everyday energy practices in the Gambian community of Kartong. Reframing Energy Access: Insights from The Gambia explores past, current and potential future modes of energy production and consumption to examine concepts such as energy leapfrogging and energy sufficiency. It argues that developments must be rooted in situated understanding of energy consumption to ensure sustainable and equitable access to modern energy services. Schiffer provides a uniquely long-term and holistic perspective into changing energy practices on the ground and the economic, political, environmental, technical and cultural factors that shape it. Translating insights of energy in The Gambian context into broader themes and recommendations, this book will be of great interest to policy makers, researchers and practitioners who work in the fields of energy access, energy policy, renewable energy transitions, as well as African and sustainable development in general.

Introduction Welcome to our ‘Yes to renewables done right’ six-week online learning module. Friends of the Earth International recognises the enormous scale of the climate crisis and the need for a rapid and just transition away from the harmful fossil fuel-based energy systems to a renewable energy system based on the right to clean energy and energy sufficiency. However, whilst acknowledging that an increase in renewables will require materials for infrastructure, we are aware of the huge challenges and injustice posed by the scale of current extraction of resources for renewables. We cannot simply replace the current unjust fossil system with renewables, we need system change to ensure renewables are done right.

The Nancun water map' version 1 was produced in collaboration between Leeds Beckett University, UK and South China University of Technology in Guangzhou, China. It depicts 'bodies of water' including ponds, rivers and streams and public wells as well as water related services such as water sellers, public toilets, public wash basins, laundrettes, dry and dragon boat river docks. The map is published under the Creative Commons license BY-NC-SA 4.0 which can be accessed here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

The Nancun water map' version 1 was produced in collaboration between Leeds Beckett University, UK and South China University of Technology in Guangzhou, China. It depicts 'bodies of water' including ponds, rivers and streams and public wells as well as water related services such as water sellers, public toilets, public wash basins, laundrettes, dry and dragon boat river docks. The map is published under the Creative Commons license BY-NC-SA 4.0 which can be accessed here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

The 'Shenjing water map' version 1 was produced in collaboration between Leeds Beckett University, UK and South China University of Technology in Guangzhou, China. It depicts 'bodies of water' including rivers and streams, ponds, public wells and water tanks as well as water related services such as water sellers, public toilets, public wash basins, drinking fountains, water sellers, the local ferry terminal, piers and dragon boat river dock. The map is published under the Creative Commons license BY-NC-SA 4.0 which can be accessed here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

This paper describes two connected and interdisciplinary projects called Mapping Green Dublin and Urban Grit, set up to highlight and address green space deficits in inner city Dublin. Working with community partners and social science, design and critical arts practice, the projects explored a particular micro-geography within the city. The specific aim here was to develop ‘nature probes’ - to make visible the role of the urban knowledge commons in this everyday environment and to do so in a way that could facilitate community agency and expression. The work traces the state of greenspace, how we reached the point of greenspace deficit and how we can conceptualise and operationalise practices of urban commoning pertaining to greenspace in inner-city Dublin. The creative collaboration and participatory activities carried out as processes for commoning knowledge including capacity building workshops, participatory mapping and arts interventions. This demonstrates the potential for more equitable urban development of greening provision including agency in informing future public consultations. The research thereby contributes to broader discussions on how to engage more effectively with communities who are undergoing rapid urban change and more nuanced conceptions of knowledge commons in marginalised urban communities.

The study assesses the impact of energy service provision in The Gambian settlement of Kartong through a qualitative study that employs immersion and mapping methods. In time for the 2013 Ramadan celebrations, the first 19 households are connected to a regional electricity grid. Shortly after a bus service is introduced that runs from Kartong to Banjul, the capital city of The Gambia. It provides a reliable alternative to so-called bush taxis that operate without a set schedule. While the provision of energy services including electricity and transport is recognized as important in supporting people’s livelihoods, it poses questions about a shift from energy self-sufficiency to increased dependency on outside resources. Locally there is also an increased emphasis regarding inequality in accessing these services. For example, grid infrastructure is currently limited to the longer established parts of Kartong, putting households on the edge of the settlement in a disadvantaged position.

This proposal is part of an ongoing research project that aims to critique a design approach called Transformation Design (Burns et al, 2006) in the context of international development. This is done through action research which applies and evaluates the three Transformation Design phases outlined below to the co-design of energy strategies in a rural Gambian community called Kartong: 1) Looking - using participant observation to gain empathy
2) Making things visible - the visualization of complex data creates a common platform that helps articulate a shared positive vision
3) Prototyping - making ideas tangible and gather feedback. The most important source of energy in Kartong is wood fuel collected from the land around the village. However, as growing energy demand is increasingly met through imported resources including liquid fuels for transport and electricity, an energy economy based on subsistence is being replaced by a monetary system. The research employs mapping to make sense of energy data and develop visual tools for co-design of energy strategies. There are two key challenges to overcome in the mapping process. Firstly, quantitative data to feed into visualizations is especially hard to come by due to a lack of of previous studies, difficulty in accessing statistics held by Gambian authorities and the fact that quantitative information is of little relevance to people in their day to day life. For example, the answer to how many people reside in a family compound can in many cases only be determined by someone writing down everybody’s name. Secondly, data is used to develop visual tools for discussion of energy matters and subsequent co-design of energy strategies. This requires visualizations that are appropriate to the needs of people in Kartong as well as accessible to a wider academic audience.

The aim of this encyclopedia is to provide a comprehensive reference work on scientific and other scholarly research on the quality of life, including health-related quality of life research or also called patient-reported outcomes research ...

This research explores long-term energy systems change in the context of everyday life in the Gambian community of Kartong. Regular immersions in Kartong between 2010 and 2018 have led to in-depth human insight of changes in local energy culture over time (e.g. Schiffer, 2016). Immersions have been supported by ethnographic methods including semi-structured interviews and observation as well as mapping of infrastructure changes and participatory workshops on local energy futures. These form part of a human-centred design methodology aiming to understand and influence long-term changes of energy metabolisms. Building on earlier definitions of the urban metabolism (e.g. Currie & Musango, 2016; Giradet 2008; Kennedy, Cuddihy & Engel-Yan, 2007) the energy metabolism is understood here as the culmination of social-technical, socio-economic, socio-ecological and socio-political flows of resources including electricity, transport, people, food and information in, out and within a place. The most drastic shift has arguably taken place since the connection to road infrastructure and the national electricity grid which has firmly embedded fossil fuel dependence in everyday energy practice. The research has identified key themes that have influenced everyday energy practice at local level including infrastructure development, gender, education, political, spatial and seasonal dimensions. It draws out key recommendations for policy in the context of delivering access to modern energy services.

This research explores long-term energy systems change in the context of everyday life in the Gambian community of Kartong. Regular immersions in Kartong between 2010 and 2018 have led to in-depth human insight of changes in local energy culture over time (e.g. Schiffer, 2016). Immersions have been supported by ethnographic methods including semi-structured interviews and observation as well as mapping of infrastructure changes and participatory workshops on local energy futures. These form part of a human-centred design methodology aiming to understand and influence long-term changes of energy metabolisms. Building on earlier definitions of the urban metabolism (e.g. Currie & Musango, 2016; Giradet 2008; Kennedy, Cuddihy & Engel-Yan, 2007) the energy metabolism is understood here as the culmination of social-technical, socio-economic, socio-ecological and socio-political flows of resources including electricity, transport, people, food and information in, out and within a place. The most drastic shift has arguably taken place since the connection to road infrastructure and the national electricity grid which has firmly embedded fossil fuel dependence in everyday energy practice. The research has identified key themes that have influenced everyday energy practice at local level including infrastructure development, gender, education, political, spatial and seasonal dimensions. It draws out key recommendations for policy in the context of delivering access to modern energy services.

The Gambian settlement of Kartong is undergoing an energy transition which is putting growing emphasis on external resources. Benefits associated with increasing access to modern energy services such as grid electricity are therefore also accompanied by increasing energy dependence and economic vulnerabilities. Behaviour change occurs as people get accustomed to using new gadgets or technology without anticipation of environmental or social implications, leaving Kartonkas as passive recipients of change. In contrast a designed energy transition implies intent. This paper discusses a co-design process which has led to the adoption of a local energy policy in Kartong. Here, co-design is considered a tool for empowerment that allows people to take an active role in change making. Through reflection on this process, the paper draws conclusions that challenge the traditional role of the designer as primary problem solver and innovator.

In recent years, increasing numbers of citizen-led energy initiatives that generate, distribute and/or supply energy, have demonstrated how the benefits of renewable resources can remain local, stimulate participation in and support for the transition towards 100% renewable energy. In the European contexts these initiatives range from remote island based community projects to co-operatives with 50,000 members. However, 1.2 billion people across the world currently live without access to electricity and many more suffer from unreliable or rationed supply. In practice, the urgency to deliver first time access to modern energy services, such as electricity, often takes priority over participatory forms of ownership and energy based on renewables. As such, the notion of leapfrogging the centralised and fossil-fuel based energy model of industrialised countries often remains an illusion. Instead communities longing for energy access are locked into linear energy metabolisms. Regular immersions in The Gambia over a six period, have highlighted how first time access to modern energy services has locked a rural community into a linear energy system both in terms of transport and power supply (Schiffer, 2016). This paper attempts to extrapolate lessons from this missed opportunity for the benefit of energy access programmes, such as the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative, which aims to deliver an additional 300GW of renewable generating capacity by 2030.

Within the European context, forms of and perceptions towards decentralised ownership models vary drastically. What is praised as ‘community energy’ by some, is labelled as capitalist investment for the rich by others or evokes negative associations with communism. However, central questions in these apparent tensions are who pays, who participates and who benefits? This paper is primarily based on insights gained from Community Power, a European project that ran from 2013 to 2016 and aimed to improve legislation and policy for community-owned renewable energy. The paper compares different ownership models of citizen-led renewable energy transitions by examining levels of participation and distribution of costs and benefits. While people’s participation in the transition to 100% renewables helps ensure benefits stay local and increases public support for renewable infrastructure, citizen-ownership cannot free itself from critiques of exclusion, especially in relation to ‘energy independence’.

In recent years, increasing numbers of citizen-led energy initiatives that generate, distribute and/or supply energy, have demonstrated how the benefits of renewable resources can remain local, stimulate participation in and support for the transition towards 100% renewable energy. In the European contexts these initiatives range from remote island based community projects to co-operatives with 50,000 members. However, 1.2 billion people across the world currently live without access to electricity and many more suffer from unreliable or rationed supply. In practice, the urgency to deliver first time access to modern energy services, such as electricity, often takes priority over participatory forms of ownership and energy based on renewables. As such, the notion of leapfrogging the centralised and fossil-fuel based energy model of industrialised countries often remains an illusion. Instead communities longing for energy access are locked into linear energy metabolisms. Regular immersions in The Gambia over a six period, have highlighted how first time access to modern energy services has locked a rural community into a linear energy system both in terms of transport and power supply (Schiffer, 2016). This paper attempts to extrapolate lessons from this missed opportunity for the benefit of energy access programmes, such as the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative, which aims to deliver an additional 300GW of renewable generating capacity by 2030.

Participatory designing in the context of community development relies on personal relationships of mutual respect and trust. During design research on community energy in rural Gambia I realized the importance of my positionality regarding these relationships. The term positionality describes one’s social standing or identity and considers how personal characteristics such as gender and sexuality (Chako 2004) impact on our engagement with others. Positionality is based on fluid, temporal and contingent relationships (Ateljevic et al, 2005) which means it changes over time, differs depending on who we engage with and to what purpose. In my research my positionality produced advantages as well as ethical dilemmas. Understanding of my complex and fluid representations is based on listening to what others say and observation’s of people’s behaviours towards me. Assessing and actively responding to aspects of my positionality has become essential in navigating as a researcher in the field and is part of wider reflexive practice and commitment to high ethical standards. However, the concept has gained little attention in the design discourse despite increasing emphasis on participation.

Abstract. Recent trends have seen an increase in designers working in international development and post-disaster areas. Whilst a shift away from consumer goods to ‘design for the real word’ (Papanek, 1985) is morally commendable, there has been stark criticism regarding the appropriateness of design outcomes and design engagement with people in developing countries. This paper offers a reflexive perspective on a research project that aims to critique human-centered design in the context of international development and more specifically focuses on community energy in rural Gambia. Reflexivity is defined as “critical reflection on one’s own mindset, predispositions, values, mental frames, and ways of interpreting experience and reality” (Chambers, 2012). Reflexive thinking can support human-centered design because it acknowledges the personal elements of research and practice. It advocates the ‘I’ in research or as Shacklock and Smyth (1998) put it: “to assume value-free positions of neutrality, is to assume an obscene and dishonest position.” The use of reflexivity to identify research biases and controversial power relations to challenge these, forms the foundation for ethical engagement.

The research explores water and energy resource flows of peripheral river islands near the Brazilian city of Belém through a predominately ethnographic lens. The research uses the ‘urban metabolism’ concept as theoretical framework which is understood here as the culmination of socio-technical, socio-economic, socio-ecological and socio-political flows of resources including electricity, transport, people, food and information in, out and within a geographically defined place. The research has a particular focus on people’s interaction with energy and water metabolisms of Paquetá and surrounding islands. The paper presents human insight gained from a short-term immersion on the island that took place in August 2017. Immersion was supported by methods including observation, visual ethnography, semi-structured interviews and co-mapping of infrastructure distribution. The research highlights the resource and personal networks between Paquetá and neighbouring islands, their dependency on the tidal river and the relationship between the islands and the cities of Belém and Bacarena for income generation, access to resources and infrastructure development.

In this paper, we explore the practices and spaces of mobile phone charging in The Gambia and Sierra Leone through the lens of 'electricity scarcity‘ as a means to conceptualise electricity access in West Africa. The International Energy Agency (IEA) is seen as the leading authority on the state of global energy access, and is frequently cited by government and non-government bodies. We, however, suggest that the IEA‘s quantitative and binary framing of electricity access is analytically problematic for understanding energy poverty. Using ethnographic methods, including observation and semi-structured interviews, we provide insights into the changing socio-technological, socio-political and socio-economic dimensions of mobile phone charging including its relationship with the built environment. Comparing mobile phone charging in The Gambia and Sierra Leone, clearly shows that the notion of absolute electricity scarcity which is promulgated by IEA statistics only offers a limited picture of energy poverty, especially at the locale. Instead, drawing on political ecology scholarship, we propose a concept of political electricity scarcity as an approach enables a more human-centred and nuanced understanding of how energy poverty operates or is mitigated through community-based structures or at a household level. By reframing energy poverty issues through this lens, we are able to illustrate the role that political economy dynamics play in shaping the electricity flows in rural Sub-Saharan Africa and who ultimately gets what kind of electricity access.

The world is in the grips of a climate crisis driven by greenhouse gas emissions, of which the largest single source is the energy sector. Any successful global effort to mitigate climate change will require a drastic reduction in energy sector emissions, which can be achieved by a shift to renewable energy sources and a reduction in energy consumption. Environmental and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and activists have been pushing for such policies for decades. However, while a shift to renewable energy must happen across the board, it is critical that in undertaking such a transformation, global inequities in energy consumption are taken into account. While most people in developed countries – in particular the United States – consume large and arguably excessive amounts of energy on a daily basis, many people in poorer countries have the opposite problem: underconsumption of energy. These are people living in energy poverty, without access to sufficient energy for basic needs and services, much less a minimum level of entertainment or luxury that most would consider inherent to a dignified and fulfilling life.

Abstract

Increasingly designers from an array of different disciplinary backgrounds work in international and community development, yet design education rarely prepares them for the challenges and roles in this context. The article reflects on issues of power and representation during design research in The Gambia by adapting reflexivity and positionality which are key concepts established in development studies. Reflections are based on research carried out in The Gambia since 2010 which is comprised of phases of immersion, mapping and co‐design. They provide in‐depth insights currently lacking in design literature that demonstrate the value of reflexivity and positionality to iterate roles and methods in community‐based design. Whilst not suggesting particular teaching methods, the article proposes the integration of these concepts into existing structures to better prepare students for increasingly common futures in the workplace. Broader themes that emerge and can be adapted to different design contexts include building trust, entanglement in power dynamics between different actors, personal vulnerability, as well as the need to challenge problems as starting points for design interventions.

The research explores the intersection of social relations and energy capabilities in the Global South. Specifically, it provides insight into everyday ‘sharing practices’ in overcoming electricity scarcity. This is based on a decade of regular immersions in a rural Gambian community which was supported by a range of qualitative methods including observations and semi-structured interviews. Findings suggest that energy capabilities can be improved at different scales in the community through sharing practices that are historically rooted in social norms and values. This is conceptualised here as collective energy capabilities for mitigating energy scarcity. However, currently sharing practices do not easily translate into sustainable and bottom-up management of collectively used or owned energy assets to achieve more systemic shifts towards democratic models of energy for all.

Recent years have seen an acceleration in efforts to secure global supply chains of ‘critical minerals’ for defence, digital technology, energy and transport priorities. However, this rapidly evolving geopolitical context also impacts other sectors including healthcare which rely on some of the same resources. In orthopaedics, metals including titanium and medical grade stainless steel are used for implants. Supply chain disruption and rising costs therefore pose risks to product performance in the body, affordability and quality of patient care. Firstly, this paper shares findings from a desktop review of products and grey literature of leading orthopaedic manufactures. Secondly, it presents a re-use case based on a collaboration between Canadian and East African paediatric orthopaedic health care professionals. The paper makes an original contribution by identifying a list of ‘orthopaedic critical minerals’ and highlighting the potential for responding to material shortages in the sector and global health inequalities through product re-use.

Urban Grit is a collaborative project, focusing on greening deficits in inner city Dublin, Ireland. A particular case study – the Oliver Bond House, in the south west inner city, is explored. The aim of the research was to develop “nature probes” – to make visible the role of the urban commons in this everyday environment. The paper traces how we reached the point of greenspace deficit in this part of Dublin and how we can operationalise and conceptualise practices of urban commoning pertaining to greening. Writing as academics and practitioners, this collaborative approach of “commoning our knowledge” supports communities who are undergoing rapid urban change. In doing so, it contributes to more nuanced conceptions of commons in marginalised urban communities.

Across Brazil, including the water rich Amazon region, access to safe drinking water remains a challenge and rainwater harvesting has gained credibility as a technological solution. Complementing a more techno-centric approach, this practice paper analyses initial findings from an 'immersion' that was undertaken in August 2017 on Paquetá and surrounding islands located on the periphery of Belém (Schiffer and Swan, 2018), through the proposed urban island water metabolism framework. As such, the research draws on the 'urban metabolism' concept which can be described as socio-technical, socio-economic, socio-political and socio-ecological flows including water resources, people and information in, out and within the urban environment (Currie and Musango, 2016; Kennedy, Cuddihy and Engel-Yan, 2007). Here this has been adapted to 'urban island water metabolisms'. The research highlights the value of more holistic and situated understanding of water systems in urban island contexts including: the role of intra-island networks that operate beyond municipal borders; accessibility in the contexts of ever changing water levels; and seasonal dimensions. The paper recommends longer-term and comparative research to further the understanding of the specific needs and challenges for water management in these peripheral contexts and to strengthen the urban island water metabolism concept.

This paper presents key findings from an ‘immersion’ that was undertaken in August 2017 on Paquetá and surrounding islands within the Amazon region of Brazil. In this research, immersion is understood as active participation in peoples’ lives over a period of time and supported by other methods including observation, semi-structured interviews and co-mapping. This research adapted the urban metabolism concept commonly used to assess levels of sustainability and resilience, for application to the context of peripheral river islands located in the Tocantins river near the Brazilian city of Belém. It specifically focuses on factors that impact on people’s behaviour in relation to water management, or what is described here as the ‘island water metabolism’. This includes geographic, seasonal, local governance and social dimensions as well as dependence on the rising and falling tides of the river.

Wise Women Exhibition and symposium

Purpose This paper aims to present a literature review of remote monitoring systems for water infrastructure in the Global South. Design/methodology/approach Following initial scoping searches, further examination was made of key remote monitoring technologies for water infrastructure in the Global South. A standard literature search methodology was adopted to examine these monitoring technologies and their respective deployments. This hierarchical approach prioritised “peer-reviewed” articles, followed by “scholarly” publications, then “credible” information sources and, finally, “other” relevant materials. The first two search phases were conducted using academic search services (e.g. Scopus and Google Scholar). In the third and fourth phases, Web searches were carried out on various stakeholders, including manufacturers, governmental agencies and non-governmental organisations/charities associated with Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in the Global South. Findings This exercise expands the number of monitoring technologies considered in comparison to earlier review publications. Similarly, preceding reviews have largely focused upon monitoring applications in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This paper explores opportunities in other geographical regions and highlights India as a significant potential market for these tools. Research limitations/implications This review predominantly focuses upon information/data currently available in the public domain. Practical implications Remote monitoring technologies enable the rapid detection of broken water pumps. Broken water infrastructure significantly impacts many vulnerable communities, often leading to the use of less protected water sources and increased exposure to water-related diseases. Further to these public health impacts, there are additional economic disadvantages for these user communities. Originality/value This literature review has sought to address some key technological omissions and to widen the geographical scope associated with previous investigations.