Support for Sanitation and Water Start-Ups

The cewas Start-Up programme aims at supporting young graduates and professionals from the North and the South in setting up their own water and sanitation businesses. It is a unique institution combining training and advanced education (in the cewas Training Centre) with coaching by international high-level experts (the cewas Think-Tank) in a one-year intensive program.

Trainings cover not only technical aspects of SSWM but also business development, practical experience ("best practice projects"), international management issues and guide the Start-Ups through the whole process of business planning. By bringing together international teams (North-South partnerships), the SMEs can offer solutions based on international know-how and are able to act and react sustainably towards global challenges and business opportunities in the sector.

After the Start-Up Programme, SMEs get continuous in-house support through the Business Platform and backstopping by the cewas Think-Tank and network in order to consolidate their position in the market.

Prerequisites for Applicants:

• Master Degree in Environmental Studies/Engineering, Sustainable Development, Economy or other appropriate formations
  
• Strong motivation to contribute to a sustainable development of the sanitation and water sector on the national and international level
• "Entrepreneurial spirit"
• Excellent knowledge in English

The next Start-Up programme will start in April 2012. Application deadline for Start-Up candidates is on March 4.

cewas the international centre for water management services. The main goal of cewas is to contribute to the development and the implementation of a more sustainable sanitation and water management (SSWM) worldwide. cewas has been established as an association based on Swiss law in 2010 in Willisau (Lucerne, Switzerland). President of cewas is Roland Schertenleib (former Director of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology ,Eawag, and its Department of Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries, Sandec), and the operational manager is Johannes Heeb (seecon international gmbh & International Ecological Engineering Society).  Moreover, cewas works with over 20 high-level experts from the water and sanitation sector (the cewas Think-Tank) and approximately 25 national and international partners.