Today, it is becoming increasingly clear in the ‘development’ sector that relationships based on an explicitly felt need to share and exchange resources can significantly improve capacities to create impact. Development Alternatives have, for thirteen years, shared a similar relationship in the area of sustainable building technologies, with SKAT  the Swiss Centre for Development Cooperation in Technology and Management.

DA’s association with SKAT began in 1989 when the first efforts were made for development of Micro Concrete Roofing (MCR) technology in India. MCR fitted perfectly in DA’s mission of promoting sustainable development through large scale creation of livelihoods. SKAT pioneered the roofing technology and developed its potential as an excellent model for profitable entrepreneurial activity. Over the next few years, in close coordination with SKAT, DA completely assimilated the technology and anchored it within its core of habitat services. As a result, today in the country, there exists a well established thriving network of over 300 MCR entrepreneurs who have sold more than 25 million roofing tiles. The success has resulted form treading a well defined path together with SKAT. With technical and technology management support from SKAT, the technology was first adapted to the Indian context and then liberated through micro enterprises continuously backed by business development services.

In 1996, DA and SKAT collaborated on the VSBK (Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln) Action Research project. An exploratory visit to the existing kilns in Pakistan was undertaken to explore the feasibility of VSBK in India. This was followed by an elaborate and comprehensive technology-transfer to India, aided by the Chinese experts that resulted in the setting up of four pilot kilns with the fifth one being the first commercial scale operation in Gwalior. The role of DA, which had the primary responsibility of implementation with other partners, was complemented by technical backstopping from SKAT. This phase of work, supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation has today firmly positioned an improved energy efficient technology at a stage where it is poised to proliferate and create large scale impact in the brick sector.

In 1998, SKAT facilitated the entry of DA into the BASIN network. BASIN, in a simple sense, is a coalition of experts with worldwide experience in all aspects of the building sector. It is a model of resource sharing, essentially based on the principle of building partnerships to provide information and advice on appropriate building technologies and to creating links with know-how resources in the world for all those in need of relevant information. Presently, it is a pool of information contributed by nine partner organizations which can be accessed through the internet. Individual specialized support to clients is balanced with a comprehensive view that comes from the diverse experiences of the partner organizations.

The Building Materials Project was launched in 1998 to boost the Indian building material sector to find sustainable shelter solutions. It had part projects carried out in cooperation with five partners in India. Funded by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the project has been a significant opportunity where DA, along with other project partners, has carried out concentrated work in three modules of MCR, Compressed Earth Blocks and habitat systems in the Bundelkhand region (in Central India).

DA and SKAT provided the technical support and management consultancy for the Swiss Red Cross (SRC) funded reconstruction project managed by SEWA in Radhanpur, Gujarat. SKAT was appointed by SRC to evaluate and monitor the project in Gujarat and DA’s participation was not only a logistical advantage but also a strategic one through which SKAT was better placed to understand the intricacies and problems of the project.

Recently, DA and SKAT added another dimension to the series of collaborations by initiating exchange of their professional staff. As the fist step, it was a privilege for the author to visit the SKAT head office in Switzerland for three months. During the stay, work was carried out to further develop a concept of assessing sustainability of building practices. This is expected to be dovetailed with an ongoing project wherein a sustainability evaluation methodology evolved by SKAT is planned to be tested in various regions of India through a series of stakeholder workshops organized by DA through its network of regional partners. (the first of these workshops took place in Pune in January 2002). Such interactions afford partner organizations a deeper understanding of each other’s work rhythms and thought processes and enrich perspectives of professionals. Needless to say, these are also significant steps in promoting goodwill in international partnerships and strengthening existing ties.