I have worked at Makerere University since 2000. I started as a Teaching Assistant and grew through the ranks via Assistant Lecturer, Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor. Since 2017, I am an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Makerere University. I hold BSc. Civil Engineering and MSc. from Makerere University; a Licentiate of Philosophy and PhD in Environmental Technology from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden. I conduct research, teach and undertake consultancy in Civil and Environmental Engineering.
I have extensive knowledge and experience in development of innovative practices in sanitation improvement (from Engineering, social marketing to financing); solid waste management with emphasis on recycling and re-use e.g. composting, biogas, grey water treatment and use, application of faecal sludge in industrial kilns and boilers, design of faecal sludge treatment plants etc. I have 100+ publications in peer reviewed journals, conference proceedings, book chapters, policy briefs etc.
I have experience environmental impact assessments of projects in the water and sanitation sector, hydropower dams, port infrastructure, roads and faecal sludge management.
First Name | Charles |
Surname | Niwagaba |
Other Name | Buregeya |
Academic Title | Associate Professor |
Department | Civil and Environmental Engineering |
Position | Associate Professor |
Telephone Number | +256772335477 |
Charles.niwagaba@mak.ac.ug | |
Office Number | Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Office Number: 1008 New Building of CEDAT |
Courses Taught | CIV3205 Public Health Engineering I,CIV4104 Public Health Engineering II, CIV7100 Research Methods and Scientific Writing I, CIV7200 Research Methods and Scientific Writing II, CIV7289 Solid Waste Management and Recycling |
Areas of Research Interest | Sanitation technology, Resource recovery and safe use, faecal sludge management, solid waste management |
Education Background | BSc. Civil Eng. (Mak), MSc. Civil Eng. (Mak), Ph. Lic. (SLU, Sweden), PhD. (SLU, Sweden). |
Other key skills training/Certification | 2021: Environmental and Social Framework – ESF Fundamentals, Open Learning Campus; World Bank Group. 2020: Certificate in the Training Course for ISO 30500 and ISO 24521: International Non-sewered Sanitation Standards offered by Cap-Net/ANSI/GWPO. 2018-2019: 192 Hours OSHA Construction Safety and Health Professional; 162 Hours OSHA Construction Safety and Health Manager; 145 Hours OSHA Construction Site Safety Supervisor; 130 Hours OSHA Construction Safety and Health Specialist; 47 Hours OSHA Construction Safety and Health Train-the-Trainer; and 002 Hours OSHA Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19. 2018: 10-Hour OSHA Hazard Recognition Training for the Construction Industry Course, offered by the American OSHA Academy. 2018: Certificate in Basic safety orientation, online, offered by 360 Training. NIH Web-based training certificate in "Protecting Human Research Participants" offered by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Extramural Research. Planning & Design of Sanitation Systems and Technologies, offered by the Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG). Municipal Solid Waste Management in Developing Countries, offered by the Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG). 2001: Certificate in Environmental Impact Assessment from the Water, Engineering and Development Center, Institute of Development Engineering, Loughborough University, UK. |
Research project history (recent 5 years) | Aug 2022 – Dec 2026: Water, Behaviour Change and Environmental Sanitation (WABES): Sustainable Solutions to Research, Knowledge and Professionalization – Integrated Water, Sanitation and Solid Waste Services (INTEGRATE). The project is worth CHF 3,237,730 from the Swiss Development and Cooperation (SDC), of which US$ 192,722 is for coordination of research activities at Makerere University. Oct 2017 – Dec 2020: SPANS (Sanitation Planning for Alternative Nutrient-recovery Systems), a research project implemented by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden; RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden); Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden; and Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda; SEK 5.2 million. |
Conferences/workshops/papers presented (recent 5 years) | Kasirye Mathias, Niwagaba B. Charles, Lubuulwa Andrew, Katukiza Y. Alex, Semiyaga Swaib, Manga Musa, Simha Prithvi, 2023. Stabilization And Drying Kinetics To Produce A Urine-based Solid Fertilizer. Presented at the International Water Association (IWA) Water Development Congress and Exhibition, Kigali, Rwanda, 10-14 December 2023. Billger, M., Kain, J-H, Niwagaba, C.B., McConville, J.R., 2021. Co-designing a serious game for collaborative sanitation planning for resource recovery. IWA Digital World Water Congress, 24 May- 4 June 2021. (poster presentation). Awarded best scientific poster. McConville, J.R., Billger, M., Kain, J-H., Niwagaba, C.B., 2021. Learning from a resource recovery game for collaborative urban sanitation planning. IWA Nordic Wastewater Digital Conference 2021, 28 September – 1 October 2021. (oral presentation). Niwagaba, C.B., Billger, M., Kain, J-H., McConville, J.R. 2020. A collaborative resource-recovery game to enhance urban sanitation planning. Uganda Water and Environment Week (Digital), 13-18 September 2020. (oral presentation). Ahabwe, G. Z., Niwagaba, B. C., 2020. The governance conundrum in pursuit of the human right to water and sanitation: tracking the progress of leave-no-one-behind principle in Uganda, pp189-196. Proceedings of the WaSo 2020 final (online) conference (www.waso2 020.net) 15-16 December 2020. International Conference on Water, Society and Climate Change (WaSo), 2020. Proceedings – Part I, Concluding event of the 7-year NORAD-NORHED Project. www.wasoproject.org, www.waso2020.net. Billger, M., Kain J.-H., Niwagaba C.B. & J.R. McConville, 2020. Lessons from co-designing a resource-recovery game for collaborative urban sanitation planning. BEYOND 2020 – World Sustainable Built Environment conference. IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 588 (2020) 042041, IOP Publishing. doi:10.1088/1755-1315/588/4/042041 (Oral Presentation). |
Published journal articles (recent 5 years) | Kanyesigye, C., Twesigyea, I., Marks, S., Niwagaba, C., Kulabako, R., Ferrero, G., Kansiime, F., 2023. Assessment of risks to the quality of water supplied in Bushenyi-Uganda using the water safety plan approach. Water Practice and Technology. 10.2166/wpt.2023.193. McConville, J.R; Billger, M., Niwagaba, B. C., Kain, J-H., 2023. Assessing the potential to use serious gaming in planning processes for sanitation designed for resource recovery. Environmental Science and Policy, 145, 262-274. Andriessen, N., Appiah-Effah, E., Browne, S. J. L., al Jahjah, R., Kabika, J., Kinobe, J. R., Korir, N., Nishimwe, P., Niwagaba, B. C., Pradeep, R., Prasad, P., Tembo, J. M., William, A., Ambuehl, B., Strande, L., 2023. Quantities and qualities of faecal sludge: Experiences from field implementation with a Volaser in 7 countries during a pandemic. Frontiers in Water (Water and Human Systems). DOI: 10.3389/frwa.2023.1130081. Tokwaro, R., Semiyaga, S., Niwagaba, C. B., Nakagiri, A., Sempewo, J.I., Muoghalu, C.C., Manga, M., 2023. Application of black soldier fly larvae in decentralized treatment of faecal sludge from pit latrines in informal settlements in Kampala city. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 11, 1118635; p1-11. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2023.1118635. Ward, B.J., Nguyen, M.T., Sam, S.B., Korir, N., Niwagaba, C.B., Morgenroth, E., Strande, L., 2023. Particle size as a driver of dewatering performance and its relationship to stabilization in fecal sludge. Journal of Environmental Management, 326, 116801, Pp 1-12. Niwagaba B. C., Lukas, B., Regula, M., Ouma, H., Wanyama, K., 2022. Gravity-driven Membrane Filtration for the Supply of Safely Managed Water in Rural Areas of Uganda. The Engineer 1(2), 41-44. ISSN: 2790-5047. McConville, J.R., Kvarnström, E., Ahlström, M., Niwagaba, B. C., 2022. Possibilities for changing to resource recovery in Kampala's on-site sanitation regime. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 181, Article 106275. Ahabwe G. Z., Batega D.W, Ssewaya, A., Niwagaba, B. C., 2022. Governance conundrum in pursuit of the human right to water and sanitation: tracking the progress of the leave-no-one-behind principle in Uganda. Journal of Water and Climate Change 13(1), 83-95. Bartona, M. A., Simha, P., Magri, M. E., Dutta, S., Kabir, H., Selvakumar, A., Zhou, X., Lv, Y., Martin, T., Kizos, T., Triantafyllou, E., Kataki, R., Gerchman, Y., Ronit Herscu-Kluska, R., Alrousan, D., Dalahmeh, S., Goh, E. G., Elenciuc, D., Głowacka, A., Korculanin, L., Tzeng, R. T., Ray, S.S., Ganesapillai, M., Niwagaba, C., Prouty, C., Mihelcic, J. R., Vinnerås, B., 2021. Data Article Attitudes of food consumers at universities towards recycling human urine as crop fertiliser: A multinational survey dataset, Data in Brief, 35, 106794, 1-12. Simha, P., Barton, M. A., Perez-Mercado, L.F., McConville, J.R., Lalander, C., Magri, M.E., Dutta, S., Kabir, H., Selvakumar, A., Zhou, X., Martin, T., Kizos, T., Kataki, R., Gerchman, Y., Herscu-Kluska, R., Alrousan, D., Goh, E.G., Elenciuc, D., Głowacka, A., Korculanin, L., Tzeng, R.V., Ray, S.S., Niwagaba, C., Prouty, C., Mihelcic, J.R., Vinnerås, B., 2021. Willingness among food consumers to recycle human urine as crop fertiliser: Evidence from a multinational survey. Science of the Total Environment 765 (144438), 1-10. Butte, G. Niwagaba, C., Nordin, A., 2020. Assessing the microbial risk of faecal sludge use in Ugandan agriculture by comparing field and theoretical model output. Water Research, 197, 117068, 1-14. McConville, J.R., Kvarnström, E., Nordin, C. A., Jönsson, H., Niwagaba, B. C., 2020. Structured Approach for Comparison of Treatment Options for Nutrient-recovery from Fecal Sludge. Frontiers in Environmental Science, Vol. 8., Article 36, Page 1-12; doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2020.00036 Dalahmeh, S., Björnberg, E., Elenström, A-K., Niwagaba, C. B., Komakech, A. J., 2020. Pharmaceutical pollution of wastewater and water resources in Nakivubo water system in Kampala, Uganda. Science of the Total Environment, 710, 25 March 2020, 136347. McConville, J. R., Kvarnström, E., Maiteki, J. M., Niwagaba, B. C., 2019. Infrastructure investments and operating costs for fecal sludge and sewage treatment systems in Kampala, Uganda. Urban water Journal 16(8), 584-593. https://doi.org/10.1080/1573062X.2019.1700290. |
Links to social media (e.g. LinkedIn) | https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-b-niwagaba-89652a154/?originalSubdomain=ug |
Links to scholarly collaboration network (e.g. Scholar, ResearchGate, etc) | https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Charles-Niwagaba-2 https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EygeSiEAAAAJ&hl=en |