Abstract

Human health is linked to the health of the environment, a concept referred to as planetary health. As environmental challenges become increasingly complex, single-disciplinary approaches are insufficient to achieve sustainable solutions. This article presents a transdisciplinary framework, termed the "Nurse + Engineer" model, as a novel methodology for addressing complex problems at the nexus of environmental engineering and public health. The model integrates the technical design and systems-level thinking of environmental engineering with the community-based, patient-centered care of nursing. This work details the key lessons learned from the retrospective application of this framework to a series of multi-year, community-based participatory research (CBPR) projects aimed at improving water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) sustainability in rural communities across Brazil, Guatemala, India, Kenya, South Africa, and Tanzania and contrasts this to similar approaches in the United States. A critical finding is the role of community ownership and health education to greatly enhance the effectiveness and sustained usage of technical solutions. Advice to WaSH sector actors is to adopt convergence approaches, specifically the N+E model, to measure social benefits alongside technological benefits of interventions.

Department(s)

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

978-078448693-1

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2026 American Society of Civil Engineers, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 2026

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