Many countries in the global South declare regions to be open defecation free, but they must still address significant sanitation, wastewater, and faecal sludge management challenges.
Climate uncertainty, water shortages, and weak infrastructure mean that ‘flush and forget’ systems are not always possible or desirable. This briefing describes how art interventions can help people reimagine alternative sanitation futures. Drawing on research in Nepal, it describes how activities such as dance workshops, humanure planting, song competitions, and radio jingles can generate new knowledge about sanitation challenges and faecal sludge re-use, showing that ‘brown’ can be ‘gold’!