Poor sanitation and open defecation is a major concern in many parts of the world. Ecological sanitation is a possible alternative to the global issue by using dry toilet systems that allow for recycling the waste for other uses. The purpose of this thesis is to determine the cultural perception and design implications toward ecological sanitation in developing countries. By surveying the local population in the proposed environments and implementing a corresponding system, the sanitation system has a much higher chance of sustainability and success. In Northern Uganda, the population was surveyed through a questionnaire and a Visual Preference Survey to determine current conditions, immediate needs, cultural preferences, and attitudes toward the design of sanitation types with the main focus on privacy, placement, type and gender-specific facilities. Results demonstrated that the majority of the population was interested in learning more to improve sanitation and reuse waste for agricultural productivity.

The 42-kilometer beach in Harrison County, Mississippi necessitates continual re-nourishment projects to ensure its survival due to constant erosion events. The stability that the root structures of vegetated beaches provide have been shown to be a countermeasure to these erosion events. It has also been shown that the public will utilize landscapes that they find to be attractive. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to ascertain whether beach users find vegetated beaches more attractive than un-vegetated beaches. In several Harrison County communities, beach users were surveyed through the use of a Visual Preference Survey and an accompanying questionnaire to determine their opinions on the design of the beach, its design elements, and the purpose of those elements. Results were mixed, however it was determined that beach users found beaches vegetated with multiple types of florae to be more attractive than non-vegetated beaches.

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