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Water Sowing and Harvesting (WS&H) is an ancestral knowledge widely used as a sustainable technique in water management. This study aims to analyse the importance, promotion, and cultural heritage of WS&H techniques through a literature review in Ecuador, considering applications of ancestral techniques by region (coastal, Andean and insular) with a strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats (SWOTs) analysis and a focus group for a strategy proposal of the water supply. The methodology of this study includes the following: (i) an analysis of the evolution of WS&H studies in Ecuador; (ii) a presentation of WS&H techniques and their applications; and (iii) the contribution of WS&H to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), complemented by a SWOTs analysis. The results show that, in Ecuador, WS&H is a method of Nature-based Solutions (NbSs) applied to the problems of water scarcity and is affordable, ecological, and has high efficiency, improving agricultural productivity and guaranteeing water supply for human consumption. The Manglaralto coastal aquifer, a case study in the coastal region of Ecuador, involves WS&H management and artificial aquifer recharge. WS&H structures became a reference for the sustainable development of rural communities that can be replicated nationally and internationally as a resilient alternative to water scarcity and a global climate emergency, contributing to the SDGs of UNESCO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide earthquakes have caused a total of 719,501 human victim and 1,344.8 billion dollars in economic losses between 2000-2021. The Santa Elena province (Ecuador) is classified as an area of high seismic danger, according to the Ecuadorian Construction Standard (NEC). This coastal province has 70% of informal housing construction, structural problems and poor construction processes can be seen with the occurrence of these natural phenomena. This study aims to propose technical-economic rehabilitation solutions in informal housing constructions, through modelling and structural analysis, that guarantee occupational safety and the recovery of the structural capacity of the housing, case study (pilot). The applied methodology consisted of four phases: i) information on the pilot case study and its environment; review of the building regulations, ii) laboratory tests on soil characteristics, iii) structural modelling and analysis using SAP2000 software, and iv) structural support and rehabilitation solutions. The results indicate that the columns of the first floor require reinforcement because the average cross-section of the columns is less than the local construction regulations and defined by the criteria of experts in the construction sector. The structural elements of the second floor also require repair to reduce bending moments and distribute loads to the ground. The idea of innovation is the configuration of a protocol with construction methods for existing and new buildings, as tools for local authorities to promote reinforcement in areas of high seismic vulnerability, and thus a territorial order in the construction sector. This research recommends structural rehabilitation with reinforcements and structural repairs to guarantee its ability to withstand an earthquake and ensure the occupational well-being of inhabitants. This methodology can be replicated in houses with similar structural characteristics in Ecuadorian coast, considering SDGs 3, 9, and 11, which address health and well-being, industry, innovation and infrastructure, and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]