This report describes an AGUASAN workshop that was conducted in response to prevailing concerns about how the millennium development goals can be honoured in practice. The participant assembled to try to find ways of improving the sustainability of investments in infrastructure made with the help of external support agencies, firstly in connection with five cases studies, and then extending to the situations in which the participants are working, so that proposals are realistic and practical. Presentations were given of the following topics : What is a livelihood system?, the 9square Mandala as a tool for understanding livelihood systems, the influence of livelihood systems on the sustainability of development interventions. Five case studies were considered in detail - two from Africa, one from Asia and two from Latin America. This report descibes the workshop programme and methodology, which may be of use to some readers who wish to pick up some tips on preparing and running workshops, since this workshop was the 20th in a series of successful annual meetings.