RECIRCULATE: Driving eco-innovation in africa: capacity-building for a safe circular water economy
Lead Research Organisation:
Lancaster University
Department Name: Lancaster Environment Centre
Abstract
RECIRCULATE will support new partnership-based approaches to enable African researchers to grow transformational impact through working with, in and for their communities
The vision, objectives and strategy for RECIRCULATE emerge from Lancaster's deep engagement with researchers and research users in sub-Saharan Africa. Africa is a strategic priority for Lancaster which is currently the only UK University to have a campus on the continent. With our partners Trans-National Education (TNE) we have invested in excess of £5M to establish our Ghana campus ("LU Ghana" opened in 2013 and now supports 450 students). Lancaster University is committed to grow LU Ghana as a research base, and are about to purchase an additional 6ha of land for a larger campus that will include laboratory facilities for engineering and environmental sciences.
In addition to our long-standing partnership building in Ghana and Nigeria, Lancaster University has grown national leadership in eco-innovation - innovation supporting both business growth and the environment. It has the capacity to translate high quality research into "real world impacts" as demonstrated by Lancaster's double award-winning Centre for Global Eco-innovation (CGE) http://www.globalecoinnovation.org . CGE has demonstrated that eco-innovation can deliver positive benefits to both the economy and the environment and is fundamentally underpinned by the need for end-user driven research. At the heart of our eco-innovation vision for Africa is the needs to promote medium-to-long term economic growth that is both resilient to future climate and where possible able to mitigate the impact of environmental change.
Informed by our experience and that of our core partners in Ghana and Nigeria, RESILIENCE focuses on the overarching need for a safer circular water economy that is research driven but community-led. Sustainable, equitable and community-appropriate management of water plays a key role in strengthening the resilience of social, economic and environmental systems in the face of change. Equally, sustainable and equitable water management needs research that is fully engaged with communities to ensure that novel solutions are developed at the appropriate scale to meet specific needs, and so provides an excellent example of the need for research institutions to work with, in and for their communities.
RECIRCULATE is underpinned by four interlinked research areas: (i) water for sanitation and health; (ii) water for food production; (iiii) water for energy production, and (iv) water, pathogens and health. A fifth area of work integrates each of these work packages areas and focusses specifically on microbiology and the need to create new ways to reduce the impact of water-borne disease on vulnerable populations.
The RECIRCULATE work plan integrating both research and capacity building across environmental science, biomedicine, engineering, management and knowledge exchange with external stakeholders will support high quality research partnerships to establish the systems necessary to move from research to sustainable development solutions and in so doing support the long-term transition of Ghana and Nigeria from resource to knowledge economies.
The vision, objectives and strategy for RECIRCULATE emerge from Lancaster's deep engagement with researchers and research users in sub-Saharan Africa. Africa is a strategic priority for Lancaster which is currently the only UK University to have a campus on the continent. With our partners Trans-National Education (TNE) we have invested in excess of £5M to establish our Ghana campus ("LU Ghana" opened in 2013 and now supports 450 students). Lancaster University is committed to grow LU Ghana as a research base, and are about to purchase an additional 6ha of land for a larger campus that will include laboratory facilities for engineering and environmental sciences.
In addition to our long-standing partnership building in Ghana and Nigeria, Lancaster University has grown national leadership in eco-innovation - innovation supporting both business growth and the environment. It has the capacity to translate high quality research into "real world impacts" as demonstrated by Lancaster's double award-winning Centre for Global Eco-innovation (CGE) http://www.globalecoinnovation.org . CGE has demonstrated that eco-innovation can deliver positive benefits to both the economy and the environment and is fundamentally underpinned by the need for end-user driven research. At the heart of our eco-innovation vision for Africa is the needs to promote medium-to-long term economic growth that is both resilient to future climate and where possible able to mitigate the impact of environmental change.
Informed by our experience and that of our core partners in Ghana and Nigeria, RESILIENCE focuses on the overarching need for a safer circular water economy that is research driven but community-led. Sustainable, equitable and community-appropriate management of water plays a key role in strengthening the resilience of social, economic and environmental systems in the face of change. Equally, sustainable and equitable water management needs research that is fully engaged with communities to ensure that novel solutions are developed at the appropriate scale to meet specific needs, and so provides an excellent example of the need for research institutions to work with, in and for their communities.
RECIRCULATE is underpinned by four interlinked research areas: (i) water for sanitation and health; (ii) water for food production; (iiii) water for energy production, and (iv) water, pathogens and health. A fifth area of work integrates each of these work packages areas and focusses specifically on microbiology and the need to create new ways to reduce the impact of water-borne disease on vulnerable populations.
The RECIRCULATE work plan integrating both research and capacity building across environmental science, biomedicine, engineering, management and knowledge exchange with external stakeholders will support high quality research partnerships to establish the systems necessary to move from research to sustainable development solutions and in so doing support the long-term transition of Ghana and Nigeria from resource to knowledge economies.
Planned Impact
Working with African is a strategic priority for Lancaster University and is currently the only UK University to have a campus on the continent. Lancaster University has strong research links with partners in several African countries beyond our Ghana campus, including Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania and Ethiopia.
Who might benefit from this research?
Phase 1 partners in Ghana (CSIR and LU Ghana) and Nigeria (UniBen) represent our core West African partners for this project as we have worked with them extensively in the past. The capacity building aspects of our project and need to expand the model also demands a need to engage with a wider geographical spread of pan-African hubs. We have four Phase 2 partners: Copperbelt University (Zambia), BIUST (Botswana), ATPS (Kenya) and NCST(Malawi) who will commit time to support Level 1 training in research engagement and innovation. The development of these links builds on our award winning Centre for Global Eco-innovation and our newly formed Centre for Global Eco-innovation (Nigeria).
Influencing local and national policy makers is key to expanding the impact of our pilot. At the local level, we will engage with government representatives for water management during our research and invite their participation in local stakeholder workshops. Nationally, we will engage at ministerial and advisory levels throughout the project via our Steering Group and at our final dissemination conference, pan-African media coverage via our communication partner TNE and their integrated businesses at Forbes Africa and CNBC Africa, and by communication of academic and policy findings through research outputs, social and web-based media. Internationally, BBC World Service broadcasts, press articles and electronic policy briefings will also disseminate our findings. Through pilot projects, we expect that African communities and businesses not initially involved in the research may also become engaged and benefit.
How they will benefit from the research?
In order to achieve the anticipated impact from this project we must demonstrate that through working collaboratively, academic partners will have the capacity to bring a vital community engagement strength to their research, building in 'impact' from the start, something that is not currently done. We are co-developing a model of working through the research lens around water, a critical resource that connects and underpins many sustainable development challenges. Our strategy to build capacity and capability and to model new ways of working across sectors is fundamentally interdisciplinary. In addition to developing new models of collaborative working, partners will also gain knowledge on the core challenge of sustainable management of water resources for a wide range of uses. This will be interrogated under a number of different lenses including natural, social and management sciences.
Through our communications with policy makers at both national and international level we aim to influence country level strategies for Ghana and Nigeria in two main ways: 1) we will help shape the debate on the need for new models of academic engagement with industry and other non-academic groups and show that by co-designing research this will create and support the required research infrastructure for sustainable, inclusive economic growth and innovation and 2) through our research focus on water, relevant agencies will be interested in the findings of our pilot projects.
Local communities and businesses in Ghana and Nigeria have the potential to benefit in 2 ways: 1) directly through the implementation of new innovations around water supply, treatment and recycling, or the perceived need for innovation following research results in this area and 2) indirectly through the closer relationship between academic and non-academic partners leading to more robust and impactful research in a broad range of areas in the future.
Who might benefit from this research?
Phase 1 partners in Ghana (CSIR and LU Ghana) and Nigeria (UniBen) represent our core West African partners for this project as we have worked with them extensively in the past. The capacity building aspects of our project and need to expand the model also demands a need to engage with a wider geographical spread of pan-African hubs. We have four Phase 2 partners: Copperbelt University (Zambia), BIUST (Botswana), ATPS (Kenya) and NCST(Malawi) who will commit time to support Level 1 training in research engagement and innovation. The development of these links builds on our award winning Centre for Global Eco-innovation and our newly formed Centre for Global Eco-innovation (Nigeria).
Influencing local and national policy makers is key to expanding the impact of our pilot. At the local level, we will engage with government representatives for water management during our research and invite their participation in local stakeholder workshops. Nationally, we will engage at ministerial and advisory levels throughout the project via our Steering Group and at our final dissemination conference, pan-African media coverage via our communication partner TNE and their integrated businesses at Forbes Africa and CNBC Africa, and by communication of academic and policy findings through research outputs, social and web-based media. Internationally, BBC World Service broadcasts, press articles and electronic policy briefings will also disseminate our findings. Through pilot projects, we expect that African communities and businesses not initially involved in the research may also become engaged and benefit.
How they will benefit from the research?
In order to achieve the anticipated impact from this project we must demonstrate that through working collaboratively, academic partners will have the capacity to bring a vital community engagement strength to their research, building in 'impact' from the start, something that is not currently done. We are co-developing a model of working through the research lens around water, a critical resource that connects and underpins many sustainable development challenges. Our strategy to build capacity and capability and to model new ways of working across sectors is fundamentally interdisciplinary. In addition to developing new models of collaborative working, partners will also gain knowledge on the core challenge of sustainable management of water resources for a wide range of uses. This will be interrogated under a number of different lenses including natural, social and management sciences.
Through our communications with policy makers at both national and international level we aim to influence country level strategies for Ghana and Nigeria in two main ways: 1) we will help shape the debate on the need for new models of academic engagement with industry and other non-academic groups and show that by co-designing research this will create and support the required research infrastructure for sustainable, inclusive economic growth and innovation and 2) through our research focus on water, relevant agencies will be interested in the findings of our pilot projects.
Local communities and businesses in Ghana and Nigeria have the potential to benefit in 2 ways: 1) directly through the implementation of new innovations around water supply, treatment and recycling, or the perceived need for innovation following research results in this area and 2) indirectly through the closer relationship between academic and non-academic partners leading to more robust and impactful research in a broad range of areas in the future.
Organisations
- Lancaster University (Lead Research Organisation)
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Co-funder)
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Co-funder)
- University of Benin (Collaboration)
- Umar Bun Hatab (UBH) Islamic School (Collaboration)
- University of Cape Coast (Collaboration)
- WATERAID (Collaboration)
- New University of Lisbon (Collaboration)
- Council for Scientific and Industrial Research - Ghana (Collaboration)
- Blue Skies Holdings Ltd (Collaboration)
- Ghana Standards Authority (Collaboration)
- Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (Collaboration)
- Bomarts Farms Limited (Collaboration)
- Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Ghana (Collaboration)
- KENYATTA UNIVERSITY (Collaboration)
- Jekora Ventures Ltd (Collaboration)
- National Commission for Science and Technology, Malawi (Collaboration)
- HATOF Foundation (Collaboration)
- Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (Collaboration)
- Government of Ghana (Collaboration)
- African Technology Policy Studies Network (Collaboration)
- Government of Nigeria (Collaboration)
- The Botswana International University of Science & Technology (Collaboration)
- Copperbelt University (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (Collaboration)
- GreenAd Ghana (Collaboration)
- Africa Innovations Institute (Collaboration)
- Sewerage Systems Ghana Limited (Collaboration)
- United Nations University (Collaboration)
- Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) (Collaboration)
- UN Habitat Global Urban Observatory (Collaboration)
- Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (Collaboration)
- EDEL Technology Consulting (Collaboration)
- HuiHui Food Ltd (Collaboration)
- Centre for Science and Environment (Collaboration)
- National Commission Science & Technology (Project Partner)
- African Tech Policy Studies Network (Project Partner)
- Botswana International Uni of Sci & Tech (Project Partner)
Publications
Ajieh M
(2021)
Assessment of sociocultural acceptability of biogas from faecal waste as an alternative energy source in selected areas of Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria
in Environment, Development and Sustainability
Fagbohungbe M
(2019)
Co-fermentation of whey permeates and cattle slurry using a partitioned up-flow anaerobic digestion tank
in Energy
Fagbohungbe M.O.
Effects of acidogenic anaerobic digestion on digestate nutrient stability and availability.
in Environmental Technology and Innovation
Fagbohungbe M.O.
Increasing Value Recovery from Brewery Spent Grain Using Mushroom Waste
in Renewable Energy
Fagbohungbe MO
(2017)
The challenges of anaerobic digestion and the role of biochar in optimizing anaerobic digestion.
in Waste management (New York, N.Y.)
Fatunla K
(2017)
Influence of composting and thermal processing on the survival of microbial pathogens and nutritional status of Nigeria sewage sludge
in International Journal of Recycling of Organic Waste in Agriculture
Gandhi B
(2022)
Kinetic investigations into the effect of inoculum to substrate ratio on batch anaerobic digestion of simulated food waste
in Renewable Energy
Garrido-Moreno A
(2020)
Social Media use and value creation in the digital landscape: a dynamic-capabilities perspective
in Journal of Service Management
Ibeto C
(2019)
The Nutritional Effects of Digested and Undigested Organic Wastes Combined with Wood Ash Amendments on Carrot Plants
in Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition
Isagba E
(2023)
Assessment of Anaerobic Digestate Amended with Wood Ash and Green Vegetable Matter and Impacts on Microbial Growth
in Waste and Biomass Valorization
| Description | Bearing in mind the aims of the GCRF "Grow" call, the key findings have been more related to beginning to understand how "innovation ecosystems" might work in countries in sub-Saharan Africa. To date much of that relates to capacity and capability building (covered elsewhere in our ResearchFish return), especially around the development of the research and building effective networks between researchers and research users. Key findings are summarised below: Workpackage (WP) 1 - Entrepreneurship & Innovation has completed all planned workshops and collected data from each. The integrating research projects were the first to be established across the whole partnership and SETA (Stimulating Entrepreneurial Thinking in Africa) has exceeded expectations, WINA (Women Innovators Network for Africa) has been established and continues to develop and FITA (Fostering Innovation and Technology in Africa) has not gained traction as planned and the research team have decided to concentrate resources from this onto the other two focus areas. A change in leadership in WP1 strengthened the focus on interaction with the other WPs. Research has built upon RECIRCULATE / ACTUATE demonstrator projects to explore business models that underpin successful anaerobic digestor implementation within sub-Saharan African nations, the results of which have fed into the outputs of Work Package 4, and have been integrated into the business planning for future AD implementations. Further research with our African partners has explored innovative business models around the waste-energy-food nexus, highlighting 'brightspots' of innovation within sub-Saharan African nations. The purpose of this research has been to a) create awareness around the variety of innovative and sustainability focused business models, often based on multi-stakeholder collaborations, and b) to create awareness of sustainability innovations and entrepreneurial thinking that rarely receives attention outside of local regional contexts, and c) to provide an inspiration for future entrepreneurs to think creatively not only in terms of sustainability focused products and services that contribute to providing solutions to key challenges in the water-energy nexus. In parallel to work on exploring varieties of innovations and innovative business models, Work Package 1 has also extended SETA to 'Stimulating Entrepreneurial Thinking for Scientists (SETS)' and 'Stimulating Entrepreneurial Thinking for Students', both as digital training platforms. These tools support research institutions across Africa can engage researchers and academics in discussions around extending impact from research to provide clear and effective solutions to local and regional challenges, as well as engaging students in a) understanding the application of entrepreneurial thinking for creative solutions to local problems, and b) developing skills for employability that meet the needs of local and regional industry. Underpinning SETS for scientists and students is to engender cultures of collaborations between academia, industry, policy, and communities, working not only towards ideas based on the Quadruple Helix tailored to a variety of African contexts (African Academy of Science, 2020), but also working towards overcoming barriers of funding and income that besets many African institutions in achieving wider societal goals (and linking very much to ideas around Entrepreneurial Universities that is gaining ground in research institutions and Universities across sub-Saharan Africa, e.g. BIUST, Ghana University, Kenyatta University). These areas have been developed with our African partners, and workshops have been delivered in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya, with a view to extending this to institutions in Malawi, Zambia and Botswana, before July 2022. This is crucial for the acceptance and implementation of innovative thinking in the safe circular water economy partner institutions, our wider stakeholder network and the communities who are impacted, as well as creating the potential for longer-term impact and legacy from the RECIRCULATE and ACTUATE projects. There have been five publications arising from the research from the work package. Workpackage 2 - Water for Health & Sanitation has carried out extensive engagement work in two low income communities and collected considerable amounts of high-definition baseline data through surveys, questionnaires, monitoring, GIS and drone use. They have completed system assessments, identifying and filling data gaps in these assessments, finalised technical and behavioural change intervention strategies and a process documentation protocol. With colleagues in WP4 through the ACTUATE project, an anaerobic digester demonstrator has been built, commissioned and operationalised at the Umar Bun Hatab Basic Islamic School in Madina Zongo in Accra. The building of the demonstrator has led to participation and acceptance of WASH and the waste to energy paradigm by the students and their families, the teachers, community and religious leaders and the wider community within Madina Zongo. Further, the school has become an educational hub to which other schools bring their students and teachers to learn and embrace the safe circular water economy. We have successfully intervened in one community and used the other as a control. We have shown that the drains repair has significantly improved the drain content compared to the community with no intervention. We have monitored diarrhoea in under 5 children in both communities and are awaiting the analysis of these results. We repaired and built new toilets, engaged the community in environmental clean-up and drain clearance by providing skips to transport waste. We have de-sludged the toilets. We have engaged adolescent change agents on the whole journey culminating in a drama presented and written by them based on their new learnings and our results. The community engagement has been significant in the clean-up, acceptance of the project, the tea shop discussions and the project as a whole. Workpackage 3 - Water for Food Production has successfully completed trials of tomato, maize and rice growth in Lancaster and Ghana with 2 peer-reviewed papers and one book chapter published, and 1 conference proceedings paper accepted. The CSIR Crop Research Institute team have also trained teams from Water Research Institute and the Institute for Industrial Research to establish field trials on their sites. The CSIR teams have also held open days for local farmers and established field trials in two communities. The final year of the project has seen extensive engagement with farmers in multiple regions of Ghana with CSIR staff showcasing the technologies as a prelude to their wider introduction beyond the regions where CSIR staff are based. The project has shown successful demonstrations that crops can be grown with less water than farmers currently utilise allows farmers to save irrigation (energy & labour) costs, making enterprises more profitable. Further, there have also been successful demonstrations that crops fertilised with anaerobic digestate yield at least as well as crops grown with synthetic fertilisers will save farmers money, given the relative costs of anaerobic digestate versus synthetic fertiliser per unit of nitrogen. Workpackage 4 - Water for Energy Production Lab experiments in Lancaster and demonstrators in Benin have created and tested a functional portable digester, produced, quantified and analysed biogas from food waste and cattle rumen, determined optimal co-digestion ratios and measured microbial population of each feedstock. The team have published a paper on sociocultural acceptability of biogas from faecal waste in Environment, Development and Sustainability. Three other manuscripts have been submitted for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals. With colleagues in WP2 through the ACTUATE project, a full scale anaerobic digester demonstrator has been built, commissioned and operationalised at the Centre for Global Eco-innovation (CGE) Nigeria compound on the University of Benin (UniBen) campus. The demonstrator has been used to engage with school students from two schools on campus and undergraduate students in practical elements of their teaching, culminating in a 'waste-to-energy' competition. The team at UniBen have also worked closely with the university senior management, exploring the possibility of a business model which would lead to the installation of AD systems at other university campuses in Nigeria. The team have also worked closely with waste producers from around Benin City, most noticeably with abattoirs, to get the stakeholders to accept that waste is a resource, has value, and should not be thrown away. These stakeholders, together with academic staff households and food outlets on the University of Benin campus are providing waste to 'feed' the anaerobic digester demonstrator, which is producing enough biogas to run a generator for 8 hr/day, from which the electricity is providing power for lighting in the CGE Nigeria building. Workpackage 5 - Water, pathogens & health, a network of 37 professionals in the field has been recruited and questionnaires have been distributed. The RECIRCULATE partnership have been successful in winning several grants associated with the project work: 1. Tsekleves et al (AH/T008482/1; 2020-2022). WASHable: Participatory design and community engagement Network on WASH in Lusophone and Francophone African Countries, £60,720. 2. Semple et al. GCRF Global Research Translation Award (EP/T015608/1; 2019-2021). Accelerating the adoption of circular sanitation demonstration systems for improved health outcomes (ACTUATE), £700,000. 3. Adebisi et al (ARUA - UKRI GCRF; ES/T003790/1, 2019- 2022). Partnership Programme for Capacity Building. Partnership, research and capacity-building for youth unemployment solutions in Africa. Based at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, £600,000. 4. Semple et al (British Council; RC000657; 2021 - 2021). Applying the power of digital co-design to stimulate entrepreneurial thinking in scientists, £ 39850. 5. Semple et al (British Council; RC000121; 2021 - 2022). Innovation for African Universities, £ 100000. Non-research findings Capacity-building has been central to RECIRCULATE with over 460 African academics/professionals trained from 14 African countries through physical face-to-face workshops, residencies at Lancaster University and physical regional annual symposia. The final residency period scheduled for summer 2021 had to be postponed due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and resources redirected at alternative provision. To maintain engagement with the training cohort we launched PARTICIPATE http://recirculate.global/participate/ , a structured online capacity strengthening programme in August 2020. We have delivered 20 PARTICIPATE webinars since August 2020. Each month takes a theme relevant to the project's research areas or cross-cutting topics such as women in research or research communication. Events are held on multiple platforms with interactive webinars typically attended by 50-100 participants. In total we have trained 1169 individuals via these webinars from partner institutions and their networks and stakeholder communities in Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Niger. Against a backdrop of sustained engagement with African stakeholders and participants interest in training in entrepreneurial thinking, we have been supported through the British Council-funded Digital University Africa programme in 2021 to conduct action research around the development of an exemplar digital training programme that will 'stimulate entrepreneurial thinking in scientists' (SETS) in Africa. We worked with 5 African partners (University of Benin (UNIBEN) in Nigeria, Igbinedion University in Nigeria (IUO), Lancaster University Ghana, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Ghana and Kenyatta University (KU) in Kenya) to undertake the scoping, co-design and piloting activities and are grateful for their enthusiastic support, contributions and insights. The development of the SETS Digital Place-Based Delivery Framework and accompanying Toolkit will empower institutions across Africa to develop their own entrepreneurial capacity as well as design their own programmes that create impactful collaborative solutions to place-based challenges. http://recirculate.global/sets/ A further £100,000 (RC000121) was secured recently from British Council in Sept 2021 under the 'Innovation for African Universities' call to co-develop the SETS work further and rollout the programme in partnership with British Council at a larger scale across more countries . |
| Exploitation Route | As noted above, progress to date is probably most useful to our project partners and their communities as they seek to build better relationships between research and research users to meet the challenges facing sub-Saharan Africa. For RECIRCULATE this is a key element of impact and all partners will work together to ensure that the learning obtained is shared with other researchers, research organisations and their communities. Our ambition to work in with and for communities and drive end-user driven research and innovation represents a key foundation for other capacity-building projects beyond those focussed on water. Wrapping knowledge exchange and co-design of research seems a vital prerequisite to building in impact from the start. We are focussing increasingly on developing online training material with partners which will help to ensure the legacy of our capacity-building for individuals and institutions. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Energy,Environment,Other |
| URL | http://recirculate.global |
| Description | 1. Societal and economic impact of the award on the DAC list country/countries. The impact of the research and capacity-building from RECIRCULATE has informed the development construction and operation of the two ACTUATE AD demonstrators in Accra and Benin City. Despite COVID pandemic restrictions throughout 2021 partners have been able to engage the community and the students with the demonstrators as planned. Both demonstrators are now constructed and being operated on the sites of two educational institutions: (i) a school in Accra, Ghana and (ii) a university campus in Benin City, Nigeria. Since April 2021, the partners in Ghana and Nigeria have been involved in numerous engagement activities. The purpose of these meetings was to engage the school and university students, parents community and wider stakeholders to highlight the benefits of this project, including waste management and the health and sanitation of the community. An important element was to show Ghanaians and Nigerians positive, working examples of anaerobic digestion as a sustainable waste to energy technology and to engender cultural change towards the acceptance of the circular economy paradigm, specifically the waste-energy-food nexus. Key highlights: In Ghana, the demonstrator biogas plant is utilizing food and other organic wastes, including faecal sludge generated in the school, to produce biogas and biofertilizer. The school has gained economic benefit by eliminating payment to waste management companies to lift waste from the school and dislodge faecal material from the septic tank. The aesthetic conditions in the school environment have improved with using the biofertilizer to grow ornamental plants thereby 'greening' the school environment. From educational and capacity building perspectives, the "show lab" is being used as a science resource center to train students in waste management and other science related topics. In training the students to manage, under supervision, the biogas demonstrator plant, equal opportunity is important with inclusion of male and female students. In Nigeria, a series of engagements with the wider community and key stakeholders have had significant impacts which are very tangible. In the first instance, there were a series of engagements with the primary and secondary school students on the University of Benin campus. As with the demonstrator at the school in Accra, it was important to expose the philosophy of the RECIRCULATE and ACTUATE projects to these young students and their teachers. The students were trained in sustainable waste management practices such as waste recycling, reuse and segregation. They were also exposed to principles of bioenergy, environmental sustainability and the circular economy with special focus on how bioenergy can be generated from waste materials in the context of a circular economy and how this can contribute to environmental sustainability. As a result, these students have become RECIRCULATE and ACTUATE ambassadors in their schools and have begun small scale waste segregation and sorting in their schools, publishing articles in the local press to advocate for waste reduction. These activities have been with the support of their teachers and administrators of the school. Undergraduate students of the University of Benin were also involved in the activities of the RECIRCULATE and ACTUATE projects. These students have also received training in the bioenergy space and have been under ongoing mentorship from members of the RECIRCULATE and ACTUATE team in the university. The impact has also been positive. Many of the students have carried out undergraduate research projects in bioenergy-related areas and many of them have also indicated interest and willingness to pursue careers in the bioenergy space. There are several possibilities on how the demonstrator outcomes may be taken forward: (i) In education to build understanding and acceptance of the circular economy (waste management-sustainable energy-food security nexus) in young people, which will support generational and cultural change; (ii) The adoption of anaerobic bioreactors in schools and universities in Ghana and Nigeria (iii) Development of new entrepreneurial business models to maximise the economic benefits locally, regionally and nationally. In addition to the impacts from numerous engagement sessions, there have been impacts derived from the projects at individual team member and institutional levels. On an individual level: • Improved skill and capacity in the design and optimisation of systems for sustainable resource recovery from waste • Improved research and teaching capability • Established partnerships and expanded networks with collaborators in academia, businesses and the wider community • Empowerment to engage in skills transfer for capacity building (training other trainers) within and outside the institution • Project. Ambassadors: equipped to carry on the message of sustainable eco-innovation On an institutional level: • Visibility created for University of Benin in the global community as host of the RECIRCULATE and ACTUATE projects • Strengthened relationship between Lancaster University and other partners in the project • Capacity building through training of trainers for knowledge transfer on sustainable resource recovery from waste • Opportunity for funded post-doctoral researchers • Opportunity for funded PhD projects • Opportunity for funded residency programme • Training of UNIBEN finance and admin personnel on best practices 2. How the award has addressed any of the Sustainable Development Goals. The fundamental development challenges linked to SDGs addressed by this project are • GCRF theme 6: Sustainable livelihoods supported by strong foundations and infrastructure for sustainable, inclusive economic growth and innovation. • GCRF theme 7: Resilience and action on short term environmental shocks and long term environmental change. • GCRF theme 4: Clean air, water and sanitation. These inter-linked challenges demand the interdisciplinary research approaches on which RECIRCULATE is founded and underpin the development of our impact on the ground specifically with the completed construction in 2021 of two demonstration facilities on the sites of educational institutions: (i) a school in Accra, Ghana and (ii) a university campus in Benin City, Nigeria. (see previous section), the former of which will help to contribute to SDG 4: Quality Education. The WP1 research on safer drinking water and improved sanitation impacts directly on SDG6: Clean Water and Sanitation and consequently SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being SDG 5: Gender Equality, with the focus on low-income urban communities addressing SDG 10: Reduced Inequality and SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. The empowerment of adolescent girls as agents of change has seen an demonstrable change in their confidence helping SDG 5: Gender Equality Since crop yields in Africa are often co-limited by lack of water / nutrients, successful implementation of the project technologies by subsistence farmers, with crop yields boosted relative to current practice, is likely to contribute towards SDG 2: Zero Hunger. Research on anaerobic digestion of waste to generate energy clearly contributes to SDG7: Affordable and Clean Energy, but will have associated impacts on SDG 13: Climate Action through reducing fossil fuel consumption. Work on entrepreneurship and innovation, particularly with a focus on eco-innovation will support achieving SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production and SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth. Furthermore, the WINA (Women Innovators Network for Africa) initiative will contribute to SDG 5: Gender Equality The project's guiding principles of co-design and co-delivery naturally align with SDG 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal, with many examples of North-South and South-South knowledge sharing between UK, Ghana, Nigeria, Botswana, Malawi, Kenya, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, India and beyond. 3. Provide details of any impacts related to gender that your award has had. Measures have been put in place to ensure equal and meaningful opportunities for people of different genders to be involved throughout the project. This includes the development of the project workpackages, the participants of the research and innovation, and the beneficiaries of the research and innovation. A key gender impacts of RECIRCULATE relates to the creation of the Women Innovators Network for Africa (WINA), an integrated research project that directly tackles SDG 1, 5, 10, 16, and SDGs 9, 17 indirectly. For SDG 5 specifically, WINA supports the United Nation's ambition to empower women and girls to reach their full potential, by ensuring that they have equal opportunities to those of men and boys. This includes putting in place key strategies that allows women who are involved in the RECIRCULATE project to have better access to paid employment, sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, and real decision-making power in public and private spheres - all of which are aimed to further ensuring that development is equitable and sustainable. The project has co-created this new network that has provided peer support (mentoring) and leadership support (coaching and training) for emerging female leaders across Africa, with a strong emphasis on the 6 RECIRCULATE partner countries - Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Malawi, Botswana and Zambia. Key successful events of this Women's Innovators Network for Africa (WINA) were: • SETS workshop for female entrepreneurs in the network • WINA official launch, Kitwe Zambia (04/2019) • WINA Breakfast Chat that brought together female entrepreneurial experts and start-ups to network and co-share knowledge • Research on market queens in Ghana as change agents of waste management. • WINA Leadership Brunch, Zambia (07/2019) • WINA Leadership Brunch, Botswana (06/2019) • WINA Country-based Ambassadors/ Power Ladies (02/2020) WINA organised The Woman, Her Mental Health, and Covid-19 to discuss and address the challenges and experiences of women in working from home. This follows suggesting evidence from research that the Covid-19 pandemic may reverse the global progress that has been achieved towards gender equality, particularly because of the impacts it has on gender roles. Overall, the activities of WINA are to address the gender issues affecting women, especially those concerning mental health, leadership, work-life balance, entrepreneurship, and research to development. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2020 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Energy,Environment,Healthcare |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
| Description | Accelerating the adoption of circular sanitation demonstration systems for improved health outcomes (ACTUATE) |
| Amount | £704,276 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/T015608/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2019 |
| End | 03/2021 |
| Description | Applying the power of digital co-design to stimulate entrepreneurial thinking in scientists |
| Amount | £39,850 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | RC000657 |
| Organisation | British Council |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2021 |
| End | 04/2021 |
| Description | GCRF AgriFood Africa Innovation Awards Round 2 |
| Amount | £40,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2022 |
| End | 08/2023 |
| Description | Innovation for African Universities |
| Amount | £100,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | RC000121 |
| Organisation | British Council |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2021 |
| End | 07/2022 |
| Description | International Opportunities Fund |
| Amount | £48,330 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | NE/R005230/1 |
| Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2018 |
| End | 01/2019 |
| Description | Technology Strategy Board: Agri-Tech Catalyst - Early Stage Feasibility |
| Amount | £54,188 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/R021619/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2018 |
| End | 03/2019 |
| Title | Reflective learning journal |
| Description | This tool was re-created by our team to bring the reflective element to onset of data collection. Other learning logs have been used in management studies, but ours was applied in a longitudinal way during a situated context and specific time frame, that of capacity building workshops in Africa. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | In a 4-year intervention we were able to identify the most impactful themes for each delegate, per workshop, per country. That baseline data fed and kept alive a complex data set allowing us to generate fresh insights over time. |
| Description | Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Ghana (RECIRCULATE residence) |
| Organisation | Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Ghana |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Ms Freda Opuku attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Ms Opuku applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where she worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Ms Opuku from the Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Ghana, along with approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Ms Opuku from the Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Ghana, brought a distinct policy perspective to the questions addressed by the project, complementing the business perspective of many other research users involved in the project. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | African Technology Policy Studies Network (Kenya) |
| Organisation | African Technology Policy Studies Network |
| Country | Kenya |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Mr Nicholas Ozor attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Mr Ozor applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where she worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Mr Nicholas Ozor, from African Technology Policy Studies Network, alongside approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Mr Nicholas Ozor, from African Technology Policy Studies Network, brought a distinct policy perspective to the questions addressed by the project, complementing the business perspective of many other research users. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Ashaiman Municipal Assembly, Ghana (RECIRCULATE residence) |
| Organisation | Government of Ghana |
| Department | Ashaiman Municipal Assembly |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Mr Patrick Tsigbey attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Mr Tsigbey applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where he worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Mr Tsigbey from the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly, Ghana, alongside approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Mr Tsigbey is an Environmental Health Technologist from the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly, Ghana. As a representative of the community 'on-the-ground' he brought a distinct local and practical perspective to one of the key questions addressed by the project, technical and behavioural approaches to managing sewage in informal communities, complementing the business perspective of many other research users. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Blue Skies Products Limited, Ghana (RECIRCULATE residence) |
| Organisation | Blue Skies Holdings Ltd |
| Department | Blue Sky Products (Ghana) Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Ms Joyce Tuakly attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Ms Tuakly applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where she worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Ms Tuakly from Blue Skies Products Limited, Ghana, alongside approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Ms Tuakly from Blue Skies Products Limited, Ghana, represents a key group of potential end-users for RECIRCULATE's research, food producers in West Africa. As a result, her inputs bring real focus to our research planning- vital to effective co-design and co-development of research. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Bomarts Farms Limitied, Ghana (RECIRCULATE residence) |
| Organisation | Bomarts Farms Limited |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Mr Richard Kwarteng attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Mr Kwarteng applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where he worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives |
| Collaborator Contribution | Mr Kwarteng from Bomarts Farms Limitied, Ghana, alongside approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Mr Kwarteng from Bomarts Farms, represents a key group of potential end-users for RECIRCULATE's research, the farmers in West Africa. As a result, his inputs bring real focus to our research planning- vital to effective co-design and co-development of research. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Botswana International University of Science and Technology |
| Organisation | The Botswana International University of Science & Technology |
| Country | Botswana |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Ms Naledi Kefitile attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Ms Kefitile applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where she worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Ms Kefitile, from the Botswana International University of Science and Technology, alongside approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Ms Kefitile, from the Botswana International University of Science and Technology, brought a distinct policy perspective to the questions addressed by the project, complementing the business perspective of many other research users. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Department of Biomedical Sciences University of Cape Coast, Ghana (RECIRCULATE residence) |
| Organisation | University of Cape Coast |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Dr Godwin Kwajye-Nuaka attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Dr Kwajye-Nuaka applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where he worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Kwajye-Nuaka from Department of Biomedical Sciences University of Cape Coast, alongside approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa |
| Impact | One of the core aims of RECIRCULATE, part of delivering capacity strengthening in our DAC partners, is supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research. While we focus especially on partnerships between researchers and research users, we have also recognized the need to strengthen partnerships between complementary research organisations, within country and between countries. While our project partners are the core element of that, we have also sought to broaden networks by involving other research organisations. Dr Kwajye-Nuaka from Department of Biomedical Sciences University of Cape Coast is one example of this. He brought 'in-Ghana' expertise in health-related microbiology, complementing the project's core expertise in microbiology, which has an environmental focus. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | EDEL Technology Consulting (RECIRCULATE residence) |
| Organisation | EDEL Technology Consulting |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Ms Ethel Cofie attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Ms Cofie applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where she worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Ms Acolor from UN Habitat, brought a distinct policy perspective to the questions addressed by the project, complementing the business perspective of many other research users., alongside approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Ms Ethel Cofie brought both a specific commercial interest in developing a 'Africa-centric' approach to the use of efficient drip irrigation (very closely linked to one of our core work-packages) and expertise in communicating research to a wider audience, a need strongly identified by our DAC partners. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | East Africa - Kenya |
| Organisation | Kenyatta University |
| Country | Kenya |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have developed a working relationship with colleagues at the Kenyatta University. This has led to the delivery of a workshop the circular economy and the waste-energy-food nexus, particularly on bioenergy and bioenergy residue use in agriculture. We aware now exploring workshop opportunities linked to the challenges and opportunities for academic-industry collaboration. Through the Centre for Global Eco-innovation at Lancaster University, we organised the Eco-I 19 conference, 19th - 20th September 2019. We invited colleagues from Kenyatta University to attend and present - www.globalecoinnovation.org/ecoi2019conference/. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Colleagues at the Kenyatta University have offered access to facilities to deliver the workshops. They have also accessed their stakeholder community networks as invitees to these workshops. Colleagues from Kenyatta University attended and presented at the Eco-I 19 conference, 19th - 20th September 2019; www.globalecoinnovation.org/ecoi2019conference/. |
| Impact | None as yet |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | East Africa - Uganda |
| Organisation | Africa Innovations Institute |
| Country | Uganda |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We have developed a working relationship with colleagues at AfrII in Kampala. This has led to the delivery of two workshops on circular economy and the waste-energy-food nexus, particularly on bioenergy and bioenergy residue use in agriculture in July and December 2019. We aware now exploring workshop opportunities linked to the challenges and opportunities for academic-industry collaboration through the model developed by the Centre for Global Eco-innovation art Lancaster University. We also invited members of AfrII to attend two RECIRCULATE workshops in February: (i) Knowledge Exchange and Engagement in Gaborone, Botswana and (ii) Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Nairobi, Kenya. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Colleagues at AfrII have offered access to facilities to deliver the workshops in Kampala. They have also made their stakeholder community networks available for attendance at the workshops in Kampala. These include researchers from Makerere University, colleagues from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Ugandan Government), and SMEs. |
| Impact | None as yet |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (RECIRCULATE residence) |
| Organisation | Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Ms Peggy Ama Donkor attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Ms Donkor applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where she worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Ms Donkor from Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, alongside approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Ms Peggy Donkor from Ghana Broadcasting Corporation brought expertise in communicating research to a wider, no-technical audience. This was a need strongly identified by our DAC partners as a vital first step in building better collaborations with the communities, including a wide range of research users. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (RECIRCULATE residence) |
| Organisation | Ghana Irrigation Development Authority |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Mr Eric Adu-Dankwa attended one of the project's training workshops. As a result he applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where he worked alongside colleagues from all RECIRCULATE partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Mr Eric Adu-Dankwar from Ghana Irrigation Development Authority, alongside approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Mr Eric Adu-Dankwar from Ghana Irrigation Development Authority brought a distinct local and 'on-the-ground' perspective to the questions addressed by the project, especially issues around making the most efficient use possible of irrigation water. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Ghana Standards Authority, Ghana (RECIRCULATE residence) |
| Organisation | Ghana Standards Authority |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Dr Paul Osei-Fosu attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Dr Osei-Fosu applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where he worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Osei-Fosu from Ghana Standards Authority, along with approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Dr Osei-Fosu from Ghana Standards Authority, brought a distinct policy perspective to the questions addressed by the project, complementing the business perspective of many other research users involved in the RECIRCULATE project. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Hui Hui Foods, Nigeria (RECIRCULATE residence) |
| Organisation | HuiHui Food Ltd |
| Country | Nigeria |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Mr Joseph Osagiobare attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Mr Osagiobare applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where he worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Mr Osagiobare from Hui Hui Foods, Nigeria, alongside approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Mr Osagiobare from Hui Hui Foods, Nigeria represents a key group of potential end-users for RECIRCULATE's research, food producers in West Africa. As a result, his inputs bring real focus to our research planning- vital to effective co-design and co-development of research. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Jekora Ventures Limited (RECIRCULATE residence) |
| Organisation | Jekora Ventures Ltd |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Ms Martha Adjoa Annan attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Ms Annan applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where she worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Ms Annan from Jekora Ventures Limited, alongside approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. As a representative of one of the major waste management companies in Ghana, Ms Annan from Jekora Ventures Limited brought a distinct 'hands-on' perspective to one of the key research questions in RECIRCULATE's broad aim to create a circular water economy. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | MEST Africa (RECIRCULATE residence) |
| Organisation | Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Mr Oluwatobi Lafinhan from MEST Africa (Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology) attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Mr Lafinhan successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where he worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Mr Lafinhan from MEST, along with approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Mr Lafinhan from MEST, brought a particular expertise in supporting entrepreneurship across Africa, complementing RECIRCULATE's UK-based expertise in research and training for entrepreneurship and innovation. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, Ghana - Knowledge exchange |
| Organisation | Government of Ghana |
| Department | Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, Ghana |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The Ministry of sanitation and water resources, Ghana (MSWR) is a new dedicated ministry created in Ghana to oversee water and sanitation service provisioning. The research team organised a round table discussion for all stakeholders in the sanitation and water sector in Accra, which fostered shared learning and gave the ministry first-hand information on the different agencies and organisations functioning in the sector. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The ministry has shared information on their current projects and has promised to share any relevant data that will enhance the efficiency of this project. |
| Impact | No substantive output yet |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency of Nigeria (RECIRCULATE residence) |
| Organisation | Government of Nigeria |
| Department | The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency |
| Country | Nigeria |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Ms Spanny Embiemu attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Ms Embiemu applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where she worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Ms Embiemu from the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency of Nigeria , alongside approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Ms Embiemu from the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency of Nigeria brought a distinct policy perspective to the questions addressed by the project, complementing the business perspective of many other research users. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | New collaboration between the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (Ghana ) and the Centre for Science and Environment (India) |
| Organisation | Centre for Science and Environment |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | One of the core aims of RECIRCULATE, part of delivering capacity strengthening in our DAC partners, is supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research. While we focus especially on partnerships between researchers and research users, we have also recognized the need to strengthen partnerships between complementary research organisations, within country and between countries. This is clearly consistent with the wider aim of the GCRF Grow call to stimulate international networks. Dr Manoj Roy, one of the RECIRCULATE co-investigators has shared his excellent links with the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) India with CSIR in Ghana (one of RECIRCULATE's phase 1 partners). This has led to a new, formal relationship between CSE and CSIR. |
| Collaborator Contribution | CSE bring great expertise and experience in solutions to the world-wide challenge of sanitation in informal communities. They have collaborated before with Dr Roy on projects based in Bangladesh and Tanzania. That previous, practical experience complements that of CSIR, and the collaboration now links CSIR in to a brand-new international network. |
| Impact | The new collaboration between CSE and CSIR has already led to (i) an MoU between CSE and CSIR, (ii) capacity building of four CSIR researchers - one researcher trained at CSE's School of Water and Sanitation, Delhi; and the three other trained at Cape Town University and (iii) an invited contribution on RECIRCULATE's capacity building model at the launch event of CSE's School of Water and Sanitation (Delhi). CSE supported all but one of these activities, making a cumulative financial contribution of about £8,000. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Nigerian Erosion and Watershed Management project (RECIRCULATE residence) |
| Organisation | Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project |
| Country | Nigeria |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Mr Tom Osaze Obaseki attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Mr Obaseki applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where he worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Mr Obaseki from the Nigerian Erosion and Watershed Management project, along with approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Mr Obaseki from the Nigerian Erosion and Watershed Management project, brought a perspective that straddles the practical implementation of water management schemes and the wider policy perspective. Both complement RECIRCULATE's research expertise, across all partners, in the science and social science of the circular water economy. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Nova University Lisbon - Global Health and Tropical Medicine |
| Organisation | New University of Lisbon |
| Country | Portugal |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | WP 1 team research on the social practice of collaboration led to other engagements with national, regional and international stakeholders as this Nova GHTM reflects. Data from Recirculate WP1 was presented and discussed. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This presentation was very well receive with this institution capturing learning and recommendations to apply within their own interdisciplinary partnerships with African countries. |
| Impact | Thematic Seminars with Postgraduate Students from Lusophone African countries Academic Writing Retreat Potential grant |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Our World International (Malawi) |
| Organisation | National Commission for Science and Technology, Malawi |
| Country | Malawi |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Mr Chiunjira attended one of the projects training workshops, held in Zambia. As a result Mr Chiunjira applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where he worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Mr .Chiunjira from Our World International (Malawi), alongside approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Mr .Chiunjira from Our World International (Malawi), brought a distinct waste management perspective to the questions addressed by the project, complementing the business perspective of many other research users. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Raw Materials Research and Development Council, Nigeria (RECIRCULATE residence) |
| Organisation | Government of Nigeria |
| Department | The Raw Materials Research and Development Council |
| Country | Nigeria |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Ms Hajara Yahaya Tanko attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Ms Tanko applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where she worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Ms Tanko from the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, Nigeria, along with approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Ms Tanko is Director of Planning and Policy Development at the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, Nigeria. From that perspective Ms Tanko brought particular West African expertise in 'technopreneurship' that maps very closely on tho the eco-innovation focus of RECIRCULATE. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Sewerage Systems Ghana Limited- Integrating Research Project |
| Organisation | Sewerage Systems Ghana Limited |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The research team is assessing the environmental and social benefits non-sewered sanitation facilities in Accra's low-income communities. We are creating space for collaboration among local institutions in Ghana to enhance sanitation service provisioning. The research team has signed a contractual agreement with - Sewerage Systems Ghana Limited (SSGL) and is providing oversight and scientific guidance to the collaboration. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Sewerage Systems Ghana Limited is a major liquid waste treatment company in Ghana. Their role in the collaboration is to develop and manage a micro digester to treat faecal matter that will be evacuated from our study site. The digestate from the faecal treatment plant will be applied to our demonstration farm to assess its nutritional use for vegetable cultivation. |
| Impact | There has not been output yet; the collaboration just began |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (RECIRCULATE residence) |
| Organisation | Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria |
| Country | Nigeria |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Mr Robert Owaiye attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Mr Owaiye applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where he worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Mr Owaiye from the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), alongside approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Mr Owaiye is Director for Planning, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation at the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN). As such he has helped map RECIRCULATE's research on to the needs of a key research-user community in West Africa. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Southern Africa - NCST |
| Organisation | National Commission for Science and Technology, Malawi |
| Country | Malawi |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We have developed a working relationship with colleagues at the National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST). This has led to the delivery of a workshop the circular economy and the waste-energy-food nexus, particularly on bioenergy and bioenergy residue use in agriculture, and the exploration of challenges and opportunities for academic-industry collaboration. Through the Centre for Global Eco-innovation at Lancaster University, we organised the Eco-I 19 conference, 19th - 20th September 2019. We invited colleagues from NCST to attend and present - www.globalecoinnovation.org/ecoi2019conference/. This collaboration has led to additional GCRF funding being awarded. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Colleagues at the National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST) have offered access to on-the-grounds facilities to host the workshop. They have also accessed their stakeholder community networks as invitees to these workshops. Colleagues from NCST attended and presented at the Eco-I 19 conference, 19th - 20th September 2019; www.globalecoinnovation.org/ecoi2019conference/. The team at the National Commission for Science and Technology is a partner in a GCRF - funded project. |
| Impact | None as yet |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | The Copperbelt University (Zambia) |
| Organisation | Copperbelt University |
| Country | Zambia |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Ms Busiku Sharlyn Kaunda attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Ms Kaunda applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where she worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Ms Kaunda from Copperbelt University, alongside approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Ms Kaunda from Copperbelt University, brought a distinct policy perspective to the questions addressed by the project, complementing the business perspective of many other research users. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | UN Habitat Ghana (RECIRCULATE residence) |
| Organisation | UN Habitat Global Urban Observatory |
| Department | UN Habitat Ghana |
| Country | Kenya |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Ms Dzifa Acolar attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Ms Acolor applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where she worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Ms Acolor from UN Habitat, alongside approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Ms Acolor from UN Habitat, brought a distinct policy perspective to the questions addressed by the project, complementing the business perspective of many other research users. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | United Nations University- Institute of Natural Resources in Africa (RECIRCULATE residence) |
| Organisation | United Nations University |
| Department | Institute for Natural Resources in Africa |
| Country | Japan |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | As part of RECIRCULATE's programme of capacity strengthening, especially building improved collaboration between our research partners in sub-Saharan Africa and their research-user communities, Dr Eric Twum attended one of the projects training workshops. As a result Dr Twum applied successfully for a residence at Lancaster, where he worked alongside colleagues from all partners, and a wide range of other research-user representatives |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Twum, from the United Nations University Institute of Natural Resources in Africa, worked alongside approximately 30 other 'research-user representatives' helped RECIRCULATE achieve its aim of building new partnership-based approaches to research in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Impact | The participation of representatives from the 'research user community' in RECIRCULATE is fundamental to the project. Firstly, it is self-evidently essential to the project's aim of supporting new, partnership-based approaches to research, where a key element of partnership is that between researchers and research users. Secondly, one outcome of these new partnerships is genuine co-design and co-development of RECIRCULATE's detailed research programme. Dr Twum is Policy fellow at the United Nations University Institute of Natural Resources in Africa. As such, he brought a distinct policy perspective to the questions addressed by the project, complementing the business perspective of many other research users. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Water Aid Bangladesh- Knowledge Exchange |
| Organisation | WaterAid |
| Department | WaterAid Bangladesh |
| Country | Bangladesh |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We sent researchers from Accra to Dhaka for knowledge exchange on behaviour change intervention design. This international knowledge exchange provided exposure to contextually different interventions to both partners. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Water Aid Bangladesh trained the team from Accra on the design of behaviour change communication strategy. This was highly beneficial to the team from Accra in designing the Action Research component of this project |
| Impact | Behaviour change community strategy for RECIRCULATE WP2 Action Research designed. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | West Africa - CSIR |
| Organisation | Council for Scientific and Industrial Research - Ghana |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We are actively working together with colleagues at CSIR on the design, building and commissioning of the anaerobic digestion demonstrator in Accra. We have an active research partnership with multiple researchers in CSIR through the GCRF funded RECIRCULATE project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Colleagues at CSIR are involved in on-going research through the GCRF funded RECIRCULATE project and in the design and building of the anaerobic demonstrator in Accra. |
| Impact | None as yet |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | West Africa - University of Benin |
| Organisation | University of Benin |
| Country | Nigeria |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have developed a working relationship with colleagues at the University of Benin (UniBEN). This has led to the delivery of a workshop the circular economy and the waste-energy-food nexus, particularly on bioenergy and bioenergy residue use in agriculture, and the exploration of challenges and opportunities for academic-industry collaboration. Through the Centre for Global Eco-innovation at Lancaster University, we organised the Eco-I 19 conference, 19th - 20th September 2019. We invited colleagues from UniBEN to attend and present - www.globalecoinnovation.org/ecoi2019conference/. This collaboration has led to additional GCRF funding being awarded. We are also actively working together with colleagues at the University of Benin on the design, building and commissioning of the anaerobic digestion demonstrator on the University of Benin campus. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Colleagues at the University of Benin have offered access to on-the-grounds facilities to host workshops. They have also accessed their stakeholder community networks as invitees to these workshops. Colleagues from UniBEN attended and presented at the Eco-I 19 conference, 19th - 20th September 2019; www.globalecoinnovation.org/ecoi2019conference/. The team at the University of Benin is a key partner in two GCRF - funded projects. Colleagues at the University of Benin are also involved in the design and building of the anaerobic demonstrator on the University of Benin campus. |
| Impact | None as yet |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | West Africa-Green Advocacy Ghana |
| Organisation | GreenAd Ghana |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We are actively working together with colleagues at Green Advocacy to promote the anaerobic digestion demonstrator and the uses of biogas in Accra. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Accra-based NGO Green Advocacy has been engaging with the teachers, pupils and their community to promote the bio-digester installed on their school grounds. in addition, they are also leading on the showlab work, where biogas uses will be shown to pupils. |
| Impact | The work on the showlab is underway. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | West Africa-HATOF foundation Ghana |
| Organisation | HATOF Foundation |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We are actively working together with HATOF Foundation Ghana to promote the anaerobic digestion demonstrator in Accra. |
| Collaborator Contribution | HATOF Foundation Accra Ghana have been active in promoting the ACTUATE project and the bio-digester concept. They have been engaging with the local community, private sector, civil society organizations, the Ministries, departments and agencies, the local Municipal Assembly to obtain acceptance and support of the project. |
| Impact | HATOF Foundation have run various engagement events and publicised the project widely. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | West Africa-Umar Bun Hatab Islamic school Accra Ghana |
| Organisation | Umar Bun Hatab (UBH) Islamic School |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are actively working together with colleagues at Umar Bun Hatab Islamic School Madinga Zongo, Accra, Ghana on the design, building and commissioning of the anaerobic digestion demonstrator. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The bio-digester is installed on the grounds of the Umar Bun Hatab Islamic School Madinga Zongo, Accra, Ghana. The teachers and the pupils will directly benefit from the biogas energy produced. The community which the school services will help provide the necessary feedstock. |
| Impact | The bio-digester is installed on the grounds of the Umar Bun Hatab Islamic School Madinga Zongo, Accra, Ghana. Once the bio-digester is operational we will be able to list outputs and outcomes. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | (2018) Innovative and Sustainable Business Development, Linkoping University, March. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to academics from the Business and Management group at Linkoping University. Audience included regional geographers, management scientists, organisational theorists and law faculty. During the presentation reference was made to the Recirculate project. This led to discussions around place and context and how we have witnessed a chance in perceptions towards understanding that place matters increasingly for entrepreneurship. This presentation also led to discussions about potential projects. One of these has now been successful awarded funding (6.5MSEK) through the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg (MMW) foundation. Project titled: Public Procurement of Functions - A Stepping Stone Towards a More Sustainable Future. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | (2018) REC Talk - Building sustainable entrepreneurship over time: The role of the university. Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This REC talk focused on the role of the university in building entrepreneurial ecosystems and was primarily based on the case of Lancaster University. This presentation was to academics based at Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden. During the presentation and discussion, Recirculate was mentioned and discussed. This talk fed into improving the research output accepted for publication (2019) in Small Business Economics titled Developing Local Entrepreneurial Ecosystems through Integrated Learning Initiatives: The Lancaster Case. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | A Social Entrepreneurship Visit at Halton Mill |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | A day out exploring different models of enterprise at Halton Mill with inspirational contributions from 40 delegates from West and East Africa working on issues related with eco-innovation and a safe circular water economy. Delegates showed curiosity and asked so many questions to the welcoming team, who guided us across the different spaces in the Mill - co-working, co-housing, the river and we had delicious vegan lunches in the cosy kitchen. This place is the ideal setting for the type of collaborative research we do, as we can see 'in practice' some of the 'eco-innovations' we know from the theory. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://www.recirculate.global/2018/07/a-social-entrepreneurship-day-at-halton-mill/ |
| Description | A talk at the LEC Water Science & Sustainable Catchments Summer Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was a talk we delivered at the Lancaster Environment Centre Water Science & Sustainable Catchments Summer Workshop. The talk provided a dimension of water use in communities rather than natural rivers which were the focus of all other talks. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | A talk on RECIRCULATE project at BRAC University, Bangladesh |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The talk was delivered at the Faculty of Architecture, BRAC University in Bangladesh. The purpose was to explain the journey of using adolescents as agents of change with regards to water, sanitation, and hygiene in low-income communities. Some of the adolescent girls were invited to the meeting to demonstrate how they communicate behaviour change to their mothers and aunties in the settlements. Colleagues from Accra who work on the RECIRCULATE project also presented their activities to the audience. The opportunity for young adolescents from low-income communities to speak at such an august gathering could have a lasting impact on their life course as they felt honoured and respected. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | ACTUATE training workshop for smallholder farmers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The Centre for Global Eco-Innovation at University of Benin in collaboration with Lancaster University and the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), the funders of the ACTUATE project, organised an ACTUATE Stakeholders Engagement/ Training Workshop for Small Holder Farmers on Resource Recovery from Waste on Friday, 28th May, 2021. One of the main objectives of ACTUATE is to construct working demonstrator anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities in both Ghana and Nigeria to process organic wastes, produce power and use the resulting digestate as a sustainable soil conditioner/fertilizer. One of the demonstrator biodigesters is located in the Ugbowo Campus of the University of Benin. The training workshop fulfils one of the core mandates of the ACTUATE project to work with stakeholders in order to positively highlight the technology as a credible option for the management of waste, the environment, bioenergy and soil/food security and develop safer practices within the stakeholder groups. The workshop also brings to the fore the importance of universities as strategic economic and development drivers in any region. Participants were smallholder farmers and students from the Faculties of Agriculture and Engineering. Declaring the occasion open, the ACTUATE Team Lead, Professor Lawrence Ikechukwu Ezemonye, who was represented by Prof. Christopher Emokaro, informed participants that the ACTUATE project recognized the importance of farmers in the project and that the workshop was organised to inspire farmers to adopt the use of digestates as a viable alternative to fertilizers. Participants also noted that the workshop was the much-needed catalyst to stimulate the interest of the students in bioenergy technology and the use of digestates. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://recirculate.global/2021/06/actuate-workshop/ |
| Description | Academic Writing retreat: Collaboratory for Developing an African Early Career Researcher Network |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A group of delegates applied the structured writing retreat methodology to advance their writing outputs. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | http://www.writingonthego.com |
| Description | Bio African Digital Convention 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Prof. Kirk Semple, Director of RECIRCULATE & ACTUATE, was invited to take part in BIO Africa Digital Convention 2021 on 23rd-24th August. This year`s theme was Advancing Africa's Biomanufacturing Value Chains Through Innovation and expressed the need for the African continent to manufacture its own biotechnology products rather than depend on other developed countries. This urgency for self-sufficiency was brought to light during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prof. Kirk Semple delivered a presentation under the track Internationalisation; Partnerships & Collaborations on topic Human resource development for Africa's manufacturing capability highlighting the impact of the RECIRCULATE & ACTUATE projects on Africa by showcasing their progress. The BIO Africa Digital Platform aims to foster a collaborative network and provide access to resources and information to support the bio-economy. A key objective of the platform is to provide a marketplace for innovations, ideas and biotechnology products that are geared to address the disruptions to global value chains. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://recirculate.global/2021/09/promotion-gcrf/ |
| Description | Bioenergy Workshop at the University of Benin, Nigeria |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Prof. Kirk T. Semple and Dr. Alfonso Lag (in collaboration with other colleagues) organised and delivered the 1st Bioenergy Workshop at the University of Benin, Nigeria as part of the AVAnD project and the International Opportunities Fund project, together with elements of the RECIRCULATE project. Discussion on different aspects of the resource recovery from organic wastes, anaerobic digestion, use of digestate as a soil conditioner and/or fertiliser in Edo State, Nigeria. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Bioenergy residue workshop in Malawi |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was the third 2-day meeting held at National Commission for Science and Tecnology (NCST), Lilongwe, Malawi. The first and second were held in Nigeria and Kenya, respectively. There will be a final meeting at Lancaster towards the end of 2019. This workshop aims to consider the following two broad components: (i) bioenergy (anaerobic digestion) and (ii) digestate as an alternative to inorganic fertiliser. (i) Bioenergy applicability and take up in Southern Africa ? Overview of bioenergy focusing on AD ? Feed-stock availability ? AD systems and technologies - fit for purpose ? Understand the limiting or inhibiting factors with bioenergy and AD take up in sub-Saharan Africa (ii) Application of digestate and digestate mixed with other materials to land ? to characterise the bioenergy waste streams and how the concept of blending different wastes can be effective as agricultural soil amendments to replace conventional inorganic fertilisers; ? to identify the relevant research knowledge gaps and research questions which are pertinent to sub-Saharan Africa; ? to scope agricultural policy regimes in different African countries, and how policies might be able to support subsidies, tax cuts, credit lines for agricultural amendments and resource recovery from waste and waste management in the agricultural sector; ? to scope the current fertiliser compositions, nutrient regimes of agricultural inputs, commercial analysis and supply chain of fertilizers so as to understand how to make the mixtures low cost and effective for the region; ? to consider how communities can be engaged to embrace the use of bioenergy residues as cheap and sustainable alternatives to expensive and environmentally damaging conventional inorganic fertilisers. The workshop was attended by academic researchers from NCST, the University of Malawi, Lilongwe University and several SMEs. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Bioenergy residue workshop in Uganda |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This workshop aims to consider the following two broad components: (i) bioenergy (anaerobic digestion) and (ii) digestate as an alternative to inorganic fertiliser. (i) Bioenergy applicability and take up in Southern Africa ? Overview of bioenergy focusing on AD ? Feed-stock availability ? AD systems and technologies - fit for purpose ? Understand the limiting or inhibiting factors with bioenergy and AD take up in sub-Saharan Africa (ii) Application of digestate and digestate mixed with other materials to land ? to characterise the bioenergy waste streams and how the concept of blending different wastes can be effective as agricultural soil amendments to replace conventional inorganic fertilisers; ? to identify the relevant research knowledge gaps and research questions which are pertinent to sub-Saharan Africa; ? to scope agricultural policy regimes in different African countries, and how policies might be able to support subsidies, tax cuts, credit lines for agricultural amendments and resource recovery from waste and waste management in the agricultural sector; ? to scope the current fertiliser compositions, nutrient regimes of agricultural inputs, commercial analysis and supply chain of fertilizers so as to understand how to make the mixtures low cost and effective for the region; ? to consider how communities can be engaged to embrace the use of bioenergy residues as cheap and sustainable alternatives to expensive and environmentally damaging conventional inorganic fertilisers. The workshop was attended by academic researchers from AfrII, Makerere University, policy sector and several SMEs. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Blog on experiences from knowledge exchange in Dhaka |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The intended purpose is to share a reflection on best practices on water, sanitation, and hygiene from Bangladesh with people in other contexts |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Blogs on the ethics of safeguarding, interdisciplinary research involving microbiologist and social scientist, communicating research using adolescent change agents. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was a blog published on the project website and shared via social media handles such as Twitter and facebook. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://www.recirculate.global/2021/03/the-ethics-of-safeguarding-in-research-involving-vulnerable-po... |
| Description | Broadcast of panel discussion from RECIRCULATE Launch |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A 52-minute broadcast on CBNC Africa of a panel discussion at the RECIRCULATE Launch. The panel included: the Lancaster University Vice Chancellor, Prof. Mark E. Smith; the Vice Chancellor of University of Benin, Nigeria, Prof. F.F.O. Orumwense; the Director Genral of CSIR Ghana, Dr Victor Kwame Agyeman; and the Provost of Lancaster University Ghana; Prof. Tony Jarvis. The panellists disucssed "Research collaboration as a driver for change". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaMLiSScffk |
| Description | Broadcast of work package panel discussion from RECIRCULATE Launch |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A 4--minute broadcast of a panel discussion from the project launch in Ghana, with RECIRCULATE work package leaders exploring ways to drive eco-innovation in Africa through capacity building for a safe circular water economy. An example of how interdisciplinary co-designed research can solve pressing problems with water use and safety. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOt5h2Y14ho |
| Description | CNBC Africa broadcasts associated with RECIRCULATE |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | RECIRCULATE included a specific communications sub-contract with CNBC Africa, a TV channel with pan-African coverage. It's news programmes have an estimated weekly audience of 3.2 million. Its general programming has a particular, but not exclusive, focus on the business community. Our aim was to ensure that the project reached as wide an audience possible across Africa. The first broadcast emerging from this sub-contract was the following panel discussion, broadcast on June 7th 2018, and now available on the CNBC website https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2018/06/07/understanding-the-challenges-affecting-africas-water-economy/ We have no viewing figures for the broadcast, but members of the project have received many contacts as a result. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2018/06/07/understanding-the-challenges-affecting-africas-water-ec... |
| Description | COP26: Circular Solutions webinar- "How can eco-innovation deliver sustainable development in Africa?" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | In October 2021, the focus of our PARTICIPATE engagement was COP26 and more specifically circular solutions for Africa. On 21st October our COP26: Circular Solutions webinar posed the question "How can eco-innovation deliver sustainable development in Africa?" exploring African perspectives on the potential for eco-innovation. Moderated by Dr Akan Odon and the RECIRCULATE team, the webinar featured co-leaders of our workpackages "Entrepreneurship & Innovation", "Water for Health & Sanitation", "Water for Food Production" and "Water for Energy Production" from Ghana, Nigeria and the UK. Dr Francis Agyenim (RECIRCULATE "Health & Sanitation" workpackage co-lead and Director, CSIR - Institute of Industrial Research (IIR)) presented the journey of CSIR-IIR to sustainable development. He started his presentation with a climate risk assessment of Ghana and sectors affected by the climate change. He then briefly introduced the role of CSIR-IIR and the impact of the RECIRCULATE & ACTUATE projects on the country. Francis concluded his speech with an overview of key objectives and goals and future plans looking beyond the projects. Dr Patricia Oteng-Darko (Research Scientist, CSIR - Crops Research Institute (CRI)) started with a brief overview of the linear food system in Ghana highlighting the need for eco-innovation in transitioning to circularity. She then presented some of the advanced technologies that CSIR-CRI implemented over the years with regards to enhancing food production and water conservation. Patricia concluded her presentation with an emphasis on the importance of Africa to adopt eco-innovative technologies to drive sustainability and meet current environmental, health, economic and social needs. Dr Cynthia Forson (RECIRCULATE "Entrepreneurship & Innovation" workpackage co-lead and Deputy Provost at Lancaster University Ghana) presented how social sciences research in Africa can be engaged in eco-innovation. She started with an overview of the current eco-innovation strategies at Lancaster University Ghana highlighting the establishment of a new campus (October 2021) which will use solar energy and bio-digester and aims to plant 5 million trees across Ghana. She then introduced the importance of using a gender lens in understanding and reinforcing eco-innovation as a driver of sustainable development in Africa. Cynthia concluded her speech by linking the role of the RECIRCULATE project in creating women`s eco-innovation-related knowledge networks and the role of market queens in waste management in markets in Accra, Ghana. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://recirculate.global/2021/10/cop26-webinar/ |
| Description | Centre for Global Eco-Innovation: Eco-I conference - Innovation for Clean and Sustainable Growth (19th-20th September 2019) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Eco-I 2019 brings together academia, industry, and policy to share how recent research advances are driving eco-innovation across six key global challenges: energy, waste, food water, resource efficiency, and natural capital. Eco-Innovation is the development of new products, processes, and services which delivers positive environmental impact. It is a key mechanism for delivering changes required to respond to climate change and will support the global need to live within the limits of the planet. It has the power to decouple global economic growth from resource use and is fully consistent with delivering the UK Clean Growth Strategy. African colleagues from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Malawi involved in this NERC-funded IOF project were invited to attend and present at this conference. It also gave them an insight into how Lancaster is working with the private sector and policy makers through eco-innovation, particularly in the waste-sustainable energy-food security nexus. Beyond supporting the aims of this project, this project and associated workshops have stimulated discussions to explore funding through which we can continue to collaborate. One success is the funded ACTUATE project (EP/T015608/1), with three other project proposals currently under consideration. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | http://www.globalecoinnovation.org/ecoi2019conference/ |
| Description | Community and media engagement event in Accra, Ghana |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | On 27th April 2021, the "Water for Health & Sanitation" team in Ghana organised a community and media engagement event to highlight key activities being undertaken in the Gbegbeyise community and to donate hand washing facilities to enhance hygiene as part of the intervention package under the RECIRCULATE project. As part of the project activities, a general clean-up was undertaken at Gbegbeyise led by the project team members from CSIR, GreenAD and the members of the community in the morning prior to the launch. Key stakeholders who attended the programme included members of the media, the Chief and Queen mother of Gbegbeyise, community leaders & members, the Director of CSIR-IIR, the CEO of GreenAD and members of the research team. To wrap up the event, short speeches were delivered by the CEO of GreenAD and the Chief and Queen mother of Gbegbeyise who applauded the project and pledged their unflinching support for its success. To achieve optimum engagement and communication, the programme was run in the local language 'Ga'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://recirculate.global/2021/07/community-event-ghana/ |
| Description | Connecting the Unconnected-Informal toilets and a safe circular water economy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | An International Symposium focussed on the need to connect informal toilets to a safe circular water economy. The activities range from maintaining the technical integrity of the sanitation facilities, periodically collecting and safely treating the faecal matter, to a complementary suite of empowerment and capacity building initiatives. Success rests on co-producing solutions, working for and with people and across disciplines and scales. Innovative education pathways are needed to ensure that invisible faecal contamination is (metaphorically) 'made visible' to ordinary people, those tasked with water provision, and those with a mandate to set global agendas. This 'visibility' could: 1. be scientific, perhaps involving community youth and classroom experiments so that the next generation can then help educate parents, triggering social change 2. involve education through appropriate art or cultural practices 3. be turned into policy agenda for politicians, the media and civil society. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Dialogue between researchers farming communities and agriculture extension services in the periurban area of Kumasi (Ghana) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Dr. Stephen Yeboah (CRI-CSRI), Prof. Ian Dodd and Dr. Jaime Puértolas (Lancaster University) visited three farming communities in the periurban area of Kumasi (Ghana) in January 2018 to meet with representatives of those communities: 1. Donaso rice irrigation scheme located at Donaso in Ejisu-Juaben municipality. 2. An individual farmer with channels to irrigate tomato and pepper in the Dwaben municipality. 3. Yaw Nkrumah vegetable farms located at Dwaben municipality. The dialogue between farmers and researchers allowed knowing the real problems faced by farmers regarding water and nutrient management, which informed the co-designed research questions within the workpackage. A visit to extension officers of the Department of Agriculture branch at Ejsiu was useful to identify the mechanisms of knowledge transfer that can be implemented. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Engaging adolescent change agents (behaviour change communicators) in drinking water sampling and observing laboratory analysis of those water samples |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The engagement activity was to give the adolescent change agents an experiential knowledge of the contamination of drinking in the community. This was done by involving them in the sampling process to enable them to see where the water samples were taken from. The youngsters went along with the research team to the Water Research Institute lab to observe the levels of contamination in those water samples. This activity inspired the youngsters; some expressed their interest in studying science and becoming like the colleague who took them through the sampling and analysis process. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | http://www.recirculate.global/2020/11/gbegbeyise-participation/ |
| Description | Entrepreneurial family business visit to the Guild, |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | 45 delegates attended this thematic visit to the Guild organised by my work package. A family business model inspired them and the debate and reflection afterwards was powerful. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.theguild-carlisle.co.uk/ |
| Description | Formal RECIRCULATE launch event, Accra, Ghana |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The formal launch or the RECIRCULATE project was held in Accra Ghana on 20th September 2018. Approximately 100 delegates attended the event, of which just under half were from the "research user communities" of our research partners in DAC listed countries. Delegates were primarily from Nigeria and Ghana, the home countries of our Phase 1 partners. However, representatives of our Phase 2 partners in Botswana, Zambia, Malawi and Kenya also attended. The launch included two panel session. The first focused on the core research topics of the project, and the panel members being project co-Is from all Phase 1 partners. the second panel, made up of the leaders of all four Phase 1 partners, focused on the institutional benefits of the RECIRCULATE project, i.e. the 'institutional capacity strengthening' that is a key objective of the project. Both panels were recorded by CNBC Africa, a TV channel with pan-African coverage. It's news programmes have an estimated weekly audience of 3.2 million. Its general programming has a particular, but not exclusive, focus on the business community. Our aim was to ensure that the project reached as wide an audience possible across Africa. We anticipate the CNBC Africa will broadcast at least the 'high-level' panel, as well as interviews with a range of participants in the event. We will upload the links to these broadcast to Researchfish as they become available. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | GCRF Institutional Briefing to Association of Commonwealth Universities |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | GCRF RECIRCULATE presentation of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Work Package as part of an institutional briefing with the Chief Executive and the Head of Membership at the Association of Commonwealth Universities on 21 January 2020 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Ghana Television (GTV) documentary |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A short documentary commissiioned by CSIR Institute for Industrial Research was produced by Meged Productions introducing the RECIRCULATE project activity in Ghana and particularly the work being led by CSIR. The film has been broadcast on Ghana Television (GTV) and is being hosted on the CSIR-IIR website. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T249bUsYnY |
| Description | Ghanaian news articles on the RECIRCULATE project |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Members of the Lancaster RECIRCULATE team (Paul, Semple, Dodd, McKenna, Puertolas) attending a project research review at CSIR Crops Research Institute (Kumasi) were interviewed by Ghanaian media resulting in articles in the Ghanaian Times (a print newspaper dated 5th February, 2019) and on-line at 'Modern Ghana' (URL below). The article has since been re-published by other news sites including https://theworldnews.net/gh-news/lancaster-university-commends-csir-over-progress-of-research-projects. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.modernghana.com/news/914080/lancaster-university-commends-csir-over-progress-of-research... |
| Description | Industry Talk (2018) - Atlas Copco, Headquarters, Stockholm, Sweden, communication and innovation leads. Title of talk "Matters in Context: Context Matters" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | This talk took place with key innovation and communication managers of Atlas Copco, in Stockholm, Sweden. Atlas Copco is a world-leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions who are engaged in the innovative design and delivery of compressors, vacuum solutions and air treatment systems, construction equipment, power tools and assembly systems employing 39,000+ people and customers in more than 180 countries. The presentation and subsequent discussion mentioned the Recirculate project and how it was working on the ground in Africa and through focusing on the water and waste issues African countries faced was working to improve the lives and living conditions of members of society. The discussion led to the sharing of experiences and comparative ideas around how Atlas Copco was engaging with similar issues and how it was changing things through investment and innovation. This helped to widen my understanding of the work large organisations are doing through their business activities and what they were doing to engage with the UN's SDGs and help address World problems. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Industry talk: (2017) - SEB Bank, Head Office, Stockholm, Sweden, communication and innovation leads. Title of talk: "Matters in Context: Context Matters" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | This talk took place with key individuals and communication managers of SEB bank in Stockholm, Sweden. The discussion mentioned the Recirculate project and how it was working on the ground in Africa to improve the lives and living conditions of members of society. The discussion led to the sharing of experiences and ideas around what could be done to support entrepreneurs and those looking to start-up small businesses, especially immigrants and refugees who had entered Sweden. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Industry talk: (2017) - Stora Enso, Head Office, World Trade Centre, Stockholm, Sweden, communication. Title of talk: "Matters in Context: Context Matters" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | This talk took place with key individuals, influencers and communication managers of Stora Enso, in Stockholm, Sweden. Stora Enso is a leading provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions and paper globally employing 26,000+ people across its international network. The discussion mentioned the Recirculate project and how it was working on the ground in Africa to improve the lives and living conditions of members of society. The discussion led to the sharing of experiences and ideas around how people were treated in other parts of the World and the child labour issues the company had encountered in its operations in Pakistan, what this had meant to the business and how it had changed its culture and working practices. This helped to widen my understanding of the challenges organisations can face in operating in parts of the World, the situations they encounter and what this can mean for business activities. The discussion and presentation led to reflections on how the interests of this project worked alongside their understanding of Africa. This also led to a site visit to Falun, Sweden, so I could learn more about the forestry activities of the company and how they were working with the sustainability agenda and how they are addressing the UN's SDGs. It also has led to me being brought into the supervisory team for an Industrial PhD working with Stora Enso and supervised through Umea University and SLU, Uppsala, both Sweden. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | International Day of Women and Girls in Science |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | February 11 2022 we marked the UN's International Day of Women and Girls in Science and with the 7th International Day of Women and Girls in Science Assembly focusing on "Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Water Unites Us" by highlighting some of our RECIRCULATE researchers' articles and their fantastic contributions to a range of sciences. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | http://recirculate.global/2022/02/un-women-in-science/ |
| Description | International Impact Webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In January 2022, the focus of our PARTICIPATE engagement was around the project's impact and legacy, highlighting work from our researchers and academics. On 27th January our 'International Impact Webinar' asked the question - have the RECIRCULATE and ACTUATE Projects influenced the research agenda of young and early career researchers in Africa and what has been their experience? The webinar highlighted some key outputs of research and its impact and its potential legacy in Africa. Moderated by Dr Akan Odon and the RECIRCULATE team, the webinar featured speakers from Lancaster University Ghana, University of Benin and Lancaster University. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | http://recirculate.global/2022/01/impact-webinar/ |
| Description | Interview with Lancaster University VC about RECIRCULATE launch, broadcast on CNBC Africa |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | CNBC Africa is a TV channel with pan-African coverage. It's news programmes have an estimated weekly audience of 3.2 million. Its general programming has a particular, but not exclusive, focus on the business community. Our aim was to ensure that the project reached as wide an audience possible across Africa. CNBC Africa covered RECIRCULATE's formal launch event in Accra on 20th September 2018. They recorded a series of interviews to be broadcast as part of the general news coverage. This interview with the Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University (the link below) was broadcast on 25th September 2018 It is intended that other similar interviews will be broadcast over the coming days/weeks. We have listed "not aware of any impact" below, simply because this interview was only broadcast on 25th September. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2018/09/25/lancaster-university-uks-mark-smith-talks-on-partnershi... |
| Description | Interviews on ITV Good Morning from Benin City |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | University of Benin staff members Professor Chris Emokaro, Dr Isioma Tongo, Dr Ify Obuekwe and Dr Andrew Amenaghawon have appeared on Independent Television and Radio Nigeria's "Good Morning from Benin" programme to discuss the work of the RECIRCULATE project. They have raised awareness of the planned activities around the use of human, animal and food waste for the production of energy and agricultural fertilizers. In particular they addressed issues around public acceptance of the use of digestate in food production. A total of six Interviews have taken place between December 2017 and July 2018 in both English and Pidgin English to increase reach. They provided contact details to the public. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://youtu.be/Cbc36Z65pdw |
| Description | Investment and RECIRCULATE summit at University of Benin |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | University of Benin (UniBEN), one of RECIRCULATE's phase 1 partners, organised an "Investment and RECIRCULATE summit" (6th-7th June 2018) that brought leading figures from Nigeria's research user community to UniBEN to discuss how to improve collaboration between academic research and research users in the community. Attendees including the Governor of Abia State as well as representatives of Edo state and many sectors of Nigeria's business community. This was the first time that UniBEN had been in a position to organise and host such an event, and this was possible because of their participation in RECIRCULATE. RECIRCULATE team members from UniBEN and Lancaster contributed. Clearly, the event was not an end in itself, but is intended as a first step in UniBEN raising additional investment for 'eco-innovation' from internal, Nigerian sources. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Keynote: (2018) Building entrepreneurship in regions through social incubation and 'engaged universities': The relevance of learning and context for growth, 21st Uddevalla Symposium, Lulea, Sweden |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Through this keynote, the work of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy, LUMS, LU has to build and develop entrepreneurial ecosystems was presented. This work built on earlier keynotes, talks and presentations that have been delivered around the "Matters in Context: Context Matters" which fed into the design of WP1. The work was presented to academics from across the World. It helped to inform the article accepted by Small Business Economics (2019) titled Developing Local Entrepreneurial Ecosystems through Integrated Learning Initiatives: The Lancaster Case, Pugh, R. Soetanto, D., Jack, S. and Hamilton, E and the article published in the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research (2019) titled The University as an Entrepreneurial Learning Space: The role of socialized learning by Williams Middleton, K., Padilla-Meléndez, A., Quesada Pallarès, C.,Lockett, N. and Jack, S.L. The Small Business Economics paper also included publication of the Integrated Learning Model which informed the ongoing work the Department does around knowledge exchange. Both these papers informed the design of WP1, the subsequent workshops led by WP1 and the ongoing academic work and date gathering for WP1. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Lancaster University Ghana Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 200 participants attended LUG conference of Recirculate work package Entrepreneurship and Innovation with the purposes of disseminating the impact of the project across Ghanaian stakeholders. Main topics covered included evidence from the SETS Capacity Building Activities, Spotlighting Women in Innovation: WINA Project, PROJECT IMPACT STORIES, and Impact on Policy |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Lecture entitled Plug & Play Entrepreneurship: RECIRCULATEÂ Driving eco-innovation in Africa: capacity-building for a safe, circular water economy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Lecturer to 70 postgraduate students on CL994 "Circular Economy and Transformations Towards Sustainability" module at Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Strathclyde |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.strath.ac.uk/engineering/civilenvironmentalengineering/studywithus/postgraduate/ |
| Description | Lecture: (2018) ESBRI - Estrad Lecture - What's the point - can entrepreneurship research have an impact on its communities? Stockholm, Sweden |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Through this talk, the work of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy, LUMS, LU was doing to build and develop entrepreneurial ecosystems was presented. This work built on earlier keynotes, talks and presentations that had been delivered around the "Matters in Context: Context Matters" which fed into the design of WP1. The work was presented to policymakers, academics, business organisations from across Sweden in Stockholm. It helped to inform the article accepted by Small Business Economics (2019) titled Developing Local Entrepreneurial Ecosystems through Integrated Learning Initiatives: The Lancaster Case, Pugh, R. Soetanto, D., Jack, S. and Hamilton, E. It also included publication of the Integrated Learning Model which informed the ongoing work the Department does around knowledge exchange and which informed the design of WP1 and the subsequent workshops led by WP1. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | News interviews on CNBC Africa |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | RECIRCULATE included a specific communications sub-contract with CNBC Africa, a TV channel with pan-African coverage. It's news programmes have an estimated weekly audience of 3.2 million. Its general programming has a particular, but not exclusive, focus on the business community. Our aim was to ensure that the project reached as wide an audience possible across Africa. As part of this contract, CNBC Africa covered RECIRCULATE's formal launch event in Accra on 20th September 2018. They recorded a series of interviews to be broadcast as part of the general news coverage. The first to be broadcast (24th September 2018) is that with RECIRCULATE's programme director, Prof Nigel Paul, the link below. It is intended that other similar interviews will be broadcast over the coming days/weeks. In addition, CNBC Africa recorded two panel sessions, one consisting of the project co-Is and focused on the technical aspects of the project, the other consisting of the leaders of your phase 1 partners: the vice-chancellors of University of Benin and Lancaster university, the provost of LU Ghana and the Director general of CSIR. Details of these broadcasts will be up-loaded to ResearchFish as soon as they are available. Note that we have entered "not aware of any impact" simply because this interview was only broadcast on 24th September. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuds64EUVcs |
| Description | Nova University of Lisbon Global Health and Tropical Medicine |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 50 researchers and academic staff attended for the presentation of a social practice view of collaboration, case study from RECIRCULATE co-design approach. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | PARTICIPATE with RECIRCULATE & ACTUATE - A Waste to Wealth Webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | In May 2021, the focus of our PARTICIPATE engagement was capacity building. On 6th May we held our Waste to Wealth Webinar which posed the question "Is converting waste to wealth feasible in Africa?", highlighted the progress of the ACTUATE Projects in Nigeria and Ghana and explored strategic partnerships for sustainability. Moderated by Dr Akan Odon and the RECIRCULATE team, the webinar featured specialists from Ghana, Nigeria and the UK. Each guest speaker shared an overview of the project followed by questions and interaction with the attendees. Professor Roger Pickup (Professor of Biomedicine and Life Sciences at Lancaster Environment Centre and RECIRCULATE/ACTUATE Health & Sanitation co-lead) set the scene by presenting the evolution of the ACTUATE project. He provided an overview of the progress of the project from since its beginning in September 2019. Roger also outlined the concept of the project its partners. Dr Mike Ajieh (AD Engineer, ACTUATE (UNIBEN) and Environmental and Energy Engineering Expert) expanded on the ACTUATE project concept and launch from the Nigeria perspective. He provided a detailed timeline of the project from its initial planning, site development, clearing and design to community engagement with different parties and organisations. Mike concluded his presentation with an overview of the project goals and next steps. Dr Richard Bayitse (Head of Industrial Processes and Research Division, CSIR, Ghana) presented an overview of the project from the Ghana perspective and outlined the key differences with Nigeria. He started with a list of the Ghana partners and project activities since its launch. Richard then shared a 3D model of the digester`s design and explained briefly the purpose of every part. He ended his presentation with a plan for future action which includes wide project media engagement and a documentary. Patience Agbedor (Research Scientist, CSIR, Ghana) followed up on Dr Richard`s presentation by presenting the social science aspect of the project. She showcased the activities completed from the platform creation and stakeholder engagement to media engagement and sensitization of students on the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://recirculate.global/2021/05/waste-to-wealth-webinar/ |
| Description | PARTICIPATE with RECIRCULATE & ACTUATE - An International Entrepreneurship Symposium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | In May 2021, the focus of our PARTICIPATE engagement was capacity building. On 20th May we held our International Entrepreneurship Symposium which showcased our Stimulating Entrepreneurial Thinking in Scientists (SETS) programme", exploring the opportunities in co-designing and co-developing an online entrepreneurship programme for African scientists and researchers. Moderated by Dr Akan Odon and the RECIRCULATE team, the webinar featured specialists from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and the UK. After a detailed overview of the SETS toolkit, each guest speaker from the panel shared their view on the programme followed by questions and interaction with the attendees. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://recirculate.global/2021/05/entrepreneurship-symposium/ |
| Description | PARTICIPATE with RECIRCULATE & ACTUATE - International Funding Webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | In March 2021, the focus of our PARTICIPATE engagement was funding, and more specifically research funding. On 29th March our International Funding Webinar answered the question "Can Africa fund its own research?" by exploring challenges and opportunities for "effective funding of research" in Africa and showcasing the principles for winning international funding. Moderated by Dr Akan Odon and the RECIRCULATE team, the webinar featured specialists from Ghana, the US and the UK. Each guest-speaker shared their expertise in funding followed by questions and group discussions with the attendees. Stan Deh (Retail Banking Manager, Stanbic Bank, Ghana) discussed sources of funding, different types of funding and common instruments available. He shared general guidelines on producing an effective funding proposal including common mistakes and identified possible investors. He then concluded his speech with a brief overview of the role of the government. Professor Jimmy Adegoke (Professor, University of Missouri-Kansas City, US & Former Consultant, Africa Development Bank) reflected on understanding the Green Climate Fund Agenda and future opportunities for African researchers. He identified six investment criteria against which research proposal are assessed and five financial instruments available to support your funding. He ended his presentation with recommendations how can researchers better position themselves for international funding success in Africa. Professor Kirk Semple (Director RECIRCULATE & ACTUATE, Lancaster University, UK) shared his personal journey into international collaboration and research and provided tips on winning international funding. He focused on the importance of partnership in building transformational projects and shared general guidelines on applying for international funding. He concluded his speech with an overview of key challenges in reaching a success. Dr Ruth Alcock (Head of Enterprise & Business Partnerships, Lancaster Environment Centre, UK) wrapped up the webinar by sharing her expertise in understanding resource mobilization and funding through private sector partnerships. She shared fundamentals of a healthy partnership and outlined the core principles built in the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation (CGE). She concluded her talk with an emphasis on networking and the importance of making the right connections. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://recirculate.global/2021/03/funding-webinar/ |
| Description | PARTICIPATE with RECIRCULATE & ACTUATE - International Partnerships Webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | In April 2021, the focus of our PARTICIPATE engagement was partnerships, and more specifically international partnerships and collaboration. On 28th April our International Partnerships Webinar posed the question "Why are international/African research and innovation partnerships challenging and can it be made better?" and explored challenges and opportunities for research & business partnerships in Africa. Moderated by Dr Akan Odon and the RECIRCULATE team, the webinar featured specialists from Uganda, Nigeria and the UK. Each guest speaker shared their expertise in managing strategic partnerships followed by questions and interaction with the attendees. Professor Steve Bradley (Deputy Vice Chancellor, Lancaster University, UK) discussed Lancaster University`s international objectives and international partnerships. Steve outlined some of the university`s international plans such as building a strong reputation overseas, internationalising the student experience, leveraging relations with geopolitically important and high quality institutions, and taking Lancaster "off campus". He showcased Lancaster University`s partnerships portfolio and concluded his presentation with a guidance on how to engage in transnational education and lessons learnt. Professor Simon Guy (Pro Vice Chancellor Global, Lancaster University, UK) reflected on the future of international partnerships at Lancaster University and "The Virtues of Digital". Simon provided an overview our Lancaster University`s strategic campus partnerships delivering degree programmes & growing research. He also identified the role digitalisation play in LU`s international strategy and concluded with an overview of the university`s future plans. Professor Lawrence Ezemonye (Nigerian Lead RECIRCULATE and Chair of Centre for Global Eco-Innovation University of Benin, Nigeria) shared his perspective on how academia can help industry to bridge "The Valley of Death". Lawrence provided a brief overview of the graduate unemployment crisis in Africa and identified the mismatch syndrome as one of the reasons - the mismatch between graduate skills and those required for employees in the modern workplace. He then explored the disconnect between academia and industry and the role of the government. He ended his presentation with a list of current actions to close the gap. Dr Felly Mugizi Tusiime (Head of Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability Program at Africa Innovations Institute (AFRII), Uganda) shared her experience and expertise in multi-layered research partnerships. Felly shared tips on how to establish and manage strategic partnerships and identified the role of the government in the academy-industry relationship. She also shared the story behind the successful commercialization of cassava and concluded with a list of AFRII`s partners. Maximus Ugwuoke (C40 City Adviser for Lagos, C40 Cities, Nigeria) provided a better understanding of the strategic partnerships between African countries on the big agenda of climate change. Maximus started his presentation with an introduction to C40 and the case for city climate action. He also explored the unique partnership model behind C40 and identified five leadership standards - commit and plan, accelerate transformational action, go together, inspire others, shift markets. He ended his talk with an overview of the challenges ahead of C40 and the achievements made so far. Dr Edu Inam (Director of International Centre for Energy and Environmental Sustainability Research (ICEESR), University of Uyo, Nigeria) explored challenges and opportunities in research-industry partnerships. Edu firstly provided a background of the ICEESR and its strategic partnerships with different organisations, amongst which was Lancaster University. She then explored existing opportunities and challenges using a SWOT analysis presenting strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats. She concluded by showcasing some of the activities and publications by ICEESR. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://recirculate.global/2021/04/partnerships-webinar/ |
| Description | Participate at COP26 with the Government of Ghana |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Prof Kirk Semple (PI) was invited to contribute to a session in the Ghana Pavilion at COP26 event in Glasgow. Also in attendance were colleagues from the Government of Ghana and the HATOF Foundation. The focus of the event considered the challenges and opportunities of 'Mobilizing Green Finance to Catalyze Climate Action', and showcased Ghana's efforts and challenges in mobilizing green finance at scale and lessons learnt from vertical climate trust funds, carbon finance, national budget and bilateral funds in promoting eco-innovation and climate change adaptation and mitigation solutions. The RECIRCULATE and ACTUATE projects were used as exemplars of the importance of international funding which has the capacity to impact on climate change. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Poster Presentations- Global Eco-innovation conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The research group presented posters on preliminary research findings at the 2019 Global Eco-I conference which was held in Lancaster. The posters were jointly authored by colleagues at Lancaster University and research partners in Ghana. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Promoting Eco-Innovation with the Africa Union |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | As part of the work programme "Driving environmental protection through eco-innovation systems to build human capital and green economy in Africa", the African Union Scientific Technical Research Commission (AU-STRC) organised a virtual workshop on the topic of "Waste Management and Bioenergy Challenges and Opportunities for Bioenergy through Waste Management". The workshop took place over two days, from 30th June to 1st July 2021, and was organised in partnership with Lancaster University, UK; Igbinedion University, Nigeria; University of Benin, Nigeria; the Nigerian Environmental Society and the Obour Institute, Egypt. Lancaster University was represented by Prof. Kirk Semple, Professor of Environmental Microbiology and Director of the RECIRCULATE & ACTUATE projects, who delivered a presentation entitled "Valorising wastes to produce energy using eco-innovative thinking" and Dr Ruth Alcock, Head of Enterprise and Business Partnerships, who delivered a speech on "Eco-Innovation and knowledge transfer models". The RECIRCULATE and ACTUATE projects were further represented by project team members in Africa with Dr Francis Agyenim, Dr Stephen Yeboah and Dr Richard Bayitse from CSIR, Ghana and Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye from University of Benin, Nigeria all giving presentations. Dr Akan Odon, Africa Strategy Adviser for Lancaster University, acted as a moderator of the event. From over 300 applications, 60 participants were selected representing scientists, entrepreneurs, policy makers, students, workers in green technologies and scientific and research institutions from over 10 countries across Africa. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://recirculate.global/2021/07/austrc-workshop/ |
| Description | RECIRCULATE Entrepreneurship and Innovation SETS Workshop (Ghana) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop WP1. Stimulating Entrepreneurial Thinking in Scientists (SETS) for 40 participants Accra, Ghana (19-22 February 2019). An additional workshop was staged in Accra, Ghana in February 2019. The Stimulating Entrepreneurial Thinking in Scientists (SETS) training event had been requested by CSIR and was delivered to staff from all 13 of their institutes along with representatives from other Phase 1 partners. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/recirculate/capacity-building/workshops/ |
| Description | RECIRCULATE Entrepreneurship and Innovation Workshop (Ghana) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | WP1. Innovation & Entrepreneurship for 40 participants Accra, Ghana (29 January - 1 February 2018) In the first 6 months of GCRF RECURCULATE, workshops were held at the Lancaster University Ghana campus for each of the four substantive research work packages (WP1-4) and the cross-cutting Knowledge Exchange and Engagement theme. Research teams from all Phase 1 partners (Lancaster University, Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (Ghana), University of Benin (Nigeria) and Lancaster University Ghana) were joined by other staff from these institutions and individuals from their communities of research users. The workshops addressed the challenges of co-designing and co-creating solution-focussed research to address Africa's needs around a circular water economy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/recirculate/capacity-building/workshops/ |
| Description | RECIRCULATE Entrepreneurship and Innovation Workshop (Kenya) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop WP1. Innovation & Entrepreneurship for 40 participants in Nairobi, Kenya (24-28 February 2020) In the third year of RECIRCULATE, the Entrepreneurship & Innovation workshop was repeated with most of the participants nominated from our Phase 2 partners: African Technology Policy Studies Network (Kenya); Botswana International University of Science & Technology (Botswana); The Copperbelt University (Zambia) and National Commission for Science & Technology (Malawi). These were held in Lilongwe, Malawi (in collaboration with NCST) and Kitwe, Zambia (in collaboration with The Copperbelt University). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/recirculate/capacity-building/workshops/ |
| Description | RECIRCULATE Entrepreneurship and Innovation Workshop (Zambia) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop WP1. Innovation & Entrepreneurship for 40 participants Kitwe, Zambia (8-12 April 2019) In the second year of RECIRCULATE, the Entrepreneurship & Innovation workshop was repeated with most of the participants nominated from our Phase 2 partners: African Technology Policy Studies Network (Kenya); Botswana International University of Science & Technology (Botswana); The Copperbelt University (Zambia) and National Commission for Science & Technology (Malawi). These were held in Lilongwe, Malawi (in collaboration with NCST) and Kitwe, Zambia (in collaboration with The Copperbelt University). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/recirculate/capacity-building/workshops/ |
| Description | RECIRCULATE Final Meeting (Accra) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2-day workshop in Accra (Ghana) celebrating the delivery of RECIRCULATE's research objectives and building research capacity. The event included talks from all research work packages and visits to research sites. 150 delegates from 10 countries attended and the meeting was followed by a session on making plans for new collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | RECIRCULATE Final Meeting (Benin) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Final project meeting in Benin City, Nigeria. Presentations of research outputs to over 50 delegates and a tour of the biodigester facilty, followed by interactive sessions on business models and exploring legacy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | RECIRCULATE at COP26 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Through November 2021 members of our project have been involved with activities taking place at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. The COP26 summit brought parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Afua Owusu-Kwarteng, on behalf of the WP1 Ghana team, was part of the COP26 Innovation Showcase Exhibition, which highlighted research on Ghanaian market queens themed "The Queens of Change". The Queens of change are "unseen, yet powerful women who protect informal markets in Ghana". RECIRCULATE's Dr Cynthia Forson, Dr Priscilla Otuo and Anthony N-Yelkabong collaborated along with Afua to put the submission together, with the research highlighting the unique role of market queens in waste management solutions in Ghana. RECIRCULATE & ACTUATE Project Director Prof. Kirk Semple and African Strategy Advisor Dr Akan Odon spent time speaking with Ghanaian ministries at Ghana's official side event (hosted by HATOF Foundation), where they discussed the importance of green finance and how it could impact on innovation in the waste-energy-food sectors. The session included speakers from the Ghanaian Ministries of Finance and the Environment, and from the Ghanaian Forestry Commission and Environmental Protection Agency. Manoj Roy and Roger Pickup had chance to meet with the President of Ghana Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and talked about the impact of the RECIRCULATE and ACTUATE projects in West Africa, through collaboration and partnership with CSIR and Lancaster University Ghana. The President shared that he was aware of the work done by the RECIRCULATE Project in West Africa and specifically Ghana. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://recirculate.global/2021/11/recirculate-at-cop26/ |
| Description | RECIRCULATE overview for 'Future of education' summit, Johannesburg |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 2018 Future of Education Summit, held in Johannesburg on 28th November 2018, focused on the challenges facing the higher education sector in Africa. It considered the anticipated consequences of the 4th Industrial Revolution, along with environmental pressures and rising levels of youth unemployment and inequality, which are all major socio-economic issues for Africa that are also relate to the aims of RECIRCULATE. Prof Nigel Paul presented an overview of the project in relations to skills development and research collaboration. The panel session on research collaboration including members from two RECIRCULATE partners (Prof Sharon Huttly from Lancaster UK, Prof Tony Jarvis from Lancaster University Ghana) and the aims and experience of the project formed a focal point for that discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://futuresummits.co.za/ |
| Description | RECIRCULATE presentation to the 'Capacity Building Initiative on Inclusive/ Community-Based Innovation for AU Member States' organised by the African Union Scientific, Technical and Research Commission |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The AUSTRC workshop on Capacity Building Initiative on Inclusive/ Community-Based Innovation for AU Member States was held in Abuja, Nigeria between 10th and 12th December, 2018. Attended by politicians and senior politicians from 19 countries across Africa, the programme included two invited speakers from the RECIRCULATE project. Dr Odon Akanimo gave an overview of the project in the context of "Approaches to innovation for clean sustainable and inclusive growth of developed and developing world" and Prof Lawrence Ezemonye (University of Benin) covered the project's research in to the circular water economy in more detail as part of a panel discussion on "Success Stories on Inclusive and Community-based Innovation". As a result, AUSTRC are in discussion with University of Benin to organize a follow-up "Capacity Building Initiative on Inclusive/ Community-Based Innovation for AU Member States" workshop, this time focused on the circular water economy, the core focus of RECIRCULATE. Discussions are at an early stage, but the aim is that this work-shop would be held in University of Benin to coincide with an annual RECIRCULATE meeting to be held there in Autumn 2020. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | RECIRCULATE researcher presents at SSSN'21 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Valerie Ifeyinwa Ofili Edosa, a graduate researcher within the "Water for energy production" workpackage based at University of Benin, presented a paper titled "Comparative effects of conventional fertilizers and anaerobic digestate of food waste-cattle rumen on performance of tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) and soil properties changes" at the 45th Annual Conference of the Soil Science Society of Nigeria (SSSN-BOWEN 2021) with the theme "Understanding Soil Organic Matter Dynamics: Key to Sustainable Ecosystem Health and Food Security" scheduled during May 17-21, 2021 at Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State, Nigeria. Keynote speakers invited were Professor Rattan Lal, Professor of Soil Science and Director of Carbon Management and Sequestration Centre, Professor Bala Abdullahi, Professor of Soil Science and Vice Chancellor of Federal University of Technology, Minna and Professor Jibrin Jibrin, Professor of Soil Science, Dry Land Agriculture and Director of Centre for Arid Agriculture, Bayero University, Kano. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://recirculate.global/2021/06/recirculate-researcher-sssn21/ |
| Description | RENT Meeting - Lund, November 2017, New Directions for Research on Entrepreneurship and Embeddedness |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Meeting designed to arrive at a future research agenda for entrepreneurship and the relevance and impact of social embeddedness and what this means for the future of entrepreneurship. Other participants also came from Lund University, Sweden (2), Nord University, Bodo, Norway (2), University of Southern Denmark (2). Outcomes from the workshop led to calls for papers for a Special Issue in Entrepreneurship and Regional Development (Jack Journal Associate Editor) titled Entrepreneurship and Embeddedness: Dynamic, Processual and Multi-layered Perspectives. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | RENT PDW - Lund, November 2017, New Directions for Research on Entrepreneurship and Embeddedness |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited to participate as a panel member (alongside Ram, UK and Welter, Germany) in a Professional Development Workshop at the RENT conference in Lund, November 2017. The title of the workshop was New Directions for Research on Entrepreneurship and Embeddedness. Recirculate was mentioned in this PDW which consisted of participants from across the World. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | RTP - Radio TV Portugal - Documentary 90 minutes of Science |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | come back here |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.facebook.com/90SegundosCiencia/ |
| Description | Rural Entrepreneurship symposium, Uppsala, October, 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentations and discussions at a one day symposium focused on entrepreneurship in rural areas with international researchers based in institutions from across Sweden. My presentation focused on entrepreneurship and place (especially rural areas) and included mention/reference to the Recirculate project. Final discussions also made reference to the project and what is going on in poor rural areas which are hard to reach and engage with. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Special session at 2nd UDI-Africa International Conference at University Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique, 6th November |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The context of this talk was strategic since UDI-Africa, led by Universidade Nova, in Portugal, and partner of Lancaster UK, has similarities with RECIRCULATE such as, the capacity-building component delivered to African universities and research institutes and the entrepreneurship and innovation content as a central pillar. The audience was very responsive to the description of SETS (Stimulating Entrepreneurial Thinking in Scientists) particularly because it could be replicated in Mozambique in the near future. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://online.unl.pt/udi-africa/?tribe_events=2nd-international-conference-udi-africa |
| Description | Stakeholders Engaged with Irrigation Technologies in Ghana |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | As part of efforts to promote Partial Rootzone Drying (PRD) and Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) technologies for tomato and rice production in Ghana, a mass dissemination exercise was carried out in eight municipalities/districts across 4 regions in Ghana. The regions and their corresponding municipalities or districts are Bono East (Kintampo North and Atebubu-Amantin) Volta Region (Hohoe, Ho and Afadzato South), Bono Region (Asutifi South and Sunyani West), and Ahafo Region (Tano South). Two hundred and eighty (280) people, comprising 165 males and 115 females participated in this knowledge exchange and outreach program. The participants included agricultural extension agents/officers, agriculture champions and local farmers, executives of Farmer Based organization's (FBOs) and policy actors (at the Departments of Food and Agriculture of Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development). The main objective of the stakeholder engagement and outreach program is to disseminate the results achieved under the PRD and AWD irrigation and build capacities of relevant stakeholders, including farmers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://recirculate.global/2021/11/awdprdtech/ |
| Description | Teaching Activity: Entrepreneurship and Opportunity 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | During 3 hour lecture to 46 students from across the World, Students were introduced to the Recirculate project. The Masters in Business and Management programme they are attending is designed to look at contemporary business environments and the understanding that organizations, regardless of age, size, or industry, need to identify and pursue new opportunities for value creation. Students are encouraged to reflect on challenges and work towards taking an active role in reflecting on how they might create and develop future business opportunities for such organizations. In the course Entrepreneurship and Opportunity, this led to discussions around and societal and social values and the need to think beyond purely economic outcomes. Students worked on and presented business ideas in groups of 4 or 5. In their presentations students eflected on the societal value of their ideas. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Teaching activity 2019: RAMP Programme, SSE, Stockholm, Sweden |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | RAMP is Stockholm School of Economics's general management program geared towards accelerating integration of university graduates who have recently arrived in Sweden. The RAMP project at SSE aims to increase diversity in Swedish industry and help put newcomers on a fast track into the Swedish job market. Discussing the Recirculate project during a 3 hour seminar with this diverse group, offered them the opportunity to reflect on their situations in their home countries. The seminar moved to generating business ideas in groups of 3. Each group linked their business idea to solving issues of societal value back in their home country. Participants were immigrants and refugees from Africa and the Middle East. Presenting the Recirculate project led to discussions around what this can mean for the students communities back in their native countries but also how they can help and support their home communities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Teaching activity: Entrepreneurship and Opportunity 2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | During 3 hour lecture to 46 students from across the World, Students were introduced to the Recirculate project. The Masters in Business and Management programme they are attending is designed to look at contemporary business environments and the understanding that organizations, regardless of age, size, or industry, need to identify and pursue new opportunities for value creation. Students are encouraged to reflect on challenges and work towards taking an active role in reflecting on how they might create and develop future business opportunities for such organizations. In the course Entrepreneurship and Opportunity, this led to discussions around and societal and social values and the need to think beyond purely economic outcomes. Students worked on and presented business ideas in groups of 4 or 5. In their presentations students eflected on the societal value of their ideas. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Twelve community participatory events with in Accra, Ghana |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Twelve community participatory problem identification events were held in informal communities in Accra, Ghana. These were necessary to define the focus and scope of the project's research under its 'Water for Sanitation & Health' work-package and also because effective community engagement is an essential pre-requisite to any work 'on-the ground'. The events were designed to assess where water and sanitation issues are situated within the grand problems of residents of the selected poor urban settlements. This will guide the design of behaviour change interventions and infrastructural provisioning and maintenance that seeks to curtail faecal contamination and enhance water safety in the study sites. Health and behaviour change theories such as the Health Belief Model suggest that people's level of engagement in health-promoting behaviours is explained by their beliefs about the severity of the health problems, their susceptibility to the problem, perceived benefits of actions, and cue for action. Results from this exercise therefore inform the research team how people prioritise water safety and health vis-a-vis other socio-economic problems and it's useful for the Action Research component of the project. This outcome/impact provides a feedback loop into the research design process. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
| Description | Universidade Eduardo Mondlane Mozambique |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The Pro Vost for Education, Professor Amalia Umusse invited me to present Recirculate partnership to a group of Deans and academics at the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | WP5: Microbial pathogens and health |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Network of Microbiologists, policy makers and stakeholders formed to address issues of pathogens in water and WASH related activities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Waste to Energy webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | In September 2021, the focus of our PARTICIPATE engagement was the ACTUATE project, and more specifically showcasing waste to energy solutions in Africa. On 23rd September our Waste to Energy webinar highlighted the progress of the ACTUATE project in Nigeria and Ghana. Moderated by Dr Akan Odon and supported by the RECIRCULATE team, the webinar featured co-leaders and guest-speakers from Ghana, Nigeria and the UK. Dr Mike Ajieh (Co-investigator, ACTUATE Project, Nigeria) presented a showcase of the ACTUATE project in Nigeria. He started his presentation with a proposed timeline highlighting the progress of the project from May 2020 until now. He then briefly explained the project concept which translates co-design and co-delivery bio-energy in Ghana and Nigeria. Dr Mike finalised his talk with an overview of the project`s goal and objectives. Andrew Amenaghawon (ACTUATE co-leader, senior lecturer & head of department, University of Benin, Nigeria) delivered a talk on the Nigerian sub-projects. He presented an overview of the several stakeholder engagements that have been organised with the end-user community such as abattoir operators, secondary schools, undergraduate students, waste managers and small holder farmers. He then concluded his talk by briefly outlining the impact of the project alongside future deployments such as entrepreneurs, SMEs, researchers and rural communities. Dr Richard Bayitse (Senior research scientist, CSIR-IIR, Ghana) shared a short documentary video to showcase the progress of the ACTUATE project in Ghana. The video demonstrates the concept of the ACTUATE project to accelerate the adoption of circular sanitation systems in Ghana. Key speakers in the video are Dr Francis Boateng Agyenim (Principal investigator, CSIR-IIR, Ghana), Dr Kofi Ampomah Benefo (Lead Scientist, CSIR-IIR, Ghana), Eric Boakye-Danquah (Social Scientist, University of Ghana), Esi Winny Addison (HATOF Foundation), Bennett Akuffo (Project Manager, Green Advocacy, Ghana), Imoro Sulemana (Head Teacher, Umar Hatab Islamic Basic School, Ghana). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://recirculate.global/2021/09/waste-to-energy-webinar/ |
| Description | What's next for Africa after COP26? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In November 2021, the focus of our PARTICIPATE engagement remained on COP26 and circular solutions for Africa. On 25th November our 'What's next for Africa after COP26' webinar hosted a round table debate to reflect on the challenges and opportunities to deliver the commitments of COP 26. Moderated by Dr Akan Odon and the RECIRCULATE team, the webinar featured speakers from Mzuzu University, Malawi, Technical University, Kenya, Botswana International University Of Science And Technology (BIUST), Botswana and Copperbelt University, Zambia. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://recirculate.global/2021/11/cop26-webinar2/ |
| Description | Women in Research & Innovation webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In July 2021, the focus of our PARTICIPATE engagement was the Women Innovators Network in Africa (WINA) programme, and more specifically women in research & innovation. On 29th July our webinar explored opportunities and challenges for African women in research & innovation. Moderated by Dr Akan Odon and the RECIRCULATE team, the webinar featured experts from Nigeria, Botswana, Ghana and the UK. Each guest speaker shared how their expertise and experience followed by questions and interaction with the attendees. Afua Owusu-Kwarteng (Graduate Researcher & Coordinator of the RECIRCULATE "Women Innovators Network in Africa" initiative, Lancaster University) presented the Women Innovators Network in Africa (WINA) programme which is an international collaboration, led by Lancaster University with partners in Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana and Kenya. The programme brings together African academic researchers with African research users such as enterprises and community organisations linking them with their UK counterparts. The aim is to develop collaborations that can help to address some of Africa`s pressing environmental problems, focusing particularly on water. Dr Patience Opata (Senior Lecturer in Agribusiness and Marketing at University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Nigeria) provided an overview of how research and innovation fit into agriculture in Nigeria. She started her talk with the role of the women in agriculture as enablers of food security and driver for innovation. She then presented her experience of challenges and opportunities as a woman working in agriculture in Africa. She concluded her speech with an identification of potential interventions for enhancing the African agricultural research and innovation landscape for women. Dr Otlhapile Dinakenyane (Computer Scientist currently working as a Lecturer & Researcher at the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST)) presented how women innovators fit into the communications technology (ICT) industry. She firstly provided a brief overview of the industry including current challenges for women. She then highlighted the opportunities Botswana could offer such as youth initiatives, academia and non-governmental organisations. She concluded her talk with an overview of what women should do to create the future we all hope to see. Dr Queeneth Kingsley Omoyibo (Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at Igbinedion University, Nigeria) presented how and where entrepreneurship fits into research and innovation. She firstly provided a brief overview of how entrepreneurship is relevant to research by highlighting key touchpoints such as business ideas = research questions, market research = literature review, business plan = project proposal. She then identified necessary steps in converting academic research into a successful business. She concluded her presentation with the Triple Helix Model which refers to a set of interactions between academia (the university), industry and government, to foster economic and social development, as described in concepts such as the knowledge economy and knowledge society. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://recirculate.global/2021/07/wri-webinar/ |