PAUWES Academic Cooperation Projects

The PAUWES Institute has managed to attract a considerable number of research collaborations, especially taking into account its short time of existence. The cooperation projects involve international partners in academia and practice. Most cooperation springs from the partnership with the German Higher Education Consortium and from the technical cooperation with funding from BMBF, DFID or other sources. Here a list of the key projects.

Current cooperation projects

• RARSUS – Risk Assessment and Reduction Strategies for Sustainable Urban Resource Supply in Sub-Saharan Africa

Contextualisation and overview

Sustainable urban development is a key common challenge for the African continent and globally. A key task in ensuring sustainable development of urban and semi-urban regions lies in an adequate risk management in the supply system of resources like water, energy and food. Such supply is increasingly threatened by risks arising from resource depletion and unsustainable use, weak governance as well as climatic risks. Research collaborations addressing the adaptation of resource supply to the mentioned risks in urban and semi-urban areas present a unique opportunity for long-run interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral higher education endeavour.

Partners

• Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)
• The Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics (ITT) at the TH Köln (University of Applied Sciences)
• The Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn (UB) from Germany

The University of Bamako, Faculty of technical sciences (USTTB) Mali.

Funding and Implementation

German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) and DAAD

Geographical Scope

Inter-continental / (Algeria, Burkina Faso, Germany, Mali, Nigeria)

Website

www.rarsus.com

Goals and Key activities

The overall objective of the project is to establish long-standing research-based higher education cooperation between German and African partners and within Africa in the area of sustainable resource supply management in urban and semi-urban region.

• Research

Establish pilot research on key resource supply challenges in urban and semi-urban African areas with participation of relevant stakeholders

• Training

Provide targeted research trainings for university staff, young researchers, as well as practitioners dealing with urban planning.

• Higher Education

Develop and share of case-study based online educational resources to be used by all partners on sustainable urban management.

• Network

Create sustainable institutional relationships among participating higher education universities as well as personal ties among a community of experts in the area of natural resources management in African cities.

• WASCAL – West African Science Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use

Contextualisation and overview

The collaboration between the Center for Development Research (ZEF) of the University of Bonn, the West African Science Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) and PAUWES aims to build strong networks and create synergies in their quests in the areas of energy and water resources.

Partners

• The Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn (UB) from Germany
• The West African Science Center on Climate change and adapted land use
• The University of Miami

The  University of Cotonou (Benin)

Funding and Implementation

German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF)

Website

www.wascal.com

Goals and Key activities

• Strengthen the international orientation of both institutions
• Improve high-quality education, in particular regarding research-based education
• Improve connection between both institutions and improve their successful establishment in the African and international scientific network

Workshops and/or thematic schools

Two session of two weeks at the University Abdou Moumouni in Niamey (Niger) and at the University Abomey-Calavi in Cotonou (Benin) will bring together 20 PAUWES MSc students (10 working on energy and 10 on water) with 10 WASCAL PhD and 10 MSc students from the two graduate schools, focusing on the same topics.

Internships

Ten PAUWES students (five from each the Master Programmes – Water and Energy) will do a one-to-two-months internship at WASCAL’s Competence Center (CoC) in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)

Higher Education

Develop and share of case-study based online educational resources to be used by all partners on sustainable urban management.

• WESA – Water and Energy Security in Africa

Contextualisation and overview

The project aims to support the development of PAUWES by enhancing its research activities in water and energy sciences. The project focusses on the development of innovative scientific research methods, which are adapted to local contexts and applicable in the areas of water and energy security in Africa. It is the first step towards the realization of a research agenda at PAUWES and at the same time offers PAUWES graduates the opportunity to conduct PhD studies.

Partners

• The United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)
• The Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics (ITT) at the TH Köln (University of Applied Sciences)
• The Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn (UB)
• University of Tlemcen

Funding and Implementation

German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) – University of Tlemcen

Website

https://ehs.unu.edu/research/water-and-energy-security-for-africa-wesa.html#outline

Goals and Key activities

• Development of innovative scientific research methods.
• Offering three PAUWES’ graduates and three graduates from the University of Tlemcen the opportunity to conduct PhD studies.
• Integration of PAUWES into scientific networks and its strengthening as Pan African (and beyond) hub/platform on the topics of Energy, Water and Climate Change.

• Master’s thesis
• Resources

Useful links

• Algerian Ministry of Energy : http://www.energy.gov.dz
• Algerian Ministry of Water Resources: http://www.mree.gov.dz
• Ameriacan Geophisical Union: https://sites.agu.org/
• Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024): http://africapolicyreview.com/science-technology-and-innovation-strategy-for-africa-2024-stisa-2024/
• Continental Education Strategy for Africa 2016-2025: https://au.int/en/documents/29958/continental-education-strategy-africa-2016-2025
• Sustainable Development goals : http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/

• Algerian Development Center for Renewable Energies (CDER) : http://www.cder.dz
• Algerian Center for Research and Development of electricity and gas (CREDEG) : http://www.credeg.dz/