Periodic Report Summary - SUSTAINERGYNET (Integrating civil, scientific and stakeholder knowledge towards African sustainable energy policy)
In line with the commitment of the European Union to support global sustainable development initiatives and the recognition that strengthening partnerships involving non-state actors is essential, the overall aim of the Coordination and Support Action (CSA) SUSTAINERGYNET is to foster and promote the participation of CSOs in Africa in the field of research policy agenda setting concerning sustainable development, environmental issues as well as efficient energy management. To achieve this stated aim, SUSTAINERGYNET has set the main objective to elaborate and suggest ways on how to encourage and facilitate the cooperation between CSO's and Research and Technology Development (RTD) performers in the field of sustainable development, environmental policies and energy management.
The SUSTAINERGYNET consortium is composed of four European and two African institutions with either civil society, research or policy background and coordinated by the Organisation for International Dialogue and Conflict Management (IDC), a Vienna based non-profit association committed to promoting international dialogue and active in science communication. During the first 12 months of the 2-year-project implementation, activities have mainly focused on setting the project on track, on conducting assessment activities and on making the necessary preparations for an international conference-meeting in Nairobi and an embedding e-conference. In addition, some first dissemination activities have been carried out.
In a first step, the official launch of the project in August 2008 has encompassed initial preparatory work, including the set up of a project website under http://www.sustainergynet.eu and the development of a project logo. A kick-off meeting has been organised in the office of IDC in Vienna in October 2008.
In a second step, comprehensive assessment activities have been carried out on the status quo of CSO involvement in sustainable development and energy research and agenda setting processes in Africa and Europe. Expert interviews in Africa and Europe and the review of relevant publications have allowed us to identify forms of cooperation between the civil society, the research and the policymaking level on energy. Findings have been discussed on a project meeting in Dresden in February 2009 and then presented in two assessment summary reports. In addition, in June 2009, the Egyptian project partner Cairo University (CU-IARS) has invited some of the interviewed stakeholders to a SUSTAINERGYNET workshop in Cairo to exchange ideas and experiences. A further assessment activity has been the mission of the project coordinator IDC to Kenya in April 2009. This mission has allowed the coordinator to visit civil society, research and policy stakeholders in Kenya active in sustainable energy.
As a third step, first preparations have been made for the conference in Nairobi and the e-conference that shall take place in September and October 2009. Besides the launch and regular update of the SUSTAINERGYNET website, a first focused dissemination activity has been the elaboration and distribution of the first project newsletter. The newsletter is available as download on the project website in English, French and Arabic and has been distributed in hard-copy by consortium partners.
In view of the carried out and planned activities, SUSTAINERGYNET intends to make a significant contribution towards overcoming the main obstacles that currently impede CSO involvement in agenda setting for sustainable energy. The expected impact is not only to promote active engagement of civil society organisations in research, but also, as a direct consequence, to increase the contribution of research to sustainable development.
The SUSTAINERGYNET consortium is composed of four European and two African institutions with either civil society, research or policy background and coordinated by the Organisation for International Dialogue and Conflict Management (IDC), a Vienna based non-profit association committed to promoting international dialogue and active in science communication. During the first 12 months of the 2-year-project implementation, activities have mainly focused on setting the project on track, on conducting assessment activities and on making the necessary preparations for an international conference-meeting in Nairobi and an embedding e-conference. In addition, some first dissemination activities have been carried out.
In a first step, the official launch of the project in August 2008 has encompassed initial preparatory work, including the set up of a project website under http://www.sustainergynet.eu and the development of a project logo. A kick-off meeting has been organised in the office of IDC in Vienna in October 2008.
In a second step, comprehensive assessment activities have been carried out on the status quo of CSO involvement in sustainable development and energy research and agenda setting processes in Africa and Europe. Expert interviews in Africa and Europe and the review of relevant publications have allowed us to identify forms of cooperation between the civil society, the research and the policymaking level on energy. Findings have been discussed on a project meeting in Dresden in February 2009 and then presented in two assessment summary reports. In addition, in June 2009, the Egyptian project partner Cairo University (CU-IARS) has invited some of the interviewed stakeholders to a SUSTAINERGYNET workshop in Cairo to exchange ideas and experiences. A further assessment activity has been the mission of the project coordinator IDC to Kenya in April 2009. This mission has allowed the coordinator to visit civil society, research and policy stakeholders in Kenya active in sustainable energy.
As a third step, first preparations have been made for the conference in Nairobi and the e-conference that shall take place in September and October 2009. Besides the launch and regular update of the SUSTAINERGYNET website, a first focused dissemination activity has been the elaboration and distribution of the first project newsletter. The newsletter is available as download on the project website in English, French and Arabic and has been distributed in hard-copy by consortium partners.
In view of the carried out and planned activities, SUSTAINERGYNET intends to make a significant contribution towards overcoming the main obstacles that currently impede CSO involvement in agenda setting for sustainable energy. The expected impact is not only to promote active engagement of civil society organisations in research, but also, as a direct consequence, to increase the contribution of research to sustainable development.
