Access to Streamlined and Resilient Renewable Energy in the African Continent via Education and Capacity Building
Access to Streamlined and Resilient Renewable Energy in the African Continent via Education and Capacity Building
Introduction
The Sustainable Development Goals are ambitious and transformative, yet their success hinges on a simple question: how can we fulfill ever-growing energy demands whilst simultaneously cutting back on fossil fuels. This question is particularly acute on the African continent, where growing energy poverty is threatening to leave many behind.
Tackling energy poverty today, and devising the sustainable energy sources necessary for tomorrow, will require a new generation of ambitious and innovative young scientists. The success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development relies on the capacity of countries to make substantial progress in the realms of science, technology and innovation. This in turn depends heavily on the prioritization of comprehensive, qualitative capacity development in the basic and applied sciences across the educational spectrum.
It is clear that meeting the energy challenges of the 21st century will require a fundamental rethink of how we power human civilization. Our current methods are both insufficient and harmful. In large parts of the world, particularly on the African continent, frequent power outages are the norm. What’s more, the energy we do provide is often derived from fossil fuels, leaving irreversible and inexcusable scars on our environment. To end energy poverty, save the environment, and protect the health of millions living in with intolerable air quality, we need new solutions. In this chapter, I will demonstrate the importance of science education and capacity building for laying the groundwork for the energy landscape of the future.
Science education and capacity building are key pathways to innovation and therefore act as engines for sustainable development. Science education is about our ability to forge inclusive and sustainable solutions to our age’s greatest challenges, such as climate change, energy shortages, access to water, food and health threats. In doing so, however, it is important to emphasize inclusive capacity development efforts that focus on youth, women, rural and disadvantaged communities, and educators.
Yet gaps in access to education remain particularly pronounced in the developing world where scientific literacy is a challenge, especially among women. The most valuable resource of any nation is its people, and it is only through well-educated and competent populations that countries will be able to overcome the challenges posed by the ambitious United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Access to Energy
Today, one in five people lack access to basic energy sources such as electricity and lighting, a staggering 1.2 billion individuals. The overwhelming majority of these, 95 %, reside in Sub-Saharan Africa or Southeast Asia, and over 80% of these live in rural areas[1]. In the lack of reliable access to electricity, approximately 3 billion people worldwide use animal waste, charcoal, wood or coal for heating and cooking, which contributes to over 4 million premature deaths each year due to indoor air pollution. The pervasive effects of energy poverty impede developing countries’ ability to function and innovate in pace with their more developed counterparts, for whom studying and continuing commercial activities after sunset is the norm.
Energy poverty exacerbates existing inequalities, particularly as it relates to matters of education, employment, public health and safety. Additionally, without access to clean, affordable and efficient energy alternatives, developing societies default to burning fossil fuels and kerosene, regardless of their genuine concern and commitment to mitigating climate change.
Energy poverty imposes tangible and far-reaching consequences on society. Women and girls need to spend hours each day retrieving water, children are unable to complete their homework or engage in afterschool activities, local entrepreneurs are unable to create or maintain competitive businesses, and local clinics may not be able to store live-saving medicines.
Various new initiatives seek to provide education and energy access to youth in sub-Saharan Africa. For example, a NGO called Soular distributes backpacks equipped with solar panels to young children in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda[2]. The backpacks charge throughout the day, taking advantage of the solar exposure during the large distances that children must walk to and from school. At night, the fully charged backpack doubles as a reading light so the children may study and do their homework after sunset. In addition, this backpack reduces the use of kerosene lamps, which are harmful for both the environment and the health of the users. Initiatives like these contribute to break the cycle of energy poverty. Finally, this initiative stems from a 23-year-old woman, as such illustrating the potential innovative power unlocked when young scientists are empowered to nurture their scientific and entrepreneurial potential in the field of renewable energy access.
Achieving sustainable energy for all will require large infrastructure investments, bold political leadership, and radical new engineering solutions. Today, this means equipping the next generation with the tools and skills necessary to innovate and lead. Developing the solutions to energy poverty begins in classrooms all across the world. We must redouble our efforts to ensure the development and training of future engineers, technicians and researchers who will have the task of creating, organizing and establishing the renewable energy industry of the future.
In the face of this, energy demands continue to grow, exacerbating the problems. Our ability to address energy issues effectively, particularly its availability and sustainable methods for its delivery, will dictate whether development and climate change priorities will be met. As highlighted, energy is key to meeting sustainable development targets and to improving living conditions on a global scale, particularly for rural communities.
Renewable, clean energy has the power to exponentially and positively transform global and national economies, stimulate job creation, counter crippling levels of unemployment worldwide, support the well-being of the public and slow the consequences of climate change. The daily lives of citizens in societies all over the world depend heavily upon the accessibility, dependability, and quality of energy services to function, which speaks to the centrality of energy in business, public health, agriculture, education, communications and data technologies, infrastructure and various other public and private sectors. Today’s energy issues require focused and strategic action from the international community, particularly in view of its responsibility and vocalized commitment to support sustainable development in a proactive and comprehensive manner[3].
Tackling Energy Poverty’s Root Causes
It is estimated that 2.5 million more engineers and technicians will be needed in sub-Saharan Africa alone if the region is to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to produce energy services and reach clean water and sanitation[4]. This is a substantial number, and requires rethinking schooling from the bottom up.
Scientific literacy is still unattainable in many African countries and the scientifically recognized achievements of students in quantitative fields falls short with comparison to those of other countries. In Namibia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, there is approximately one qualified engineer per 6,000 people – compared to, for instance, the one engineer per 200 people in China[4]. As of November 2015, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics indicate that the regional averages of women researchers do not exceed 18.9% for South and West Asia, and 30.0% in sub-Saharan Africa[5]. This is already the case in French-speaking African countries, where only 1 in 50 undergraduate students are estimated to study science at the graduate level.
In addition, certain countries in the African continent, like Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad boast less than a 50% literacy rate among youth, which negatively affects the continent’s ability to progress in the scientific field[6]. Upper secondary education shows especially low gross enrollment, with South Asia at 59.39% and sub-Saharan Africa at 34.00% in 2015[7]. Without an intervention, the observed poor educational structures will continue to lead students to prematurely terminate their studies at an alarming rate and evolve into an adult population that is not science-literate, illustrated by low enrollment rates in secondary and tertiary scientific institutions and low percentages of researchers and engineers in the general populations. This is already visible in the current body of scientific work as Africa only contributes to 1.1% of global published works with only 79 scientists per million inhabitants with compared to 656 in Brazil or even 4,500 in the United States[8].
In 2016, an estimated 773 million adults are illiterate in the world, with 25 % of them being Africans[9].This huge part of the human population lacks the critical skills necessary to improve living conditions for both themselves and their families. Gaps in access to education remain notably more pronounced in the developing world. Education remains inaccessible due to practical limitations such as a lack of science education infrastructure, equipment, lighting options to continue studies and generate income after sunset, and qualified human and institutional resources – all of which especially obstruct the innovation and sciences ecosystem in countries. These affect developing countries by limiting their ability to grow effectively and innovate sustainably. The science poverty that this divide creates works to perpetuate the educational landscape across regions in Africa, Asia, the Pacific and Latin America. Moreover, it greatly impedes developing countries’ capacity building and entrepreneurship potential and the efforts made to scientifically empower citizens, supply the industrial system with scientifically qualified human resources, and stimulate enough scientific innovation to nurture entrepreneurship and economic growth.
Building African Capacity: Challenges and Opportunities
Harnessing the vast human potential of the new generation does not just require funding schools, universities and research; it will also require taking a hard look at patterns of discrimination and exclusion. What barriers to entry exist, and what structures are preventing people from living up to their potential? For every young girl who is discouraged from completing school we lose an invaluable resource: her potential innovative ideas, never to be developed or shared.
The demographic and gender balance of the current scientific community worldwide is a uniform one. Although the international community seeks to abolish inequality of opportunity and patterns of exclusion by actively encouraging women and persons of underrepresented groups to consider careers in the sciences, today’s scientific community is abundantly male, Westernized and usually accessible only to those in the highest socioeconomic class. Such uniformity breeds a recurring scientific monologue where those of similar life experiences and perspectives create a self-affirming and static dialogue rather than moving toward genuine innovation.
From the outside looking in, a homogeneous scientific community transmits a clear image of what a chemist, physicist, engineer or mathematician looks like, and consequently what one cannot look like. The main issues perpetuating a lack of diversity in the scientific community that need to be addressed are: (i) the gender-based discrimination; (ii) the North-South scientific divide; (iii) the economic conditions; (iv) the environmental limitations; (v) weak science policies. All of these factors intersect on the African continent, systematically excluding many from the sciences.
All types of diversity are critical; however, the serious lack of women in STEM fields has most severely impeded human advancement, simply because women represent such a large portion of our society. In all countries and at all levels of education and research, inequality and discrimination based on gender continue to prevent women from engaging and advancing in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), as shown by the leaky pipeline[10].
Fighting this lack of gender diversity in sciences are programmes such as the Organisation of Women in Science in the Developing World (OWSD) that are seeking to break down the barriers between men and women in the STEM fields[11]. OWSD provides research training, career development and networking opportunities for women scientists throughout the developing world at different stages in their careers, therefore strengthening women’s role in the development process and promoting their representation in scientific and technological leadership. As such, there is advancement in equalizing gender and limiting North-South differentiation.
In addition to a significant North-South gender divide, there is also a persistent North-South Scientific Divide. The lack of accessibility to scientific resources and materials, particularly on the African continent, creates a lag in the complexity of scientific practice and expertise presenting different regions, creating difficulties concerning potential scientific collaboration. Ensuring access of all countries to scientific resources is a global priority. Projects such as UNESCO’s Microscience Programme address the resources gap between countries that will inevitably affect later scientific collaborations. On an international scale, this is effective; however, we fail to see the same regional and national initiatives, which points to a concrete objective for countries to diversify their scientific communities. In addition, while this initiative is effective for lower levels of schooling and preliminarily suspends the leaky pipeline phenomenon, of those who have the opportunity to pursue tertiary education, young African adults are not actively choosing to study sciences at a university level. Be it a lack of resources or a lack of role models there is an exacerbated leaky pipeline phenomenon when it comes to scientific disciplines, with only 1 in 50 undergraduates opting for a STEM major[12].
Moreover, individuals of lower socioeconomic status within their respective societies are significantly less likely to obtain PhDs and thereby access and contribute to high-level scientific research, which further exacerbates the gap in scientific capacity between regions. By investing in fellowships that bridge the gap between those in society’s lower classes and quality science education at all levels, the future pool of high calibre scientific researchers will greatly expand.
As natural disasters and millions of refugees and internally displaced persons increase due to the effects of climate change and war, the international scientific community’s efforts to collaborate and innovate are greatly disrupted. We should thus reaffirm our commitment to stabilize and advocate for the conditions of migrant scientists and seek to alleviate barriers that hinder the continuation of their work in new lands. It is in this context that UNESCO underwent in 2017 a revision of the recommendation on the status of scientific researchers that dated from 1974. This was done in view of reflecting the contemporary ethical and regulatory challenges relating to the science-society relationship, as well as to ensure opportunities for scientific researchers to participate in the development of science, technology and innovation in their adopted land.
Finally, national policies can also contribute negatively to expanding access to sciences. Lack of prioritization and divestments in science at the national level affects all members of a government’s population who lack sufficient resources to pursue study and career opportunities abroad, further exacerbating issues of brain drain and deficiencies in scientific capacities within countries. Governments who invest in science secure their ability to develop in pace with the rest of the international community and effectively tackle their social, economic and environmental challenges.
These patterns of exclusion run counter to the scientific community’s need for novel perspectives and the projected need of over 1 million additional researchers to meet the Goals by 2030. For the scientific community to innovate effectively, different methodologies, linguistics, life experiences and cultural values must imbue its recruitment pool, thereby reconfiguring our understanding of pre-existing theories and generating a new host of scientific inquiry. While increased diversity may initially cause difficulty in communication, issues of seniority or differences in preferred methodologies, this friction is both inevitable and essential to bringing about the critical changes needed for science to effectively and comprehensively address global challenges.
Certain actors are seeking to diversify these monotonous perspectives, like the biannual Next Einstein Forum (NEF), which seeks to provide alternate role models to the aspiring young African scientists. This forum postulates that the world’s next great researcher (the next “Einstein”) will be from the African continent, by inspiring the next generation of researchers, today’s youth, by exposing them to atypical individuals that have succeeded in STEM fields, representing a large range of fields, gender and region of origin[13]. The NEF promotes African leaders, who will help to inspire and propel the scientific motor of that is stalling in youths in Africa. Without proper role models, how can they aspire to become great researchers to bring fresh and young perspectives to the problems at hand in the African scientific community?
There have been several decades’ worth of past initiatives seeking to improve system reforms, curriculum development, and teacher training for science education at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Unfortunately, the impact of these initiatives have not always been great — labor shortages for scientifically and technically qualified staff have persisted, inadequate problem diagnosis and insufficient resources for effective implementation have continued to restrain the development of new productive enterprises and hampered social and economic growth, especially in African countries.
Now, more than ever, the world is in need of a culturally diverse scientific ecosystem increasingly linked to policy-makers and in touch with the public.
Integrating Sustainability from Day One
Climate change and our depleting reserves of fossil fuels make it clear that the status quo has to change. Energizing the world in the future cannot be done using the same techniques and technologies that powered the 20th century. Today we cannot talk about energy without also talking about sustainability. In other words, solving energy poverty cannot be done through simply training engineers the way we always have; we need a new type of engineer, one for which sustainability is integral in every dimensions of his/her work. Capacity building efforts cannot repeat the mistakes of the past: sustainability must be the foundation upon which we train the next generation.
The United Nations has been approaching this issue on an international level – with the General Assembly declaring 2005-2014 as the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD)[14]. Working with stakeholders such as member states, national Commissions and civil society this initiative seeked to spearhead global action to combat energy issues. Throughout its internationally recognized tenure and beyond, DESD sought to (1) improve access and retention in quality basic education, (2) reorient existing educational programmes to address sustainability, (3) increase public understanding and awareness of sustainability, and lastly (4) provide training to advance sustainability across all sectors.
Various initiatives developed to support DESD and these goals 17 are mediated by, the Mainstreaming Environment and Sustainability in African Universities (MESA). MESA aims to incorporate environment and sustainability concerns into teaching, research, community engagement, and management of universities in Africa. This, the DESD, and other such initiatives, have led to the Africa Environmental Education and Training Action Plan (AEETAP) which began in 2015 and will culminate in 2024. This action plan was called for by the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), and is one of the methods the UN used to promote environmental awareness, education, and training. The action plan ”advocates for ecosystem resource management; communication and dissemination of environmental material in all forms of education; spatial planning and urban design through green campus designs; sustainable tourism and efficient transport; and water and sanitation, among other green practices” . UNESCO also places great emphasis on suitable development.
UNESCO has partnered with its global network of policy makers, educators, prominent scientists, field offices, institutes, Natural Science and Education chairs and associated non-governmental organisations to promote and implement programmes related to sustainability science via vision-building, advocacy, consultation, local ownership, private-public partnerships, capacity-building, training teachers, innovative research, global programme monitoring and evaluation, and enhanced international cooperation and communication. As a concrete result, in 2017 was produced the first ever principles and operational guidelines on sustainability science. These guidelines aim to broaden the application in research and education for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In a similar vein, UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) highlights and addresses present and future global challenges to promote more scientifically minded and innovative societies. In tying classroom-based learning to the biggest challenges facing society, UNESCO’s ESD capacity building efforts focus on key issues, such as energy, climate change and biodiversity, along with disaster risk reduction, cultural diversity, sustainable urbanisation and water as entry points for promoting sustainable development practices and training young learners to be the problem-solvers of tomorrow[15]. Successful implementation of ESD programmes and initiatives depends on increasing the public’s general knowledge of sustainability issues covering topics such as sustainable agriculture and forestry, research and technology transfer, and sustainable food production and consumption. ESD is paved of success stories, such the campaign conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo by three non-governmental organizations in pioneering in plastic-waste collection in Kinshasa[16]. Another example is the inspiring sustainability education project by an NGO called CCREAD, which programme reach-out 39,000 students in 147 schools, 260 teachers and administrators, and 3,640 households[17].
Although relevant to all societies, ESD is particularly beneficial to developing countries as it simultaneously bridges existing gaps in science education, capacity, and green development by equipping civil society and the younger generation to both be informed on the issues most relevant to their communities, and equipped to offer viable solutions. From peer-teacher instruction to online courses for secondary school teachers on climate change education, UNESCO’s actions to integrate ESD into teacher education and practices have significantly affected how young people around the world are approaching energy issues, particularly within its network of Associated Schools. In fact, ASPnet, or the UNESCO Associated Schools Network, rallied together in 2014 to represent and voice the commitment of students and teachers from over 32 countries to ESD and to promoting it in their communities beyond the Decade[18].
With the basic sciences and engineering as a focus of its work on renewable energy, UNESCO seeks to advance the building blocks of scientific development so that new scientific research may better harness clean energy sources in the future. In conjunction with a multidisciplinary and intersectional set of stakeholders (decision and policy makers, researchers, engineers, university teachers and technicians), UNESCO’s engages in capacity building initiatives, such as the solar electrification programme of rural schools in Africa and the Global Renewable Energy and Training Programme (GREET) to increase developing countries’ supply of skilled workers through training workshops and standard-setting for energy training curricula[19]. These energy-training curricula were at the heart of the UNESCO’s capacity building agenda as energy education issues rank high on the agendas of both the United Nations and the international community at-large.
Looking Ahead with a Focus on Science Education
An energised and sustainable African century will require an emphasis on Science Education. A scientific skill set, method and background holds answers to questions every citizen must address today – questions about equitable and inclusive growth, about access and inclusiveness in science, about sustainable development and social resilience. By creating familiarity with science from an early age, there is hope for building a scientifically informed society, relying on science-based decision-making. This will require the sharing of scientific knowledge, experiences and interdisciplinary best practices. UNESCO, and other institutions, have begun various plans to attack this issue. , UNESCO has and will continue to play a pivotal role in many of these areas.
In May 2015, UNESCO was entrusted with the Incheon Declaration to lead Education 2030. Goal number 4 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aims to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”[20]. This highlights the pivotal role of education in the success of all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), where Science education in particular acts a key element. It is unsurprising that in November 2015, the UNESCO Member States requested that priority efforts and actions be made to support STEM education[21]. In addition, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) would need to be instilled especially in the context of developing countries, as this would be in line with the SDG 4[22].
Since then UNESCO has elaborated a multifaceted strategy focused on building international networks between universities and other relevant organisations that seeks to mainstream a focus on science throughout national curriculums in Africa, Arab States and South East Asia while helping underrepresented groups to pursue science. Among other initiatives, this strategy has resulted in the recent World Science Forum 2017 organised in collaboration with ICSU the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Royal Scientific Society of Jordan, and many other partners, which was held for the first time in the Middle East. UNESCO’s strategy has also meant integrating sciences beginning as early as primary school and fighting negative cultural stereotypes that function as immaterial barriers of entry for many into the sector. Individual examples of these initiatives are implemented in countries such as Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, and Rwanda where UNESCO established affiliated training and research centres seeking to reduce the divide between the Northern and Southern scientific hemispheres. The strategy is currently being followed up by rigorous data collection, in collaboration with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, in order to track the progress and understand any obstacle that may come.
In practice, promoting science education a focus on collecting and disseminating knowledge. UNESCO promotes 'Openness' in content, technology, and processes throughout awareness raising, policy formulation and capacity building. These solutions include Open Access to Scientific Information, Open Educational Resources, Free and Open Source Software, an Open Training Platform and Open and Distance Learning[23]. Knowledge and information have a significant impact on people's lives and sharing of knowledge and information, particularly through information and communication technologies (ICTs) has the power to transform economies and societies. It also is critical to create inclusive knowledge societies and empower local communities by increasing access and preservation by sharing of information and knowledge in all of UNESCO's domains.
UNESCO has been a champion in promoting innovative science and technology education methods in teaching and learning processes. A perfect example is the UNESCO’s PERFORM project aiming at strengthening the transversal science competences that the learners will need for successful careers in STEM fields[24]. This project aims to create the conditions for an adequate science education environment for teachers, educators and generations to come. We must raise the profile of STEM for girls and boys, to make science studies and careers more attractive, thereby broadening the base for innovation. Thereby benefitting the local scientific industries, feeding them with local talent, the youth, which will have a greater chance of accessing their full potential, as well as the educational institutions, which currently lack the necessary resources to implement long lasting changes.
On the global scale, UNESCO programmes play a crucial role in terms of advocacy and raising awareness. This strategic advocacy consists of reiterating the importance of STEM by rewarding outstanding scientists emanating from under-represented groups, through initiatives like the UNESCO-L’Oréal For Women in Science programme, which works towards the elimination of biases discouraging girls from STEM careers[25].
Lessons learned through UNESCO’s experience over the past few decades have clearly demonstrated that no single country can develop sustainably alone. Global-scale issues, which span across borders, require global-scale multisector collaborative solutions. Climate change, loss of biodiversity, water pollution and SESAME-like large-scale facilities, for example, cannot simply be contained within national borders. Cohesive international coordination is thus imperative to the effectual conceptualisation and implementation of creative innovative STI-based capacity building solutions to these and other issues, as well as to related knowledge sharing. Cross-disciplinary STI available to global actors in response efforts, fostering a great deal of relevant research and innovation, and should therefore be placed at the forefront of sustainable development planning, especially in the Global South.
Laying the Groundwork for a Sustainable African Century
UNESCO works to promote and strengthen science education on a local, national and institutional level in Africa. At the local level, UNESCO is implementing the “Microscience” project in more than 50 countries, most recently in the Comoros, Cabo Verde, Liberia Zambia, and Gabon[26]. The Microscience teachers’ training programme uses mini-laboratories for student-oriented science teaching and learning in remote and rural areas. This project aims to work directly with populations in small groups or one on one settings in order to foster individuals’ curiosity in subject matter subsequently increasing enrollment within sciences. UNESCO’s efforts are mirrored by the efforts of various local organisations who are each trying to tackle training and education in their respective areas. For example, Projekt Inspire, a Tanzanian based initiative, introduces STEM and health project based learning into a previously theory driven curriculum[27]. Numerous similar organisation exist on the local scale.
On the institutional level, the UNESCO Sustainability Science initiative aims at developing policy guidelines to promote interdisciplinary research and education. Indeed, the initiative assists universities as traditional social institutions in knowledge production and distribution, in adapting their teaching and learning approaches towards a problem-oriented balance of specialized expertise versus inter-and transdisciplinary. As such, entire communities are impacted at once by these initiatives, increasing the reach as compared to individual-classes like Microscience yet retaining the community structure, which is very efficient in increasing scientific curiosity by targeting specific individuals.
On the national level, UNESCO works through Science and Technology education initiatives. For example, in Tanzania, Nigeria and Seychelles, UNESCO has supported Governments in building STEM education into overall STI reform plans in order to ensure better teacher training and sharper curricula. UNESCO is guided by this idea that Science and Technology Education can become a motor for sustainable development, if it is tightly aligned with national development strategies, if it is fine-tuned and integrated into curricula, if it is inclusive for everyone – including girls and women. This larger scale intervention can have a wider affect if the country has efficient government program inaction while still ensuring cultural relevancy and curated adaption into certain regions however making it difficult to measure how these changes will directly influence those on an individual level. An example of this is to train certain teachers in gender-responsive teaching strategies, so that male and female students can develop their full potential. It is worth noting that many other national initiative targeting Africa are, at best, tangential in nature. Many focus on employment and transferable skills. Two such examples are Digital Jobs Africa put forth by the Rockefeller Foundation, and The Africa Skills Initiative by the World Economic Forum. Both these initiatives aim to provide skills within STEM, but by providing digital job opportunities; an approach that aims to provide more of a practical education. The World Economic Forum discusses the need for institutional changes within African education within their report on the future of jobs in Africa, but does little more than broach the subject before launching into The African Skills Initiative[28].
Other projects approach the problem from innovative new angles. UNESCO has launched its Solar Electrification of Rural Schools project in 2014 in five sub-Saharan African countries: Benin, Madagascar, Mauritania, Niger and Togo. In partnership with the OPEC Fund for International Development and Panasonic, the project powered 75 schools (15 schools in each of the 5 countries’ rural areas) using solar panels, which electrified classrooms, schoolyards, computer labs, printers and internet access[29]. 24,658 schoolchildren, 590 teachers and 60 directors directly benefited from this project, exemplifying the positive impact made by connecting cost-effective and sustainable energy technology with rural communities. Moreover, UNESCO’s continues its outreach for the benefit of rural communities through (1) training activities on renewable energy technologies and applications, (2) its annual regional schools dedicated to renewable energy such as the Asian School on Renewable Energy in Kuala Lumpur in 2016 and the African School on Renewable Energy in Douala in 2015, and (3) promoting greater knowledge sharing by developing new teaching tools and holding international scientific meetings and events featuring experts in energy and sustainable development.
Towards 2030
Going forward, youth engagement will be crucial to development issues. UNESCO recognizes this and is responding to it by creating programmes with its ASPnet to form a bridge between the young generation’s energy and creativity, and the headlines outlining the depletion of natural resources. In 2015, UNESCO implemented the International Year of Light in more than 147 countries in order to advocate for new and environmental-friendly lighting solutions, renewable energy access and a technological breakthrough for sustainable energy sourcing. As recognized by this International Year and by the recently declared International Day of Light (IDL) to be celebrated every 16 May, light plays an important role in sustaining all life on our planet and it can be harnessed through technology and innovation in order to address a whole host of global challenges.
UNESCO’s Study after Sunset initiative during the International Year of Light aims to tackle the issue of poor-quality lighting, depriving students of 20-30 minutes on average of time to study each day in the developing world, especially Africa. As poor-quality lighting (i.e. kerosene lamps) dramatically impacts health and educational opportunities, Study after Sunset promoted the training and use of portable solar-powered high-brightness LED lanterns in regions where there is little or no reliable source of light, benefiting over 80,000 people over a two-year period from Ghana, Peru, Costa Rica and beyond[30]. Additionally, the International Year of Light spread sustainable light-based energy solutions and off-grid lighting options to counter lighting poverty in rural and developing communities where centralized electric-grid services are far from reach and too expensive, time-consuming and destructive to build.
Science and Education, two major sectors promoted by UNESCO, remain influential forces underpinning economic growth and social progress, which are paramount to sustainable development. The rational use of scientific and technological progress can contribute powerfully to solving development problems, particularly those of energy production, access, and transport, imperative to either mitigating or exacerbating other universal development concerns such as public health, food, water and safety. In addition, many Least Developed Countries struggle with issues relating to lack of scientist and engineers in their general populations thereby increasing the difficulty of improving infrastructure, health services and developing their society in a sustainable way so as not to rely on outside intervention. Increasingly, sustainability means self-sustainability. Intergovernmental organisations and local governments are looking inwards, towards recruiting women, youth and other previously untapped human resources to fulfill the gaps their societies are facing specifically when it comes to the STEM sector. This means exploiting current facilities, institutions and international partnerships to alter the current landscape of sciences: culturally, demographically and with a wider global outlook.
This perspective is represented in the Sustainable Development Goals, which are interpectoral, ambitious and transformative. They will demand changes in the way we work; we develop, and do research. On an individual level, it also the responsibilities of the dedicated local scientific communities (the researchers, the science educators and the policy makers) to inspire passion and incite change, to create a scientific and educational ecosystem contributing to the sustainability of our modern models. Most importantly, it will require a new generation of inquisitive, bright and ambitious citizens. The solutions to the great challenges we are currently facing will begin as a simple idea in the minds of new generation in a classroom, a lab, or garage. It is the responsibility of the international community to empower current researchers, policy maker and the youth of today in countries around the globe to rise to the challenge posed by the 2030 Agenda and tackle humankind’s most daunting challenge yet: sustainability. UNESCO accepts this challenge, by continuing to be a champion for these reforms, paving the way for science education and capacity building by enabling citizens of the world so that together we can achieve the goals we have set for the beginning of this new millennium.
[1]The World Energy Outlook, International Energy Agency, 2016
[2] The 23-Year-Olf behind Soular Backpacks is Bringing Solar-Powered Backpacks to Children in Africa, Forbes, 2016
[3]The World Energy Outlook, International Energy Agency, 2016
[4] Engineering: issues, challenges and opportunities for development; UNESCO report; 2012
[5]Women in Science, The UNESCO Institute for Sciences, November 2015
[6]Adult and Youth Literacy, UNESCO Institute for Statistics, September 2013
[7]Education Statistics: Gross enrolment ratio by level of education, UNESCO Institute for Statistics UIS.Stats, retrieved January 2018
[8]UNESCO Science Report 2010, UNESCO, 2010
[9]Literacy rates are on the rise but millions remain illiterate, UNESCO Institute for Statistics, UIS fact sheet September 2016, No. 38
[10]UNESCO Science Report: Towards 2030, UNESCO, 2015
[11]About OWSD, Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World, 2018
[12]Science Report: Towards 2030, UNESCO, 2015
[13]About Us, Next Einstein Forum, 2017
[14] The United Nations General Assembly at its 57th Session in December 2002, adopted Resolution 57/254 to start the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.
[15]Education for Sustainable Development Goals Learning Objectives, UNESCO, 2017
[16]The green industry is booming in Kinshasa, ESD Success Stories
[17]CCREAD: Inspiring sustainability education project improves lives in Cameroon, ESD Success Stories, June 2017
[18]ASPnet schools join the global commitment for ESD, UNESCO Associated Schools Programme, 2014
[19]UNESCO’s Global Renewable Energy Education and Training Programme (GREET Programme), Osman Benchikh, 2004
[20]Education2030: Icheon Declaration and Framework for Action, for the implementation of Sustainable Goal 4
[21]38 C/INF.22, UNESCO 38th General Conference, 2017
[22]Education2030: Icheon Declaration and Framework for Action, for the implementation of Sustainable Goal 4
[23]Can Open Educational Resources help achieve the Education 2030 agenda?, UNESCO, 2017
[24]Project Description, Preform, 2016
[25]Science Report, UNESCO, 2015
[26]The Global Microscience Experiments Project Practical Teaching Aids for Secondary Schools, UNESCO, 2017
[27]Inspire STEM/Inspire Health, Projekt Inspire, 2015
[28] The Future of Jobs and Skills in Africa Preparing the Region for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, World Economic Forum, 2017
[29]Solar Electrification program of rural schools in Madagascar, UNESCO office in Nairobi, 2015
[30]The International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies: a resilient and creative approach to counter sustainability challenges, UNESCO, April 2017