Trans-disciplinary online course building: A first meet-up in Erlangen, Germany
From May 16th to 20th, the Germany hub hosted, in Erlangen, Germany, the trans-disciplinary meeting for the DAAD-IVAC project titled “Ethical Global Partnerships, Resources and Sustainability: Virtual Collaboration in an interdisciplinary and intercultural inverted classroom”. Dr Lavinia Hirsu (University of Glasgow), Dr Mia Perry (Online – University of Glasgow), Joseph Watuleke (Makerere University), Dr Sizwe Mabaso (University of Eswatini) & Dr Raihana Ferdous (Oxford-Brookes University) travelled to Erlangen and were warmly welcomed by Prof Daniel Koehn, Dr Anette Regelous, Jakob Machleidt, Daniel Hafermaas & Dr Johannes Wiest, all from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. Their participation in and contributions to the event were hugely appreciated and integral to the success of the planned activities.

During this week, all project partners jointly finalised the trans-disciplinary, interconnected learning modules for the postgraduate course. The final aims are to enhance digital and inter-cultural skills including geologic knowledge about the countries’ resources under the aspect of sustainability and ethical partnerships across the cultures of tutors and students with a global virtual perspective, and to develop a best-practice case for the wider community.

“The activities we developed in Erlangen enabled us to lock in valuable time for focussed collaboration. The in-person work allowed us to align our thinking about how the different parts of the course we are currently developing can work in synergy. The time to also know each other not only as researchers but also as people who come from different backgrounds, lives, and stories added a crucial dimension to the ‘soul’ of our collaborative work.” – Dr Lavinia Hirsu, University of Glasgow
“The week in Erlangen has increased my understanding of the project and my role. It improved my conceptualization of what we need to do and what the expectations are. As a result, it shaped my understanding of my role and built my confidence. I was able to contribute comfortably to the design and development of the trans-disciplinary course.
The week was also relevant for team building. I had met the Germany, Glasgow, and Eswatini teams on zoom but did not know them well. Team building was achieved, and at the end of the week, we knew each other well and committed to building a stronger network. The members of the German hub were so welcoming and caring. They made our stay in Germany interesting. Besides the project work, they provided us with a fascinating tour of the region. Visiting nearby cities such as Nuremberg and Munich helped me to put the European History that I studied in High School into perspective.” – Joseph Watuleke, Makerere University
“It sounds comprehensible to communicate, organize and work solely with virtual tools, if you start an educational project with an international team. Especially with the perspective of teaching it internationally. I stepped into this project as replacement of Dr Theresa Nohl, the project coordinator at FAU. Prior to this week, I had none to small connections to the team members. Meetings before our project week were formal gatherings, with one-dimensional people without personal background and connections. But seeing the team for the first time, not just on my screen, and being able to work together with direct responses and discussions adds so much more to the whole project. For me, meeting the members in person changed this loose group into a team.“ – Daniel Hafermass, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg
Policy Influence from SFA Membership
SFA Network members have different levels of engagement and influence on policy. Appointments are not necessarily stemming from their direct involvement in the SFA Network but their SFA membership has an impact on their practices, individual networks, etc. and therefore influence their participation and engagement with policy. The list below provide information about individual engagement and potential influence on policy and practice at the local, national, regional & International level (last update 11th March 2021).
Botswana:
Prof. Olekae Thakadu
- Board Member | Human Resource Development Council, Sector Research Innovation Science and Technology (National)
- Board Member | National Community Based Natural Resource Management (National)
Dr Masego Ayo Mpotokwane
- Board Member | Kgalagadi Conservation Society (National)
Prof. Rebecca Nthogo Lekoko
- Member of the Governing Council | University of Lesotho (National)
- Country’s (Botswana) representative | Committee on Doctoral Education in Commonwealth Africa (DECA). (Regional)
Eswatini:
Dr Deepa Pullanikkatil
- Chairperson of Tourism Recovery Team – Unlocking Climate Change Finance | Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs (National)
- (Intended) Nationally Determined. Contributions ((I)NDCs) Coordinator | Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs (National)
Dr. Sizwe Mabaso
- Chairperson of University of Eswatini Waste Management Task Team | University of Eswatini (Local)
- Vice Chairperson of the 4th National Communication on Greenhouse Gases | Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs (National)
Gcina Isaac Dladla
- Director of Policy Planing, Research and Information | Eswatini Environment Authority (National)
- Chairperson of the 4th National Communication on Greenhouse Gases | Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs (National
Russell Dlamini
- Chief Executive Director National Disaster Management Agency | National Disaster Management Agency (National)
Belusile Mhlanga
- Environmental Information Officer | Eswatini Environment Authority (National)
- Vice President of the Regional Centres of Expertise in Africa | Eswatini Environment Authority (National)
Emmanuel Ndlangamandla
- Executive Director | Coordinating Assembly of Non-Governmental Organisations (National)
Eric Seyama
- Director Early Warning and Research | National Disaster Management Agency (National)
Malawi:
Moses W Mkandawire
- Multi-Stakeholder Group on Extrative Industries Initiative (EITI) | Ministry of Finance (National)
Nigeria:
Prof. Sunday Adesola Ajayi
- Chairman, Governing Board | Oke-Ogun Polytechnic (Local)
Prof. Olusola Georges Ajibade
- Member, Governing Council | Iresi Polytechnic (Local)
Femi Babatunde
- Senior Special Assistant to the Governor | Office of Ministry of Economic Development & Partnerships – Osun State (National)
Priscilla Achakpa
- Special Advisor (Technical) to the Honorable Minister for State Environment | Federal Ministry of Environment (National)
Uganda:
Dr. Kevin Aanyu
- Board of Directors Member | Petrolium Authority of Uganda (National)
Prof. Charles Masembe
- Appointed Associate Editor: Frontiers in Genetic/Evolutionary & Population Genetics | Evolutionary and Population Genetics (International)
Waste management training manual for primary schools
By Reagan Kandole, Executive Director of ECOaction
ECOaction and its partners (Sustainable Futures in Africa Network, Kampala City Council Authority, Makerere University, Design hub Kampala and the US Embassy) aim to promote and sustain proper solid waste management practices and environmental awareness within schools and communities in Kampala, Uganda. The team aims to teach educators and learners how reducing, reusing and recycling solid waste can make a difference to their school, community, and the environment.
ECOaction has the skills and resources to support this development of this knowledge and practice in schools. In 2019-2020, they worked with Environment and Sanitation clubs in primary schools across Kampala City, on the “Clean Air” project that aimed to help schools to achieve proper waste management. ECOaction and partners collaborated with a group of experts to develop a “tool kit” or teaching and learning manual for waste management and recycling in primary schools.
A curriculum specialist from Makerere University, Dr Leah Sikoyo, and Dr Mia Perry from the University of Glasgow have co-developed the manual with ECOaction community artists, and a local designer. The objective of this manual is to build upon ECOaction’s efforts to sensitize school children on environmental awareness. In particular, the resource relates to proper waste management, through hands-on practical activities relating to reusing and recycling everyday waste to generate useful products for various activities within the school and surrounding communities. The practices described contribute to a clean environment and sustainable livelihoods. The manual introduces the justifications, principles and practices of proper waste management and demonstrates how these can be integrated into the primary school curriculum through relevant themes and topics.
Two flexible and adaptable school projects are suggested in the manual through step-by-step instructions; curriculum thematic connections; and visual illustrations and examples. Finally, each activity is linked to out-of-school and community practices for the broader learning and development in family and community contexts. The extended team strongly believes that this manual provides a unique and powerful resource to schools at this time, and aims to increase the reach and impact of this resource as well as build upon it to develop other resources for educational use.
High Cost of Electricity Is A Major Cause of Climate Change
By Vanessa Duclos, Network Manager
SFA member and PhD student, Anthony Kadoma, has had his first piece of writing published in Uganda national newspaper ‘New Vision’. The article is titled ‘High Cost of Electricity Is A Major Cause of Climate Change’.
It is surprising that despite all our water bodies in form of lakes and rivers, including the River Nile, which is the longest river in Africa, the percentage of Ugandans with access to electricity is the lowest in eastern Africa save for Burundi and South Sudan. The percentage of the citizens that have access to power in the East African region as reported by the World Bank in 2018 was: Burundi (11.02%), South Sudan (22.03%), Uganda (26%), Rwanda (34.72), Tanzania (35.56%) and Kenya (75%). When it comes to the availability of water from where most of the power is generated, Uganda leads all the countries with almost 15% of her land covered by freshwater lakes and swamps. Kenya only has 1.93%, Rwanda 3% and Tanzania 6.49% of its total landmass covered by water and swamps. This clearly shows that Uganda has an advantage over its neighbours. Then the question is why do few Ugandans have access to electricity? One of the reasons is that the cost of accessing and using power is costly for most Ugandans.
There are connection costs, wiring costs, monthly bills to pay, repair costs as well as the cost resulting from the malfunctioning of power, which has been reported to cause huge losses. Another hidden cost is that of load shedding if intended or just the power disappearing without one being alerted. This has spoilt the user’s electricity gadgets with no one to compensate them.
The second reason is that the settlement patterns in Uganda make it so expensive and difficult to have many of the citizens connected to the national grid. Almost all the parts of Uganda are habitable resulting in the scattering of homesteads all over the country, making it hard for them to be connected to the national grid.
Thirdly, there has been mismanagement of some of the government efforts to increase connections to the national grid. Programmes like rural electrification, connecting all-district and sub-county headquarters as well as health facilities are all commendable, but inadequate and do not directly target individual households.
With a handful of Ugandans having electricity in their homes even though they use it for lighting other than cooking, there is a big challenge. Almost all Ugandans whether in urban or rural areas cook using charcoal. This charcoal that is derived from cutting down trees has contributed to a great loss in terms of their acreage.
To make matters worse, the water supplied by the National Water and Sewerage Corporation cannot be consumed unless boiled first because of line leakages. This means that more trees must be cut down for homes to have clean water to drink, adding to our already burdened environment. When the forests are cleared rainfall becomes unreliable, seasons unpredictable, dry seasons are prolonged, crop yields are low, and ultimately limited household incomes.
Living in an era of ecological bankruptcy
By Anthony Kadoma- PhD Student, Environmental Sustainability, University of Glasgow
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 85% of the world countries are ecologically bankrupt. Ecological bankruptcy is defined as a situation where a country’s natural resources are used at a faster rate than the same resources can regenerate. This bankruptcy is more pronounced in developed countries compared to middle-income countries and very few of the developing countries. Thus, many of the countries in Europe, Asia, and North America are perceived to be ecologically bankrupt. In the same way, developing countries that are not already there are not resting, they are also racing and are on a terrific speed to catch up with the developed nations. Global programs such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim at improving living standards across the globe mainly through poverty eradication. Although we all agree with the endeavour to eradicate poverty, by transitioning to improved standards of living, it is essential that this improvement is done cautiously and in awareness of the environmental costs that come with development.
Several examples can indicate ecological bankruptcy. This can manifests through the negative effects of climate change such as prolonged droughts, uncontrolled wildfires, hail storms, hurricanes, flooding, landslides, ever-changing seasons, excessive carbon-dioxide, loss of biodiversity, presence of many crops and animal pests and diseases, invasion of locusts, and unprecedented human destruction on environment. It is surprising to note that in Uganda, lakes that are traditionally known for not exceeding their usual levels have done so in the recent past – a phenomenon that had not been seen in decades.
Whereas it is difficult to pinpoint the actual causes of the above disasters, many of them may be linked to human activities and natural change processes. The global population currently stands at 7.8 billion with a 2.3 fertility rate (World Population Data Sheet-2020), living in an inelastic planet. Matters are made worse with the presence of non-ecological human behaviour and actions towards mother earth such as inappropriate disposal of plastic materials and general waste management. The ever-increasing human population also let to a significant encroachment on world wetlands driving them to disappear three times faster than forests (UN Climate Change Report- 2018).
Below I suggest what I consider the ten points or actions that can be taken to mitigate ecological bankruptcy in any given community. This list is not exhaustive and can be amended if more research is conducted to address specific issues.
- Increase awareness about the problem of ecological bankruptcy so that it is clearly understood by all.
- Enlist the participation of all stakeholders in whatever capacity they can support.
- Identify and promote locally based solutions grounded in indigenous knowledge.
- Study and share good practices globally, regionally, nationally and at the community level.
- Advocate for and influence human behavioural changes to adopt better waste management practices of reducing, recycling, and reusing. Conserve and use wisely the remaining ecosystems and make practical efforts to restore those destroyed.
- Identify and support alternative sources of livelihood for the majority of poor subsistence farmers. With improved living standards, they will be able to shift their practices towards more sustainable ones
- Establish and implement punitive measures for those who use their economic power and political connections to destroy the environment on a large scale. This can be achieved if politics is removed from the management of the environment.
- Make improvements in the quality of services offered to the citizens, especially in areas of health, education, and agriculture. It should be remembered that modern agriculture relies heavily on the use of hydrocarbons, pesticides, and fertilisers. These need to be used in moderation and where applicable be replaced with organic farming.
- Encourage everyone to take individual responsibility regarding how we live our lives. Planet-friendly actions need to be adopted. These among others may include free distribution and planting of several trees in areas where massive vegetation cover has been cleared, reforestation where forest lands have been decimated, and stopping the encroachment on wetlands and riverbanks as well as lakeshores.
- Finally, for most Sub-Saharan African countries, particularly Uganda, increase access to electricity and make it affordable to the citizens. At present (2020) only about 60% of the urban residents and 18% of the rural residents are connected to the national grid. Given the fact that over 75% of the population lives in rural areas (World Bank Report 2019), this paints a very grim situation. It implies that most of the people still rely on wood as their source of energy for cooking and lighting.
In conclusion, all individuals, communities and governments in both developed and developing nations need to be unequivocally aware of the fact that we are living in a natural resource-constrained planet. Our ecological overdraft gets larger day by day and year by year. Therefore, we need to be careful about how we harvest and use the scarce available resources as their scarcity is going to intensify as the world population increases, more disasters befall us, wrong political decisions are taken, and finally the presence of our uncontrolled greed.
AWOC distributes 1,353 learning packages to vulnerable youth
By Dalton Otim, Research Administrator of the Uganda hub
Through AWOC, the Uganda hub secured a small grant/donation from a member of Gutau’ Catholic Parish in Austria, in response to Education Support during the COVID-19 lockdown. This was meant to serve target beneficiaries from primary schools (1,150 pupils) and secondary schools (475 students) in marginalized communities of Alebtong District, Uganda. During the COVID-19 lockdown, unlike learners from urban areas in Uganda, learners from rural communities can’t access the online learning material produced by the Ministry of Education through National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC). The grant allowed AWOC’s team to:
- Procure working tools to schools (laptops, printers, cartons of paper, hand washing facilities and other office supplies);
- Print, photocopy and distribute self-study materials to the students (Sciences and Humanities packages);
- Mobilize learners through radio announcement pinned class schedules in public places.
Within one month, a total of 1,353 learners were given self-study material packages. Out of 1,353 learners 55% were males and 45% were females – 70% of all learners were from primary school and 30% were from secondary school.
Achievements
The required working tools were delivered as planned allowing the production of self-study materials at the beginning of June 2020. The team managed to control the number of learners attending the sessions by making a schedule for the distribution of the materials to learners. The schedule was enforced after the team received a police warning as enthusiastic students were not following the government directives of people gathering and social distancing.
Mobilization of learners was effective through radio announcements and pinning sessions schedules in public places. These methods ensured that learners from all the district came to the distribution centre. Learners signed agreements with the organisation – they pledge to make good use of the self-study material.
Challenges and lessons learnt
- Making sure that students and parents would follow government guidelines to restrict COVID-19 spread during distribution sessions;
- The team did not have data about the number of students and their respective grade who would come to the centre to acquire the self-learning material. Therefore, some packages were printed in excess.
- Some learners complained that their parents were not giving them enough time to read their books. They had to engage in domestic and garden work.
- Candidate classes came in big numbers compared to other Classes.
- Learners were not interested in attending teaching sessions over the radios. Some students who might have been interested in those sessions were not aware of these radio sessions (communication challenges).
- Learners are waiting for the second term packages so there is urgent need to produce and distribute them.
To minimise the impacts of the lockdown on the education of the rural youth, there is need for AWOC to continue supporting them. Their enthusiasm and appreciation of the efforts made by AWOC is heartwarming and attest of the importance of social equity in terms of crisis. There was no other alternative due to the COVID-19 lockdown apart from the materials they received from the centre. AWOC will continue to manage and overcome the challenges associated with the current context, and the team hope to secure funds to be able to keep supporting the learners and conduct follow-up visits.
Sustainable Development and the Global South
Collaboration with Glasgow School of Art
Future Experiences: Sustainable Development and the Global South
In 2019-2020, the SFA Network collaborated with the Glasgow School of Arts – Product Design on a project entitled the Future Experiences: Sustainable Development and the Global South. You can read more about it here.
The SFA Network is very pleased to announce that the project dataset collection is now live! The record is public and can be accessed here. Many SFA Members took part to the project and we would like to thank everyone for their contribution. They are included as an author on this dataset/project.
We recommend looking at the ‘Project Journey Map’ and the fantastic ‘Future Experiences Book’ in order to get a feel for what is there. But don’t stop there – this is a tremendously rich resource of output and know-how. This collaboration with the future designers from the Glasgow School of Art was truly inspiring and refreshing for the SFA team. The impact of this project and the engagement with designers is translating into the recent research applications submitted by the Network.
We encourage you to use and share the material from this project.
DOI: 10.5525/gla.researchdata.1019
No one is safe until everyone is safe
By Dalton Otim, Research Administrator of the Ugandan hub
It’s approximate 5 months now, almost all the countries in the world have focused their attention on the fight against Covid-19 disease caused by Coronavirus. In Africa, particularly in Uganda, its now approximately 3 months since the socio political and economic situation started to be destabilized and affected due to a series of lockdown instituted in phases.
Immediately the first positive patient with Covid-19 was tested, the government swung into action by curtailing personal movements and social gatherings. This was supplemented by a nationwide curfew where people were ordered not to make any movement past 2:00 pm during the lockdown. It is this that made life hard for majority of Ugandans especially those that live in urban areas.
Economically, all businesses not dealing in food stuffs and medicines were ordered to close with immediate effect. All private vehicles were not allowed on the road save for those from institutions which had to be cleared by the minister of transport. It was only big trucks carrying goods from and too neighbouring countries of Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo that were allowed to move freely. Actually, the truck drivers have turned out to be the big challenge that the country has come to struggle with as they are the ones that are testing positive in most testing centres.
Campaigns on encouraging citizens to keep social distance, thorough hand washing and use of face coverings were run everywhere on radios and televisions. The security forces were deployed everywhere to effect the lockdown and indeed many people who tried to do the contrary were beaten, arrested and jailed.
Lessons learnt by the Ugandan hub members from the lockdown
- The government measures put in place to limit the spread of the virus have been largely effective as the country has got no any fatality as of 15th May 2020.
- Decentralization of policies can work if given support from the centre. In every district, a task force was created, facilitated and given full authority to make sure that all the new people that come in are tested. This has increased community vigilance. How we wish this is extended to other social challenges facing the communities and households.
- Many urban dwellers are not food secure not because there is no food supplies but due to lack of purchasing power to access the food. This is a big crisis that all concerned individuals need to interest themselves in. As someone said “No one is safe until everyone is safe”. So as researchers and community practitioners we need to initiate and engage in projects that will improve people’s ability to withstand such calamities in the area of food security.
- Uganda having gone through previous epidemics such as Ebola and others, it prepared it to quickly respond to Covid-19 as well. Click here for details.
Dr Alex Okot, is in Lira during the lockdown and shares some issues this situation brought for the communities the hub works with in Alebtong district.
A drive to remember: ECOaction at work in the Covid-19 lockdown
By Reagan Kandole, Mia Perry, Vanessa Duclos, Raihana Ferdous and Deepa Pullanikkatil
The Covid 19 pandemic continues to expose the most vulnerable people in Uganda’s communities. As the country transitioned towards a total lockdown, banning public transport, strict regulations on the labor force and only essential services — monitored by the health and security sector — the progress and gains made by community initiatives like ECOaction have been threatened. ECOaction is a non profit organisation that creates income and livelihood opportunities for the most marginalised urban youth and women through innovations in waste management. ECOaction is located in Banda, an unplanned settlement of Kampala City, Uganda. The organisation works with the most vulnerable groups of plastic collectors, mainly elderly women and young adults, and provides them with alternative markets for recycled products. ECOaction also builds the capacity of its beneficiaries around waste management and environmental conservation. One of the main challenges in our community right now is that they are not able to sell any of the plastics they collect to the recycling companies during the lockdown, which means they have no money to pay for food to feed their families.
“For most of the women we support, the main source of income is collecting plastics and if they cannot move around to collect and sell these bottles, then they are not able to feed their families. Even with the government’s attempts to distribute food to the most vulnerable, not everyone will be able to access that support and there is an urgent need for more basic supplies to be distributed. Otherwise, there is a risk that many people will die of starvation, malaria, stress and many other diseases”. Reagan Kandole, Executive Director of ECOaction.
The photo story below depicts the journey that ECOaction’s team took, despite public transport bans and distancing policies, to reach out to this community