Joint PhD Honours Programme between European and African Universities Launched in Nairobi

In November 2023, the participants, lecturers and coordinators of the programme met for the first time in Nairobi for a two-week Sustainable Innovation School, hosted at the UNESCO Chair on Climate Change Resilience and Sustainability at Strathmore University. The participants dove into the topics of life-cycle assessment and energy modeling and visited the Strathmore Energy Research Centre and Ngong Hills Wind Farm.

“The Innovation School taught me concepts on sustainable development and how to measure sustainability to assess contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – which are key to my thesis research area. It also enhanced my understanding of the global challenges related to the energy sector with a specific focus on its implications at the national economic level and on climate change from a Life Cycle Assessment perspective”

Susan Osongo, a doctoral candidate at Strathmore Business School, summarises her key takeaways. Thibaut Menny, a doctoral candidate from the ETH Circular Engineering for Architecture Group, emphasised the programme's contribution to cultivating skills for successful international collaboration:

"Sustainability cannot be achieved by addressing only environmental indicators; it is crucial to also consider social and economic performances. Modifying parameters in our complex systems always has effects elsewhere that require careful evaluation. Therefore, collaboration and empathy play major roles in the success of sustainable science, and they are not just concepts we can learn but skills we must actively train and cultivate. AMBITION provides us with an amazing opportunity to engage precisely in that!"

One key element of the programme is creating opportunities for the participants to engage in exchange with society, be it with policymakers and practitioners or by empowering and inspiring younger students to get involved in sustainable development. In Nairobi, the participants conducted an afternoon session with middle school students from around the city. During the session, the students shared their everyday experiences and identified sustainability gaps in their schools and communities, while the AMBITION participants assisted them in envisioning and designing improvements.

“The students brought up a significant issue: the insecurity problem they regularly encounter between home and school. Our collective reflections led us to identify a correlation between the lack of lighting in certain areas of their route and the recurrent aggression. This then prompted us to brainstorm ways to provide light in non-electrified areas while also preventing the risk of theft of such new installations. The maturity and lucidity of the children we had the privilege of meeting truly touched me. It was a moment of rare quality for all of us, that I will not forget”, says Thibaut Menny.

The next AMBITION Sustainable Innovation School will take place at TU Delft in May 2024, where participants will spend a week learning about "Governing the Just Transition" and hopefully further intensify the bonds they have forged.