Event review: African Leadership for a Sustainable Future – Stories to Inspire
During the Nachhaltigkeitswoche Zurich, together with the African Student Association Zurich (ASAZ), ETH4D hosted the storytelling event “African Leadership for a Sustainable Future: Stories to Inspire” on March 12, 2021. Students, junior researchers, and entrepreneurs from the ETH community shared their stories behind their commitment to global sustainable development.
Tayssir Limam kicked off the evening with a brief story of how when she came to Zurich from Tunisia, she sought an African community in Zurich and ended up finding external pageASAZ, of which she is currently president. This was followed by a short introduction by ETH4D Executive Director Dr. Adina Rom on the power of storytelling.
After Prof. Dr. Sarah Springman, Rector of ETH Zurich gave a warm welcome, the speakers took the virtual stage to share their stories.
With great enthusiasm, Dr. Daniel Chiumia shared his experience of working with Mr. Phiri, a Malawi farmer, who inspired and made him understand the actual issues of research and data collection in Malawi. To improve the livelihood of farmers, Daniel founded external pageChiweto, a Malawi-Swiss AgriTech startup that provides mobile-based information and insurance services to small-holder farmers in lower-income countries.
ETH doctoral candidate Firehiwot Nesro Kedir shared how she could connect with the field of construction through childhood memories at her grandparents’ place in rural Ethiopia, particularly remembering the sustainable and local material used for buildings. In her dissertation at the Chair of Innovative and Industrial Construction Firehiwot is looking at the performance and potential of Industrialised Construction for a resource-efficient architecture, engineering, and construction sector.
Having grown up in Germany and Ethiopia, Biology student Felix Matschie talked about how through the actions of his best friend Ali in Ethiopia, he learnt the importance of perseverance and recognised his own privileges at a very young age. These realisations have inspired Felix to be part of external pageUNESCO's Green Academy, an initiative aiming to provide feasible infrastructure reforms to enable green urbanisation, especially in lower-income countries.
Mary Uyoga shared how she was unsure about what she wanted to do after graduating from her Bachelors studies, but by taking risks and leaving her comfort zone, she discovered her passion for research on human nutrition. Very recently, Mary defended her doctoral thesis at the Institute of Food Nutrition and Health on novel strategies to improve iron intake in African infants.
And lastly, architect and urbanist Mandu Dos Santos Pinto shared how as a child, his family was forced to leave conflict-affected Angola for Switzerland, and how despite turbulent ups and downs, he was able to combine his love for art and urban spaces and turn it into impact in African cities. Mandu initiated the project external pageEcoCar Solaire, which uses innovative and climate-friendly technologies to achieve sustainable urban mobility in Senegal’s capital Dakar.
The storytelling was followed by breakout sessions, where participants had the chance to get to know the speakers and their projects better and allowed them to establish new connections and expand their networks. We thank all speakers and participants for this inspiring evening!
Speakers:
Dr. Daniel Chiumia (ETH Zurich Alumnus, external pageLUANAR; external pageChiweto)
Firehiwot Nesro Kedir (ETH Doctoral Student, Institute of Construction and Infrastructure Management)
Felix Abraham Matschie (ETH Student; external pageGreen Academy Africa)
Mandu dos Santos Pinto (external pagemandu|architexture & urbanizm; external pageEcoCar Solaire)
Mary Uyoga (ETH Zurich Alumna, Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health)