SEED conference and final project meeting in Kenya

The final SEED project meeting was held in Nairobi, Kenya, in the week from 22nd to 26th January. Project leader Prof. Zörner and the team from the Institute of new Energy Systems (InES) met with the project partners from the University of Bayreuth (UBT), Universidade Eduaordo Mondlane (UEM) and Phaesun GmbH. The project meeting was hosted by the local project partner, the Technical University of Kenya (TU-K).

The focus of the week was the joint project conclusion and the organisation of a one-day conference to present the project results to important stakeholders and interested third parties.

As SEED comes to an end in March 2024, the project team prepared the final steps for a successful conclusion of the research project, which has now been running since April 2021. The results to date were reviewed in depth focusing specifically on the future possibilities for a subsequent research project based on SEED. As the focus of SEED was on the development of concepts for the sustainable and innovative provision of energy services in urban informal settlements in sub-Saharan Africa, the project consortium is now aiming for the implementation phase with a follow-up project.

In addition, the partner Technical University of Kenya invited external partners and guests to a full-day final conference, during which the SEED team presented the results to date and discussed further potential for cooperation as well as opportunities and challenges for a second project phase together with the participants. A joint lunch also provided the opportunity to engage in dialogue with guests from outside SEED and to deliberate possible further projects.

The SEED project is funded by the DLR with funds from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and will run until the end of March 2024. Further information on the project can be found at https://www.seed-initiative.org/