International Online Summer School
07 – 18 October 2019
Designed for Master students (or PhD students) in fields related to water and energy management in both urban and semi-urban contexts, this two-week programme pulls together the expertise and contributions of all project partners as well as external partners.
Sustainable urban development is a key common challenge for the African continent and globally. A key task in ensuring sustainable development of urban and semi-urban regions lies in an adequate risk management in the supply system of resources like water, energy and food. Such supply is increasingly threatened by risks arising from resource depletion and unsustainable use, weak governance as well as climatic risks. Research collaborations addressing the adaptation of resource supply to the mentioned risks in urban and semi-urban areas present a unique opportunity for long-run interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral higher education endeavor. The RARSUS (Risk Assessment and Reduction Strategies for Sustainable Urban Resource Supply in Sub-Saharan Africa) and RARSUS-SEMALI (Focus on Renewable Energies and Agricultural aspects in Mali) projects bring together leading partners from Germany (ZEF, UNU and ITT) and Africa (PAUWES, UAM, IPR/IFRA and USTT-B) with excellent records of accomplishment in higher education and research cooperation.
The overall objective of the both projects is to establish long-term, research-based higher education cooperation between German and African partners and within Africa in the area of sustainable resource supply management in urban and semi-urban regions. It also focuses on supporting the development of innovative research methods and the support of young researchers in order to develop future joint projects.
The online summer school takes two weeks and pulls together the expertise and contribution of all partners and external partners of the consortium, which are subsequently responsible for specific modules of the summer school. The online summer school will focus on the following topics:
- Risk and Vulnerability – Theory and Assessment
- Resilience & Climate Change in African Cities
- Climate-resilient Energy Supply Infrastructure
- Water, Energy and Food Interactions in Urban Contexts
- Hydrology-based Approaches for Developing and Operating Infrastructure for Water Management in Urban Settings
- Spatial Planning in the Context of Urban Water Management
Designed for Master and PhD students in fields related to water and energy management in both urban and semi-urban contexts, such as geography, hydrology, water management, economics, social science, engineering, anthropology, environmental and/or natural science. Participation is open to students (MSc or PhD) and alumni of partnering institutions as well as other West African universities.
Participants will gain more knowledge in the field of water and energy, will be empowered to pursue their own line of inquiry using real case studies. In addition, participants will be able to use their knowledge to solve problems supported and facilitated by lecturers. The summer school will also prepare participants to learn on demand and be flexible to future complex and changing research problems.
Key Dates
| Application deadline | 15 September 2019 |
| Notification of selected participants | 22 September 2019 |
| Classes begin | 07 October 2019 |
| Classes end | 18 October 2019 |
Application closed.