Theme – WHAT IS THE BUSINESS OF RESEARCH?

Objectives – To connect, communicate and celebrate

Date – September 23rd 11.00 BST (UK Time)Duration – 2.0 HOURS

Venue - Zoom Webinar (Link to be distributed following registration period)

THE ENTERPRISE WEBINAR

In an era where the identification of long term ‘solutions’ to sustainable development and climate change challenges across the world is crucial, the place of research and innovation is significant to develop home-grown solutions and Africa like other continents is in dire need of that.

There is no arguing that there exist gaps between academic research and industry in many African countries and strategies and policies that drives knowledge exchange are important for sustainable development. Most African researchers know the term ‘Publish or Perish’ which is used to describe the fact that research in Africa is being driven from a ‘publish to be promoted’ basis as against from a ‘publish for impact’ basis. While both bases should function together, are there challenges that makes researching to answer real practical questions in African institutions difficult and in some cases untenable?

The African Union Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa 2024, emphasises that African states have the potential for a 1% contribution of their GDP towards financing research and innovation and up till now Africa’s gross expenditure on research and development is less than 0.5% of GDP. With little funding going into research and the overwhelming need for industry collaboration and community engagement, can African researchers be entrepreneurial in order to thrive amidst challenges that abound? What is the business of research?In order to support in the mitigation of some of these challenges, Lancaster University has won two projects for Africa – RECIRCIRCULATE (a 7 Million Pounds Capacity Building Project) and ACTUATE (a 800,000 Pounds Waste to Energy Demonstrator Plant Development Project). Key components of these projects revolve around capacity building for knowledge transfer, entrepreneurship and innovation with over 200 young African professionals trained from over ten African countries.

The objectives of this Enterprise Webinar therefore includes:

1. To highlight the objectives and progress of the UK Government funded Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) 7 Million Pounds RECIRCULATE and the 800,000 Pounds ACTUATE Project and the projects progress so far in Africa.

2. To explore the challenges and opportunities for the ‘business of research’ in Africa.

3. To celebrate the achievements and successes of different young Africans who have been impacted by the capacity building elements of the projects.

4. To provide an opportunity for further engagement with current and new stakeholders in different African countries for future collaborations, investments and development work.

Brief Programme

11.00 – 11.10 - Introductions/Breaking the Ice – Moderated by Dr Akan Odon

11.10 – 11.20 Introduction to RECIRCULATE and ACTUATE - Prof Kirk Semple

11.20 – 11.35 Introduction to KE, Entrepreneurship and Innovation – Dr Ruth Alcock, Dr Joanne Lartey and Dr Cynthia Forson

11.35 – 11.45 Stakeholder Interactions – Facilitated by Dr Andy Pickard (Maybe ask them two questions and tell them to respond by writing their answers in the Chat Section of Zoom so it can be captured) i.e. What is the biggest challenges researchers face in being enterprising?

11.45 – 12.30 Case-study Sessions/Talks – Facilitated by Dr Akan

11.50 – 12.00 Sam Kanati, Principal Administrator, CSIR Ghana - ‘The Enterprising Researcher – The Art of Communication’

12.00–12.10 Edna Kabala-Litana, Coordinator, Entrepreneurship Centre, Copperbelt University Zambia – ‘Student Engagement for entrepreneurial development – an academic’s perspective’

12.10 – 12.20 Dr Edu Inam, Director, International Centre for Energy and Environmental Sustainability Research (ICEESR), University of Uyo Nigeria – ‘Mobilising resources to implement a research infrastructure project”

12.20 – 12.30 Yame Nkogwe, Founder, Sustainable Cities Africa Botswana – ‘Strategic research partnerships – leveraging entrepreneurship for sustainability’

12.30 – 12.50 Break-out Rooms and Feedback– TBC

12.50 – 13.00 Commemorating the World’s Day for Sign Language and Wrap Up

Certificates of participation will be sent out following the event, please note that the name you use for Eventbrite is what will appear on this certificate.

PARTICIPATE WITH RECIRCULATE - International Enterprise Webinar