PARTICIPATE WITH RECIRCULATE - International Policy Webinar

DATE – MONDAY, JANUARY 25TH 2021 11.00 GMT (UK TIME)

DURATION – 2.0 HOURS

Venue: Teams Webinar - Invitation link here

Background and Rationale

The world is facing growing concerns about the state of the natural environment due to the negative impacts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, inefficiency in natural resource use and waste management as well as the devastating impacts of pollution. These challenges culminate in water, energy, health and food insecurity concerns and have serious implications for biodiversity and livelihoods. The rising prominence of these natural environmental challenges has triggered global and local policy adjustments, as well as industry initiatives to stymie the challenges as witnessed from several global policy agenda including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the African Union’s (AU) Agenda 2063- “The Africa We Want” with a mission to accelerate Africa’s transition to an innovation-led, knowledge-based economy using Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), and various national development Agendas and Visions on the continent. The AU has urged its Member States to improve STI readiness in terms of infrastructure; professional and technical competence; and entrepreneurial capacity and to implement specific policies and programs in STI that address societal needs holistically and sustainably. To meet the targets of sustainable development, industrial activities should be undertaken within the threshold of the natural environment, vis-à-vis sustainable development.

In most African countries, production and consumption of goods and services are predominantly linear in the sense that resources are extracted, processed, used and disposed as waste. This trend is risky given the rate of population increase and demand for the limited natural resources. As a mitigation strategy, African economies must realign their development policies and strategic plans to embrace sustainable developments principles. Various concepts have been advanced that focus on promoting sustainable development with emphasis on reducing emissions to promote a green economy, green growth, bioeconomy, circular economy or sometimes referred to as green innovation among other technologies around Eco-innovation. This shift focused mainly on the use of renewable energy sources, reduction in the use of fossil fuels as well as in developing resource-use efficient technologies. According to (UNEP, 2017) , “Transitioning to an inclusive green economy based on sustainable consumption and production patterns requires new sustainable business strategies and models and a supportive policy framework. Creating new sustainable business strategies and models in response to environmental, economic and social challenges is a process of Eco-innovation. In line with this, Reid and Miedzinski (2008) , defined Eco-innovation as “the creation of novel and competitively priced goods, processes, systems, services, and procedures designed to satisfy human needs and provide a better quality of life for everyone with a whole-life-cycle minimal use of natural resources (materials including energy and surface area) per unit output, and a minimal release of toxic substances.”

The concept of Eco-innovation seems new in many African countries. Different regions and countries have embraced different approaches and aspects of it and this includes the United Kingdom. The RECIRCULATE program therefore provides a promising elucidation for tackling sustainable development challenges in Africa, by driving Eco-innovation through capacity building for a safe circular water economy. This is because it supports high quality and results-oriented research partnerships that offer sustainable solutions to water use and safety problems. This offers a life-long solution thus shifting the production frontier from a resource-dependent to a knowledge-based level. If scientific research is to have any meaningful impact in terms of guaranteeing the development gains in Africa, the results must inform and shape policies and programmes as well as contribute towards solving practical societal problems. Policies and programmes, whether at local, national, regional or continental levels provide a framework upon which activities in favour of or against a given idea can be implemented or prevented from implementation.

The development of these policies and programmes are carried out based on identified needs in a community or country as a whole as well as a shared willingness to deploy efforts to implement them. It is based on this that the RECIRCULATE program commissioned an in-depth review and analysis of existing relevant policies and institutional landscapes related to Eco-innovation development in the six (6) participating countries namely: Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi, Botswana and Zambia. The study aimed to provide the statuses of Eco-innovation related policies and frameworks in the study areas as well as what works (successes), what does not work (failures) and why (reasons for successes or failures). The study considered all Eco-innovation related sectors including: agriculture, environment & natural resources, forestry, trade & industry, transport and science, technology and innovations (STI). The policy review and analysis cut across continental (Africa), regional and national levels of governance.

The RECIRCULATE project is a £7m Capacity Building Project being co-ordinated by the Lancaster University, UK in partnership with University of Benin (Nigeria), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (Ghana) and Lancaster University, Ghana campus, as well as ATPS (Kenya), NCST (Malawi) (NCST), Copperbelt University (Zambia) and BIUST (Botswana).

The objectives of the Webinar therefore include to:

1. highlight the UK Government funded Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) 7 Million Pounds RECIRCULATE project (Policy sub-Work Package) and its progress so far;

2. provide the status of Eco-innovation policy and frameworks in selected African countries;

3. identify the key institutions driving Eco-innovation development in Africa at national and regional levels; and

4. describe what has worked (successes), what has not worked (failures) and why (reasons for successes or failures) with respect to Eco-innovation policies and institutions in Africa.

Brief Programme

11.00 – 11.10 Introduction of Participants/Stakeholders (Moderated by Dr. Akan Odon Lancaster University, UK)

11.10 – 11.20 Introduction to RECIRCULATE/ACTUATE (Prof Kirk Semple, Lancaster University, UK)

11.20 – 11.35 Eco-Innovation Policy (Challenges and Opportunities) (Dr Nicholas Ozor, Executive Director, African Technology Policy Studies Network)

11.35 – 11.50 Water Management Policies in Ghana (Challenges and Opportunities) – Prof Mrs Esi Awuah, Professor of Civil Engineering, Water Management, KNUST Ghana

11.50 – 12.00 Stakeholder Interaction (some questions on mentimeter)

12.00 – 12.15 STEM Funding Policies in Malawi (Challenges and Opportunities) – Prof Elijah Wanda – Director General National Commission of Science and Technology Malawi

12.15 – 12.30 Agriculture Policies and Funding in the UK

12.30 – 12.45 Gender Policies and STEM in Kenya/Africa (Eco-Innovation)- Prof Grace Wamue-Ngare, Proffessor of Gender and Development Studies, Kenyatta University Kenya

12.45 -12.55 Stakeholder Interaction (some questions on mentimeter)

12.55 – 13.00 Wrap Up