DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

RECIRCULATE: Driving eco-innovation in africa: capacity-building for a safe circular water economy

Project disclaimer

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Description

RECIRCULATE will support new partnership-based approaches to enable African researchers to grow transformational impact through working with, in and for their communities The vision, objectives and strategy for RECIRCULATE emerge from Lancaster's deep engagement with researchers and research users in sub-Saharan Africa. Africa is a strategic priority for Lancaster which is currently the only UK University to have a campus on the continent. With our partners Trans-National Education (TNE) we have invested in excess of £5M to establish our Ghana campus ("LU Ghana" opened in 2013 and now supports 450 students). Lancaster University is committed to grow LU Ghana as a research base, and are about to purchase an additional 6ha of land for a larger campus that will include laboratory facilities for engineering and environmental sciences. In addition to our long-standing partnership building in Ghana and Nigeria, Lancaster University has grown national leadership in eco-innovation - innovation supporting both business growth and the environment. It has the capacity to translate high quality research into "real world impacts" as demonstrated by Lancaster's double award-winning Centre for Global Eco-innovation (CGE) http://www.globalecoinnovation.org . CGE has demonstrated that eco-innovation can deliver positive benefits to both the economy and the environment and is fundamentally underpinned by the need for end-user driven research. At the heart of our eco-innovation vision for Africa is the needs to promote medium-to-long term economic growth that is both resilient to future climate and where possible able to mitigate the impact of environmental change. Informed by our experience and that of our core partners in Ghana and Nigeria, RESILIENCE focuses on the overarching need for a safer circular water economy that is research driven but community-led. Sustainable, equitable and community-appropriate management of water plays a key role in strengthening the resilience of social, economic and environmental systems in the face of change. Equally, sustainable and equitable water management needs research that is fully engaged with communities to ensure that novel solutions are developed at the appropriate scale to meet specific needs, and so provides an excellent example of the need for research institutions to work with, in and for their communities. RECIRCULATE is underpinned by four interlinked research areas: (i) water for sanitation and health; (ii) water for food production; (iiii) water for energy production, and (iv) water, pathogens and health. A fifth area of work integrates each of these work packages areas and focusses specifically on microbiology and the need to create new ways to reduce the impact of water-borne disease on vulnerable populations. The RECIRCULATE work plan integrating both research and capacity building across environmental science, biomedicine, engineering, management and knowledge exchange with external stakeholders will support high quality research partnerships to establish the systems necessary to move from research to sustainable development solutions and in so doing support the long-term transition of Ghana and Nigeria from resource to knowledge economies.

Objectives

The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.

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Location

The country, countries or regions that benefit from this Programme.

Western Africa, regional

Disclaimer: Country borders do not necessarily reflect the UK Government's official position.