Event Details

As part of Participate with RECIRCULATE's 'Sustainable Development Goals' month, this webinar will explore how the lessons and outputs from both RECIRCUALTE & ACTUATE projects so far have aligned with the SDGs and if they have contributed to their fulfilment in one way or another

Lancaster University won two projects with African partners from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia and Botswana: (i) RECIRCULATE (7 Million Pound Capacity Building Project) and (ii) ACTUATE (700,000 Pound Waste to Energy Demonstrator Plant Development Project). Key components of these projects focus on the circular water economy and waste-energy-food nexus, involving capacity building for research, knowledge transfer, entrepreneurship and innovation with over 200 young African professionals trained from over ten African countries.

Under the RECIRCULATE Project, there are four key work packages: Water for Health and Sanitation (Microbiology); Water for Agriculture; Water for Energy and a cross-cutting theme around Enterprise and Innovation. Over the last three years, there have been different researches undertaken with interesting results shared across the project partners.

Under the ACTUATE Project, there has been the construction of two working demonstrator anaerobic digestion facilities in both Ghana and Nigeria to process organic wastes, produce power and for the resulting digestate to be used as a sustainable soil conditioner/fertiliser. These working show laboratories will be used to positively highlight the technology as a credible option for management of waste, bioenergy and soil/food security and de-risk the opportunity for potential investors.

At the point of applying for funding for these projects, a fundamental aspect of the application proposals was to highlight the alignment of the projects to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The United Nations through a deliberative process with 193 Member States, launched 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets between them as a 2030 agenda for transforming our world. This has become a framework that measures the impact of projects and programmes across the world but especially in developing economies. The question however is, has the RECIRCULATE and ACTUATE Projects aligned with or supported the fulfilment of the SDGs since its commencement and how might the impact be further enhanced as both projects end in less than a year.

The objectives of this International SDGs webinar therefore include:

1. Highlighting 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. Exploring how the lessons and outputs from both projects so far have aligned with the SDGs and if they have contributed to their fulfilment in one way or another.

3. Promoting the SGDs in general and encouraging participants to integrate its framework into their current and future projects and programmes and professional life.

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

5. Exploring how the projects can further enhance their alignment and fulfilment of the SDGs especially in this last stage of its life-cycle.