Valuing local knowledge in the development and use of sustainable environmental solutions in Qando Qando, South Africa.
Status: Active
Funders: Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Status: Active
Funders: Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
This project facilitates the creation of innovative interdisciplinary knowledge by setting up interactive workshops to learn from local renewable energy end-users with the view to adapt and develop policy and practice for the South African context.
The project aims to integrate disciplines (engineering, environmental sciences, social sciences, and urban planning) and knowledge across sectors (academia, policy, and practice) to generate practical outcomes (an interactive vignette/ animation for public engagement and communication of science, and a policy brief) to guide the use and development of solar mini-grids as a sustainable environmental solution in South Africa’s informal settlements.
The adoption of safe, affordable, and renewable energy in informal settlements makes one step toward urban sustainability and increased community resilience in parts of the city that are often characterised by precarity and unsafe environmental and health practices around energy. In addition, the negative externalities faced by residents are felt disproportionately by women and children in informal settlements.
LEARNING FROM QANDO QANDO
The project uses Qando Qando, an informal settlement in Cape Town, as a case study to reflect on the use of solar mini-grids in relation to residents’ needs and the local context. Without access to solar energy, residents and local businesses in Qandu Qandu rely on unsafe forms of energy (illegal connections, paraffin, coal, diesel), which have severe implications for their health (respiratory concerns) and local environment (pollution of local wetlands and waterbodies).
Seven solar mini-grids have already been implemented in Qando Qando as part of the University of Exeter-led Newton Funded Umbane project. While the end-users and project partners have delivered on all Umbane project outcomes, collective knowledge developed through the implementation of solar mini-grids remains an untapped but essential resource for building and scaling up findings across other informal settings in South Africa.
Producing transdisciplinary knowledge on user experiences of renewable energy at the margins of the grid is, therefore, integral for building new and emerging lines of research enquiry on user experiences of solar energy.
The project aims to integrate disciplines (engineering, environmental sciences, social sciences, and urban planning) and knowledge across sectors (academia, policy, and practice) to generate practical outcomes (an interactive vignette/ animation for public engagement and communication of science, and a policy brief) to guide the use and development of solar mini-grids as a sustainable environmental solution in South Africa’s informal settlements.
The adoption of safe, affordable, and renewable energy in informal settlements makes one step toward urban sustainability and increased community resilience in parts of the city that are often characterised by precarity and unsafe environmental and health practices around energy. In addition, the negative externalities faced by residents are felt disproportionately by women and children in informal settlements.
LEARNING FROM QANDO QANDO
The project uses Qando Qando, an informal settlement in Cape Town, as a case study to reflect on the use of solar mini-grids in relation to residents’ needs and the local context. Without access to solar energy, residents and local businesses in Qandu Qandu rely on unsafe forms of energy (illegal connections, paraffin, coal, diesel), which have severe implications for their health (respiratory concerns) and local environment (pollution of local wetlands and waterbodies).
Seven solar mini-grids have already been implemented in Qando Qando as part of the University of Exeter-led Newton Funded Umbane project. While the end-users and project partners have delivered on all Umbane project outcomes, collective knowledge developed through the implementation of solar mini-grids remains an untapped but essential resource for building and scaling up findings across other informal settings in South Africa.
Producing transdisciplinary knowledge on user experiences of renewable energy at the margins of the grid is, therefore, integral for building new and emerging lines of research enquiry on user experiences of solar energy.
Qando Qando, Cape Town
OUTPUTS
1. TRANSDISCPLINARY WORKSHOP. Organised in Cape Town in March 2022 to explore the adoption of safe, affordable, and renewable energy in informal settlements.
2. POLICY BRIEF. Outlines key findings (policy and practice) for guiding decision-making around energy provision in low income settings.
3. VIGNETTE. Highlights high-level findings for guiding evidence-based policymaking in low income settings.
1. TRANSDISCPLINARY WORKSHOP. Organised in Cape Town in March 2022 to explore the adoption of safe, affordable, and renewable energy in informal settlements.
2. POLICY BRIEF. Outlines key findings (policy and practice) for guiding decision-making around energy provision in low income settings.
3. VIGNETTE. Highlights high-level findings for guiding evidence-based policymaking in low income settings.
PROJECT TEAM
ACADEMIA
United Kingdom
Federico Caprotti
Federico Caprotti is the project lead. Based at the University of Exeter, he is an urban geographer with a central interest in researching urban futures. Federico also led (2016-19) an ESRC Urban Transformations project on energy transitions in South African municipalities. He also led the international 2015-19 Smart Eco-Cities for a Green Economy (SMART-ECO), funded by the ESRC, China's NSFC, and the national research funding agencies of France, Germany, and the Netherlands. |
Kerry Bobbins
Kerry Bobbins has worked on developing knowledge on sustainable urban infrastructure at the academia-policy interface for the last 9 years. During this time, she has worked closely with a range of government, private sector and civil society stakeholders in South Africa and the United Kingdom to produce academically relevant policy outputs on water, sanitation and energy. Kerry is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow on the Umbane project, where she works closely with the core research team to gather and analyse data and co-develop academic policy outputs. |
South Africa
Jiska de Groot
Jiska de Groot manages the South Africa project team. As an energy and development geographer working as Senior Researcher at the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI), University of Cape Town, she works on the human dimensions of sustainable energy access, energy poverty, gender and capacity building. She has a strong focus on co-designed and participatory research that is policy- and practice-relevant for achieving local development benefits and change processes. |
Mascha Moorlach
Mascha Moorlach works the University of Cape Town. On the project, she is at the interface between engineering and social science approaches to energy and wellbeing, and is responsible for contracting. She holds an MSc in Building Systems from Eindhoven University of Technology, and works on energy efficiency projects in support of the Eskom Demand Side Management Programme and the Skills and Expertise Development programme as part of the Transforming Energy Access project. |
Whitney Pailman
Whitney Pailman is currently a PhD Candidate in Energy and Development at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She holds a Masters in Energy and Development from UCT and a Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering from the University of Johannesburg. She combines research and project experience in off-grid energy access business models, social enterprises and the gender-energy nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa. She is a Research Fellow for the Umbane project, working on research design, data collection and research outputs. She has also served as a Research Fellow for the Transforming Energy Access Learning Partnership at the ACDI. |
PRIVATE SECTOR
Hendrik Schloemann
Hendrik Schloemann is a geologist and entrepreneur with more than twenty years of operational and corporate experience in Africa, South America and the United Kingdom. Coming from the mining sector and driven by the potential that renewable energies hold for Africa, he recently re-directed his focus to this sector. His ambition is to prove a model for a micro-utility company that utilises renewable energies to service off-grid communities with electricity. He is the founder of Zonke Energy and growing this social enterprise presently is his main focus. |
Alex Densmore
Alex Densmore is technical director at Zonke Energy, with a decade of experience in off-grid energy. At Simpa Energy India, he led development of pay-as-you-go metering systems. Alex has worked as a consultant and volunteer for universities and manufacturers at the intersection of health, ICT and energy. He holds a Masters degree in power-electronics from the University of Cape Town and a Bachelor's in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. |
Kimenthrie Pillay
Kimenthrie Pillay is a sustainable energy consultant and founder of Thrie Energy Collective: she is responsible for app-based wellbeing data collection and our baseline survey. Thrie Energy Collective works to apply digital methods to enrich energy and development practices. Prior to founding Thrie Energy Collective, Kimenthrie worked on improving and diversifying low-income energy service delivery in the Energy and Climate Change Unit at the City of Cape Town. |
CIVIL SOCIETY
Ellen Fischat
Founder of Story Room. She holds an Honour’s Degree in Social Work and Community Development, as well as a number of small business and technology certificates. Ellen has extensive experience in small business development, with a focus on social enterprises and technology. She mentors technology start-ups and designs community outreach programs that focus on personal development, digital literacy, and increasing employability of marginalized women through STEM initiatives. |
Siseko Siwali
Siseko is a serial entrepreneur and strategist with multiple years of entrepreneurship in the media industry, helping entrepreneurs and brands produce company, brand, and marketing concepts strategies. He has 13 years of experience in various aspects of Sales, Management, and Leadership. |
GET IN TOUCH
Contact:
Dr Kerry Bobbins, Co-principal investigator, United Kingdom, [email protected].
Prof. Federico Caprotti, Co-principal investigator, United Kingdom, [email protected].
Follow:
Dr Kerry Bobbins, Co-principal investigator, United Kingdom, [email protected].
Prof. Federico Caprotti, Co-principal investigator, United Kingdom, [email protected].
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