70% of the world’s poor live in rural areas. Many of them rely on agriculture for their incomes. Equally, many of them lack access to energy. But what if they can access energy – and apply it to their livelihood? Within this webinar, we will hear from several speakers who are focusing on exactly this… […]
Dr Shailaja Fennell of the Centre for Development Studies (University of Cambridge) discusses why understanding rural communities needs and aspirations are crucial for improving rural development.
Thursday June 23rd, 2016 - Benjamin K. Sovacool
If energy poverty and access is such a pressing social problem, why do we need to involve governments in addressing it at all? In other words, why won’t the market devise solutions and innovative business models for expanding access to modern energy services? Or, why don’t major institutions like the United Nations or the World… […]
Thursday January 29th, 2015 - Smart Villages
The Malaysian Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Dr Ewon Ebin endorsed the Smart Village project at its official launch in Kuching this week. The event coincided with a three day off-grid energy workshop hosted jointly by the University Malaysia Sarawak and the Academy of Sciences Malaysia. Speaking at the launch, the minister asserted that, “sustainable development isn’t an… […]
Tuesday January 20th, 2015 - Smart Villages
“It was a degrading life full of humiliation and shame. We were often victims of rape and beatings by the hoodlums who hid themselves in the forest” ̶ (An Ethiopian fuel wood carrier, Panjwani, 2005). Energy provision and sexual violence appear to be distant problems. However, with the possible exception of rural energy supplies in… […]
Thursday January 15th, 2015 - Claudia Canales
Claudia Canales, a Smart Village Project leader describes her visit to the remote community of Amaguaya, recently in receipt of energy from a newly constructed micro-hydro plant. The visit was in preparation for a Workshop to be held in the Bolivia later this year – ed. I was fortunate to arrive in Bolivia a few days earlier than the rest of… […]
Sunday November 30th, 2014 - John Holmes
On Tuesday 11th of November, the day after the smart villages workshop for East African journalists, myself and two Rwandan journalists set off early in the morning from Kigali to drive to the north-west area of Rwanda, a destination well-known to visitors to Rwanda as the location of the Volcanoes National Park and a favourite… […]
Monday May 12th, 2014 - Smart Villages
Dr Shailaja Fennell of the Centre for Development Studies (University of Cambridge) discusses why understanding rural communities needs and aspirations are crucial for improving rural development.