Smart Villages

BR10: Findings from the Indonesian Smart Villages Workshop on Energy for Islands

Policy Briefs /

The Smart Villages Initiative together with its local partner, Kopernik, held a workshop on Bunaken Island, Sulawesi in Indonesia, in November 2015 to discuss off-grid energy systems in remote island communities in Southeast Asia. The workshop focused on the barriers and circumstances of rural energy access that are unique to small island communities, drawing inspiration …

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South Asia Media Dialogue Workshop

Workshops /

Our Colombo media workshop was a two-day residential event featuring a combination of background briefings from local and international experts and entrepreneurs on energy markets and developments in the South Asian off-grid sector. The workshop offered an opportunity to explore the Smart Villages concept and study nascent Smart Village projects and relevant technologies from around …

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WR10: Smart Villages in Pakistan

Workshop Reports /

Pakistan has substantial experience of deploying micro-grids based on micro-hydro systems in rural communities. The Smart Villages Initiative, supported by the Rural Support Programmes Network, Pakistan organised a workshop in Islamabad, Pakistan on 6 October 2015 to consider Pakistan’s experience of developing enabling frameworks for the dissemination of micro-grids.  The workshop was an important event …

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BR9: Enabling frameworks for deploying micro-grids: Lessons from Pakistan

Policy Briefs /

The Smart Villages Initiative, supported by the Rural Support Programmes Network, Pakistan organised a workshop in Islamabad, Pakistan on 6 October 2015 to consider Pakistan’s experience of developing enabling frameworks for the dissemination of micro-grids. This briefing note for policymakers and other stakeholders summarises key points emerging from the workshop.

EDITORIAL: Smart Villages

External content, Resources /

Last month in New York, the world adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), defining the global development agenda for the next 15 years. Among the 17 goals is Goal 7’s aim to ensure “access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.” Given that an estimated 1.3 billion people have no access to electricity …

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India Off-grid Energy Impact Competition 2016

Competitions /

The India Off-grid Energy Impact Competition took place in early 2016.  India has a vibrant community of competitive, motivated off-grid energy entrepreneurs.  This competition was designed to highlight examples where the off-grid energy they provide has acted as a catalyst for development in remote villages. Companies from throughout India applied to the competition and Smart …

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10 questions to ask about distributed generation

External content, Resources /

10 Questions to Ask about Distributed Generation, a collaboration between WRI, WWF and Prayas (Energy Group), is part of the 10 Questions to Ask Series and provides a framework for stakeholder engagement around the common questions and challenges that arise in the context of planning for and implementing DG option to address electricity access gaps. …

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Islamabad Smart Villages Workshop

Workshops /

The Smart Villages workshop to be organised in Pakistan is a continuation of the regional engagement in South Asia. The Pakistan workshop aims to glean insights from the country’s experience of off-grid energy provision to remote rural communities through the deployment of micro-grids. In particular the workshop aims to tease out the enabling framework conditions …

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WR9: High-level workshop on off-grid village energy in East Africa

Workshop Reports /

This report summarises the findings of the Smart Villages Initiative’s high-level workshop on off-grid village energy in East Africa. Co-hosted by the Ministry of Infrastructure, Rwanda, the workshop brought together 47 key stakeholders from East Africa and the United Kingdom to share the findings of the Smart Villages Initiative’s East Africa engagement, to review the …

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BR8: Findings from the Dhaka Smart Villages Workshop

Policy Briefs /

The Smart Villages Initiative together with its local partner, Practical Action Consulting South Asia, held a workshop in Dhaka on 26 August 2015 to consider the experience in Bangladesh of off-grid rural energy systems. This briefing note for policymakers and other stakeholders summarises key points emerging from the workshop.

Can new SDGs really impact last mile communities?

Press Releases /

The Smart Villages Initiative publishes policy brief showing that off-grid renewable energy and technology leapfrogging can catalyse sustainable development in world’s remotest and poorest regions On the eve of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in New York, the Smart Villages Initiative has urged delegates to keep in mind the plight of remote off-grid communities, …

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East Africa Summary Workshop

Workshops /

To help collect and distil the knowledge and experience from the last 15 months of engagement in East Africa, a concluding workshop was held in Kigali, Rwanda on 8 September 2015. The workshop brought together over 40 government representatives and other key stakeholders from across the region to share information on progress and remaining challenges, …

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Off-Grid Islands Electricity Workshop

Workshops /

Off-grid electrification for development of small islands represents a number of unique challenges under the broad category of rural electrification. Small, off-grid island communities are particularly vulnerable to diesel price fluctuations and natural disasters, and thus, enhancing resilience through more sustainable and cheaper energy technologies should be a key priority. Financing the transition to these …

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WR8: Smart Villages in Bangladesh: Dhaka Workshop Report

Resources, Workshop Reports /

The Smart Villages Initiative continued its engagement in South Asia with a workshop held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 26 August 2015. The aim of the workshop was to learn from Bangladesh’s experience in providing energy to off-grid rural communities through home-based electricity systems, in particular solar home systems (SHS), and solar/solar-hybrid mini-grids. The workshop also …

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Capturing the multi-dimensionality of energy access

External content, Resources /

There are two initial challenges in defining and measuring energy access: the absence of a universal definition of energy access and the difficulty of measuring any definition in an accurate manner. The multi-tier approach to measuring energy access proposed in the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Global Tracking Framework of 2013 introduces a five-tier measurement …

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Pakistan National Student Poster Contest 2015

Competitions /

The Smart Villages Initiative has partnered with Aga Khan University Examination Board in Pakistan to launch a poster competition for children in the country.Participants were challenged to create a poster presentation on ‘When Ideas Flow, Villages Grow’. Access to modern energy is a big problem in villages all over the world. New technology makes it …

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East Africa community leaders’ dialogue workshop

Workshops /

The East Africa Masterclass at Terrat focused on the village level experience of off-grid energy. We have invited local leaders and rural energy providers from Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Malawi and Tanzania. We were keen for village headmen and headwomen to share their village experiences of energy provision and to tell us about the outcomes …

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WR7: East African Community Leaders’ Dialogue Workshop Report

Workshop Reports /

Amidst the stunning background of Terrat, a Masaai village in remote Northern Tanzania, members of the Smart Villages team spent the weekend of 22-23 August, 2015 engaged in an extremely productive dialogue event with representatives of village level energy initiatives from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Uganda. The event was organised at a time when …

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Opportunities in Bario made me want to come home to Malaysia

Blog /

What questions does the typical fifteen-year-old city Malaysian ask? ‘Should I look for a job this school holiday?’ ‘What do I want to do in the future? Go into business or work for someone?’ ‘Should I pick the science or art stream for school next year?’ ‘Should I continue my tertiary education locally or overseas?’ …

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BR7: Lessons learned from the Smart Villages Engagement Programme in East Africa

Policy Briefs /

This policy brief summarises the findings and recommendations arising from a 15 month programme of engagement in East Africa, commencing in June 2014, undertaken by the Smart Villages Initiative to identify the barriers to off-grid sustainable energy access for development in rural communities and to gather views on how those barriers can be overcome. It …

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