Smart Villages

BR2: The role of innovation competitions for off-grid energy in Africa

Policy Briefs /

Innovation competitions for new technologies and business models are one tool used by policy makers in a range of contexts and countries to help businesses in new fields overcome practical barriers blocking progress between successful pilots and commercialisation. This brief note discusses competitions relevant to African off-grid energy and how they could be designed and …

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WR4: Kuching Workshop Report on Smart Villages in Southeast Asia

Workshop Reports /

Summary This report summarises the information presented at, and conclusions arising from, the second major international workshop of the Smart Villages Initiative. The workshop took place in Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak, Malaysia, on the campus of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), and marked the beginning of a 12-month programme of engagement by the Smart …

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ASEAN Infographic

Infographic, Resources /

This infographic summarises the  requirement for and the challenges to energy access across the ASEAN region (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore , Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma) and Vietnam). The ASEAN region is now the engine of the global economy. Its spectacular growth over the past two decades has lifted hundreds of millions of people out …

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Sexual Violence against Women and Girls: Is Energy part of the Solution?

Blog /

“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 …

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A long climb to energy access: an off-grid success story

Blog /

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 …

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Informality and market governance in wood and charcoal value chains

External content, Resources /

Two billion people rely on wood and charcoal for their daily energy needs. But supply chains are often environmentally unsustainable, and poor actors rarely capture enough value from trade in these products. This briefing discusses two innovative cases in the governance of biomass markets, which enhance the inclusion of informal actors. The first shows how …

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BR1: Findings from the Arusha Smart Villages workshop

Policy Briefs /

This note provides a summary of the workshop’s findings and recommendations for policy makers. A more detailed report of the workshop, together with copies of the presentations made at the workshop can be found here. Key points 1.3 billion people worldwide have no access to electricity. 3 billion people are still cooking with dangerous and inefficient stoves. Policy …

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Southeast Asia Regional Workshop – Kuching, Malaysia

Workshops /

This opening workshop of our engagement in Southeast Asia, organised with the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), was held to gather input and stimulate discussion from stakeholders involved in off-grid projects in ASEAN countries. Participants included renewable energy experts, technology providers, funders, community projects leaders, corporations/ private sectors, policy makers, …

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Exploring energy priorities: a community workshop tool

External content, Resources /

In order to design effective, participatory and sustainable energy access interventions that are in sync with real community priorities, it is necessary to understand and capture nuances of community energy needs and preferences across the target population. In South Africa, the CHOICES community energy project organised ‘energy options’ workshops to discuss and prioritise local energy …

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TR1: Smart Villages Scoping Study

Technical Reports /

This 2012 scoping study analyses aspects of contemporary work concerning village-level energy services in developing countries. African countries, particularly Ghana and Tanzania, and India are the primary geographical focus. The study also analyses social businesses and entrepreneurship in the area of sustainable off-grid energy provision. This study, carried out at the behest of the European …

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WR3: Kigali East Africa Media Workshop Report

Workshop Reports /

This workshop was a two-day residential event featuring a combination of background briefings from local and international experts and entrepreneurs, together with Smart Villages team members on energy markets and provision in general, the off-grid sector in particular, the Smart Villages concept and perceived need, case studies of embryonic Smart Village projects and relevant technologies, …

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East Africa Media Dialogue Workshop

Workshops /

This workshop was a two-day residential event featuring a combination of background briefings from local and international experts and entrepreneurs, together with Smart Villages team members on energy markets and provision in general, the off-grid sector in particular, the Smart Villages concept and perceived need, case studies of embryonic Smart Village projects and relevant technologies, …

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PM Modi brings Smart Villages to India

Stories /

In his maiden Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Modi took the opportunity to announce the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (Parliamentarian’s Model Village Scheme). Since coming into office, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has wasted no time in pushing through reforms to modernize India’s economy. His speech stressed the importance of undertaking similar efforts in rural …

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Smart Villages joined by TWCF

Press Releases /

Three years of complementary funding from the Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF) has just been confirmed by Smart Villages. The funding will help Smart Villages continue to explore technical, entrepreneurial and policy solutions for providing sustainable energy for development in off-grid rural communities. The project will now travel to Africa, Asia and Latin America to …

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Africa Energy Outlook

External content, Resources /

Sub-Saharan Africa’s energy sector can be improved to unlock a better life for its citizens. This report describes one of the most poorly understood parts of the global energy system, offers an authoritative study of its future prospects, broken down by fuel, sector and sub-region and shows how investment in the sub-Saharan energy sector can …

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What is a ‘smart village’? Experts weigh in…

Video /

What is a ‘smart village? How can we ensure that people in rural villages have access to energy, connectivity, education and jobs? Hear from experts in the fields of energy, science, entrepreneurship and finance, including the Tanzania Renewable Energy Association, the Tanzania Academy of Science, Practical Action, Solar Aid, Global Village Energy Partnership, the Swedish …

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Off-grid energy takes centre stage at Asia conferences

Stories /

Ahead of the next Smart Villages workshop focusing on the ASEAN region, we (Dr Heather Cruickshank and Molly Hurley-Depret) traveled to Manila to attend two recent conferences focusing on Asia and energy: the International Off-Grid Renewable Energy Conference and Exhibition  (IOREC) and the Asia Clean Energy Forum 2014 (ACEF), held 16-20 June at the Asian Development Bank  in Manila, Philippines. …

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WR2: Smart Villages in East Africa – Arusha Workshop Report

Workshop Reports /

The workshop held in Arusha, Tanzania from 2 to 5 June, 2014, was the first in the series of six major international workshops planned to be held in Africa, Asia and Latin America over the period 2014 to 2017 as a core component of the Smart Villages Initiative (www.e4sv.org). The organising partners for the Arusha workshop were the Cambridge Malaysian Education and Development Trust …

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