Kiruru sub-village is a small community in the Simanjiro District of Northern Tanzania, and the second of the chosen sites for our SICENT project. Roughly 10km via (very bad) mud road from Terat, the local centre (where our partner organisation OMASI is based), Kiruru is actually administratively part of Oiborkishu village, 7km to the north, …
People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things. Sir Edmund Hillary It is with great sadness that we have to share the news that Martin Kariongi, leader of our Tanzanian partner organisation OMASI, but more particularly our friend and colleague from Terrat, passed away in the morning of 1st March …
We’re pleased and immensely proud to announce that Natasha Wilson, one of our development engineers who joined in July 2020, has been awarded the Institute of Mechanical Engineer’s (IMechE) Scholarship Visionary Award 2020, for her drive to use engineering as tool for positive change and development. Here’s her acceptance video, filmed in Uganda on the …
Like what we do? We need your help! Fundraising/Donating Whilst Smart Villages commercial business and most of our projects are fully funded, in some of our projects – specially the most innovative ones – funding does not cover 100% of costs for us and our partners. Without additional funding, we will be unable to achieve …
Minigrids. They’re one of the most attractive models for remote community electrification. They’re scalable, and flexible, and capable of supplying power at levels that really permit productive use to be made of the power. But at the same time, they raise alot of questions – what is the most appropriate structure, size, payment system etc …
[:en] Transport is an often overlooked aspect of rural development and linkage to energy access and productive use of energy in the developing world, but it is of critical importance. Not only does transportation rely on a source of energy (and hence transport can itself become a productive use of energy), but an effective …
[:en] Linking research and development as a contribution to achieve the goals of the Agenda 2063 of the African Union is a priority for the Pan African University of the African Union. The Research-2-Practice Forum aims to provide a platform for experts/scientists, education leaders, decision makers, entrepreneurs, private and public sector, policy makers, civil society …
[:en] One of the most powerful benefits of energy access in rural communities in the developing world is the potential impact on education. Whether a simple solar lantern permits an extra hour of homework and study after dark, or whether a more sophisticated community energy and ICT project permits remote education and training to take …
Webinar: Energy Access, Education and Young People Read More »
The Smart Villages Initiative held an international workshop on 3 May at the Wyndham Hotel Albrook Mall to help collect and distil the knowledge and experience gathered from the previous 15 months in Latin America and the Caribbean. The workshop brought together government representatives and key stakeholders to discuss the role of renewable energy for …
The resilience of rural communities to natural disasters and other shocks is an important issue for rural villages; hard-won development gains can all too readily be lost through natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, droughts, and floods. This is particular so for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean which are at risk from a …
The Smart Villages Initiative together with the National Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic held a workshop on 16-18 November 2016 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, to discuss the challenges to, and opportunities for, the provision of clean energy services to rural communities in Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico. The workshop explored the …
The University of Edinburgh together with the Smart Villages Initiative held a workshop at the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation on 11 May 2016. The workshop brought together 27 social and physical scientists, industry representatives and entrepreneurs, energy and international development policy makers, and practitioners. The workshop provided an overview of new insights and research …
BR15: Findings from the Workshop on Frontier Energy Storage Technologies Read More »
Necessity is the mother of invention. Here is our round-up of the top ten weirdest attempts to solve the problem of energy access through innovation. 1) Gravity Some innovations are so simple they seem destined for success. By simply lifting a bag of earth and letting it slowly drop, GravityLight can provide 20 minutes of …
DAREnterprisers is run by Cambridge University based volunteering group Cambridge Development Initiative (CDI)—a student run organisation that prides itself on its on-the-ground decision-making and human centred design. The CDI partnered with Smart Villages and others to address growing youth unemployment in East Africa, taking advantage of the impetus for economic change and growth in the …
DAREnterprisers harnesses East Africa’s impetus for change Read More »