Stories are what make the world and inspire the imagination. We have collected, and continue to add, stories about energy access and rural development around the world, as well as the latest updates and thoughts from our own projects and activities.
May 23 2014
Last month, two members of the Smart Villages team, Dr Shailaja Fennell and Dr Terry van Gevelt, travelled to Hyderabad, India. Arriving in the early morning to the intense heat, the team was met by employees of SMAAT – a social enterprise focused on providing clean drinking water to urban slums and rural villages. After …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/clean-water-social-enterprise/
May 12 2014
In this video, Dr Bernie Jones describes the aims of the Smart Villages workshop in Arusha in June 2014. The workshop aims to bring together leaders in the area of off-grid village energy, including poilcymakers, NGOs, entrepreneurs and other experts.
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/overview-smart-villages-arusha-workshop/
May 12 2014
Dr Bernie Jones gives a brief overview of the aims of the Smart Villages initiative, particularly its focus on off-grid village energy in Africa, India, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/smart-villages-learn-initiative/
May 12 2014
Dr Ernst van Groningen of the International Science Programme at Uppsala University discusses how several Swedish partners became involved in the Smart Villages initiative.
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/swedish-involvement-smart-villages-initiative/
May 12 2014
Dr John Holmes discusses the important role of the European Academies of Science in the Smart Villages initiative.
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/role-european-academies-science-smart-villages/
May 12 2014
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.
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/rural-communities-matter/
May 05 2014
A recent article from Uganda reveals that one of the biggest questions facing rural communities around the world is how to build resilience to the increased uncertainty brought about by climate change. Small-scale agriculture is so often based on an unparalleled understanding of the seasons that has been honed over decades through an intimate relationship …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/mobile-phones-increase-farmer-resilience/
Mar 03 2014
Prof Sir Colin Humphries, an expert at Cambridge University, discusses the great potential of ‘lifi’ for the developing world. As an alternative to wifi, which requires a lot of energy, lifi could bring internet access at a lower cost and use less energy. Timeline: approximately 5 years.
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/1101/
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/cambridge-workshop-report-new-technologies-for-off-grid-villages-a-look-ahead/
Feb 26 2014
The Africa-EU Energy Partnership recently held its Second High Level Meeting and, according to SciDev.net (“Africa awaits an energy revolution”), the discussions in the corridors are focusing on off-grid energy, a welcome development. Coordination and partnerships were chief concerns among industry leaders and policymakers alike. Bringing energy to rural areas of developing can have positive impacts on …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/give-people-electricity-like-giving-medicine/
Feb 26 2014
On the surface, the facts are startling. According to Farming First, a coalition of farmers, engineers, scientists and industry, women[lightbox full=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaiban/6866495548/”][/lightbox] constitute up to 80% of Africa’s smallholder farmers and are produce around 90% of its food. Key issues in the northern Ugandan context, the focus of the article published by Thomson Reuters Foundation, relate to issues of …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/men-grow-tobacco-drinking-money-women-feed-families/
Feb 26 2014
A recent article in the Guardian (“Bright ideas for the developing world: cheaper, superior lighting design“) has highlighted the emerging realization that technology works best when suited to the local context and more often than not, it is the innovative end- user in developing countries who ingeniously adapts off-the-shelf technology. This understanding has transformed the efforts of simple …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/innovative-grid-engineering-motion/
