SVI: Workshop Reports compilation
The Smart Villages Initiative researched and published 37 workshop reports between 2014 and 2017. For ease of reference, they can all be accessed here.
Workshop Reports
WR37: Smart Rural Development – the SDGs and the New European Consensus on Development
The Smart Villages Initiative and the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council (EASAC) held a one-day workshop focusing on “Smart Rural Development: the Sustainable Development Goals and the New European Consensus on Development” in Brussels on 20 June 2017. The New European Consensus on Development was proposed in November 2016 and the European Parliament adopted its position in February 2017. On 7 June 2017 at the …
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WR36: Off-grid energy for rural development in Latin America and the Caribbean
The Smart Villages Initiative organised a workshop in Panama City on 2-3 May 2017, bringingtogether significant actors in rural electrification in Latin America to discuss challenges and opportunities in rural electrification, with the aim of jointly developing recommendations to policymakers. Key topics for discussion included the role of the government versus the private sector in rural electrification, innovative options for financing such …
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WR35: Energy access in Nicaragua: the nexus between financial mechanisms and energy policies
The Smart Villages Initiative, jointly with the Academy of Sciences of Nicaragua (ACN) and the University of Central America (UCA), organised a national workshop in Matagalpa, Nicaragua on 27-28 April 2017 in order to explore the major challenges to, and opportunities for, achieving electricity access for rural and isolated communities to support productive processes and …
WR34: Insights for energy access in West Africa
The Smart Villages Initiative, in collaboration with the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) and the European Union Energy Initiative Partnership Dialogue Facility (EUEI PDF), held a workshop titled ‘High-level workshop on energy access in West Africa’ in March 2017. The inceptive workshop served as a kick-off event to a wider capacity-building engagement on CEMGs in the ECOWAS region and provided …
WR33: The Energy-Health-Education nexus and other insights for Smart Villages in Asia
The Smart Villages Initiative concluded its regional engagement in South and Southeast Asia with a workshop in Bangkok, Thailand, in March 2017. The workshop was jointly organised with the Global Young Academy (GYA), the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), and the National Science Museum (NSM) of Thailand. From 7 to 9 March 2017, the workshop brought together 43 key stakeholders representing …
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WR32: Energy planning from the bottom up: community-led approaches West Africa
As the world moves towards 2030, the deadline of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Initiative, it is important to review the achievements of the past few years and readjust our path to meet the goal. For this reason, Practical Action together with the Smart Villages Initiative held a one-day regional workshop on rural energy …
WR32: Energy planning from the bottom up: community-led approaches West Africa Read More »
WR31: Sustainable energy resources for risk management and resilience of communities in Latin America and the Caribbean
Leading experts from across Latin America and the Caribbean were brought together for a work-shop in Quito, Ecuador, on 30 January 2017 to discuss the challenges and opportunities of building resilience to natural disasters of villages in the region, with a particular concern for the contribution of energy services. Key points made in the presentations …
WR30: Smart Villages in Haiti: “Energy Week”
In Haiti and other islands in the Caribbean, the need is not just for energy access. Communities and villages need to be more resilient to natural disasters and other socioeconomic shocks such as internal conflict, fuel price fluctuations etc. Off-grid energy and innovative use of energy to provide decentralized services such as healthcare and education …
WR29: Central America, Caribbean and Mexico – Smart Villages Media Dialogue
This sixth media workshop of the Smart Villages project took place in November 2016 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. This followed the main regional workshop reported on separately, but to which the journalists were also invited. The general theme of rural development, resilience, and recovery as renewable energy dividends seemed particularly newsworthy in view of …
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WR28: Sustainable energy for rural development & climate resilience of off-grid communities in Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico
Although the energy situation in Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico is not uniform across all the countries in the region, many of them face some common issues and challenges. With some exceptions, nearly all countries in Central America and the Caribbean are net oil and fossil fuel importers, putting them in an uncertain position …
WR27: Smart Villages in India – State level insights
The discussions in both state-level workshops in India discussed in this report revealed that the biggest gains from an integrated sustainability solution for the smart city-smart village linkage would be to address the challenge of youth unemployment in both rural and informal urban communities. The introduction of disruptive technologies that generate the opportunity for rural youth to learn new skills—installing and maintaining rural …
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WR26: Energy and agriculture for smart villages in India
This report summarises the presentations and discussion at a workshop held at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, Telangana, India from 21 to 23 September 2016. The workshop organised jointly by the Smart Villages Initiative and ICRISAT focused on energy for agriculture in smart villages and its potential to catalyse productive enterprises that add value to agri-business and the …
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WR25: The water, energy, and food nexus: Lessons from West Africa
Agricultural activities account for 70% of global water usage. Food production and the associated supply chain account for about 30% of total global energy consumed. While there is an awareness of the water, energy, and food (WEF) nexus, there is a lack of effective and integrated initiatives to address it. As described by the United Nations: “The global community is well aware …
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WR24: West Africa Dialogue for Media Professionals
As an integral part of that activity, the Smart Villages Initiative aims to raise public awareness of rural energy access issues, sustainable energy technologies, and entrepreneurial approaches to energy in the developing world. To help meet this goal, we seek to promote objective, informed, and balanced coverage of the issues, challenges, and opportunities through media dialogue events for both regional and international …
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WR23: South America Dialogue for media professionals
A major objective of the Smart Villages Initiative is to raise public awareness of rural energy access issues, sustainable energy technologies, and entrepreneurial approaches to energy in the developing world. In line with this objective, the Smart Villages Initiative, in partnership with the Green Building Council of Paraguay, held an international media dialogue for media professionals in Asuncion, Paraguay, …
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WR22: Mini-grid power generation, storage, and transmission technology in India for the next 10 years
A large portion of India’s population lacks access to reliable energy. For many, the solution to this will involve decentralised energy infrastructure in the form of renewable solar, or hybrid solar, diesel, battery, and biogas mini-grids. The Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) together with the Smart Villages Initiative held a workshop focused on mini-grid energy …
WR21: The energy and water nexus for off-grid communities in the Philippines and Southeast Asia
Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), energy, and agriculture are topics of great importance to every rural community. In Southeast Asia, these issues overlap in many remote villages where lack of access to energy is often coupled with lack of access to clean drinking water or water for sanitation or agriculture. This report summarises the information …
WR20: Smart Villages in West Africa
On average, 60% of the population across the 15 countries that comprise the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) is based in rural areas. Rural electrification rates in the region remain extremely low and estimates suggest that, for the region as a whole, only 19% of the rural population has access to electricity. Traditional …
WR19: Frontier energy storage technologies and global energy challenges
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 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 in battery …
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