Recently, we were invited to give a presentation by our colleagues at the UK Low Carbon Energy for Development Network (UK LCEDN), as part of a webinar they were running on “Transforming Energy Access” for organisations who were interested in applying for the latest Innovate UK Energy Catalyst (round 8) competition, closing in September 2020. …
The InnovateUK Energy Catalyst and working with SVRG partners Read More »
Recently our project partners in Lesotho, the Energy Research Centre at the National University of Lesotho, asked us to contribute to a week-long Masters’ students event on rural energy access. Because of COVID, we were sadly unable to make it in person, but delivered the presentations via Webex instead. Here is the contribution from Dr …
What we mean by Community Engagement – the SVRG way of working. Read More »
Recently our project partners in Lesotho, the Energy Research Centre at the National University of Lesotho, asked us to contribute to a week-long Masters’ students event on rural energy access. Because of COVID, we were sadly unable to make it in person, but delivered the presentations via Webex instead. Here is the contribution from Dr …
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 …
Nicaragua’s energy sector is facing one of the most important challenges of its history in terms energy infrastructure development and electricity access. As a result of substantial investments in grid extension and strengthening of distribution and transmission systems, official figures indicate that electrification rates increased from 47 percent in 2002 to 80 percent in 2014. …
BR27: Energy access in Nicaragua – financial mechanisms and energy policies Read More »
Access to reliable, affordable and clean energy is a cornerstone of sustainable development. Despite this 1.2 billion people continue to have no access to electricity and a further 3 billion are energy poor. Often cited reasons for the lack of progress include the technological and financial difficulties associated with bringing electricity to rural areas due …
70% of the world’s poor live in rural areas. Many of them rely on agriculture for their incomes. Equally, many of them lack access to energy. But what if they can access energy – and apply it to their livelihood? Within this webinar, we will hear from several speakers who are focusing on exactly this …
December webinar: Growing smart villages: Energy & agriculture for development Read More »
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 …
Agriculture continues to be central to the lives and economies of rural communities in India. Many of those communities have little or no access to modern energy services. These realities motivated the holding of the workshop “Energy and agriculture for smart villages in India” in September 2016 at the International Crops Research Institute for the …
BR20: Findings from the workshop on energy and agriculture for smart villages in India Read More »
Interview with Moni Gupta Co-founder of Mobile Education for Smart Technology Location: India / Cambridge, UK “The same thing they are learning in their books they can explore with this technology and build up more creativity”. Today, Moni Gupta is a PhD student in chemistry at the University of Cambridge. But she remembers her time …
Cambridge students bring tech to Indian students, inspire learning Read More »
Long Lamai is a Penan village in upper Baram, northern Sarawak, of Malaysian Borneo. Travelling to the settlement from the nearest town Miri takes eight hours on rough logging roads and an hour of hiking through the dense rainforest. Alternately, it is reachable by flying from Miri to Long Banga by an hour’s flight via …
It is not a village but people: Long Lamai, a case study of a smart village Read More »
In Smart Villages Podcast 2, host Sir Brian Heap interviews Dr Vasant Kumar, Head of Materials Chemistry Group in the Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge. Dr Kumar explains that his group research interests relate to materials innovation for “Energy, Environment and Sustainability”, working to help develop technologies for new …
In Smart Villages Podcast 1, host Sir Brian Heap interviews Dr Nalin Patel, Programme Manager of the Winton Porgramme for the Physics of Sustainabililty at the world famous Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. Dr Patel tells about the experimental research they are currently conducting on batteries and superconductors. He also explains the links …
Women constitute 51 per cent of Sierra Leone’s population of 6 million. They are responsible for nearly all household duties, from food production and processing to child bearing and family upbringing. Often, however, women are viewed not as individuals but as part of a male-headed household with some unique needs of their own related to …
Improving life for women and girls in Sierra Leone Read More »
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.
Center: Dr Scott Watkins Based in both Seoul, Korea and in Melbourne, Australia, watkins directs new business development with KISCO, a Korean chemicals and inks manufacturer. His role is to help develop new strategies and business areas. He continues to pursue further opportunities contributing to social enterprises and technology startups. Left: Julia Vitullo-Martin Julia Vitullo-Martin …
Providing the world’s poor with modern energy services represents an investment challenge. The United Nations Sustainable Energy For All (SE4All) initiative estimates that energy access in developing countries requires investments of US$ 45 billion annually by 2030 to step up to this challenge1. This means that the US$ 9 billion per year currently invested in …
Will private-sector finance support off-grid energy? Read More »
There are 65.3 million forcibly displaced people and 21.3 million refugees, hosted across the world (UNHCR). “Few forcibly displaced people” have access to modern energy. Out of 8.7 million refugees and displaced people in camps, only 11% have access to “reliable energy sources for lighting” (Chatham House, 2015). However, forcibly displaced people and refugees are …
Energy for Displaced Communities: How could Smart Villages help? Read More »
The right to vote is generally considered a fundamental right of each citizen, underpinning all other basic rights – to food, education and security. And the world’s most enthusiastic voters live in India’s 650,000 villages. At the heart of India’s democratic system have been regular elections that now see the participation of more than 100 …
This report summarises the findings and recommendations arising from the engagement activities of the Smart Villages Initiative in East Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and South America over the first 18-month period (October 2014 – March 2016) of the first phase of the initiative. Over that period, workshops and other engagement activities involved over 600 …
TR5: The Smart Villages Initiative: Interim review of findings Read More »