Sustainable

Energy

Education

District

for Informal

Settlements

about SEED

The initiative aims to strengthen the resilience of African cities, especially informal settlements. 

For this purpose, the project partners involved are developing a comprehensive and sustainable energy supply concept that addresses the different energy needs of the population living in informal settlements and thus supports the local infrastructure. The concept is being developed in a participatory manner, therefore also having a positive community-building effect. 

In a follow-up project, the project partners intend to then implement the designed concept together with the relevant local actors.

SEED is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research promoting research on „resilience strengthening and structural development in African cities and urban areas“ (support code: 01DG21015A). 

The initiative starts in April 2021 and runs until the end of March 2024.

 

what makes SEED unique?

SEED’s approach is special because it is:

  • fact-based: Reliable and recent data is often not available in developing countries. The SEED team thus collects the required data to assess the current energy situation in the chosen informal settlements.
  • participatory: The SEED team works very closely with the addressed population as well as local institutions to jointly define which features and technical possibilities an Energy-Hub should have in this special context of informal settlements. This is implemented through participatory-action workshops with the representatives of the local communities and additional local actors.
  • needs-based: The conceptual and technical development of the Energy-Hub is based on the locally assessed needs of the local population. These energy-related needs will be the basis for technical planning and design.
  • educative: In the open space underneath the solar system of the SEED Energy-Hub, workshops on critical aspects such as the advantages of renewable energies and training sessions to foster economic activities in the informal settlements will take place.
  • creative: The SEED Energy-Hub is supposed to also offer an open space for creativity that can be used by the community. This is already being implemented in the concept development phase, in which the project team is using creative formats to realize the knowledge generation and to also define the architectural design of the Energy-Hub.

The illustration shows a first schematic image of the SEED Energy-Hub. Its exact design will be defined in the course of the project.