Smart Energy Solutions for Africa (SESA) project, of which ICLEI Europe is a coordinating partner, has launched their capacity building plan. SESA’s primary aim is to increase energy access in countries across Africa, in ways that are sustainable, replicable, and scalable and the capacity building plan is a pivotal step in achieving this.

The capacity building plan was developed by ICLEI Africa after a thorough needs assessment was conducted and capacity gaps were identified in Kenya, where the demonstration living-lab is located. Such assessments were also conducted at the validation sites where these solutions will be tested, specifically in Malawi, Ghana, South Africa, and Morocco. While it is important to recognise the unique context at each location, the capacity building plan identified common themes across countries. This included communicating in local languages, particularly when discussing the benefits of sustainable energy solutions, as well as the need to raise awareness not only at community level, but also among local government officials.

The plan lays the groundwork for the capacity building programme, which will begin this fall, and will aim to help local communities take ownership of renewable energy solutions. The programme, lead by ICLEI Europe and supported by UN-Habitat, will include several thematic areas around sustainable energy, focusing on a set of defined technologies, as well tools and self-paced trainings for users to deepen their understanding of a given topic. All materials will be available in a soon to be released online resource and, thanks to the cooperation with project partner Basic Internet Foundation, InfoSpots will be set up in the SESA living labs to ensure access to this information is available to everyone.

Read about the capacity building plan in full here.

Learn more about the SESA project here.