KCA University is among a number of Kenyan universities that have received grants in millions of shillings from the British Council to come up with programmes to help tackle climate change resilience challenges.
The university received a Sh6 million grant for a programme dubbed Learning and Design Lab that will see its students and those of Nottingham University in the UK collaborate to identify, develop, and implement practical solutions to real-world challenges related to climate change.
Other local universities and those from the UK who have been roped into the programme include Strathmore, Rongo, University of Portsmouth in the UK and Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine (UK).
KCA Vice Chancellor Prof Isaiah Wakindiki said 20 students from his university and those from Nottingham School of Business through an exchange programme will co-develop human-centred solutions to specific climate challenges.
“We have put our students into different activities for specific challenges of climate change and they will also do a lot of research and through interactions with their Nottingham counterparts, they will come up with specific human-centred solutions,” Wakindiki told journalists at the university on Tuesday.
He added, “The students too will hone their skills and gain invaluable practical experience as they prepare to get into the environment of work and entrepreneurship.”
In addition, he said, the partnership will help the local universities get international recognition for helping tackle climate change and also help students gain experience collaborating with their counterparts in institutions abroad.
Other industry partners including Chemolex, Greenspoon and Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment will also benefit from the programme by using the recommendations from the students to identify opportunities for innovation, develop new products and services and also address their most pressing business challenges.
The British Council has appointed Circle Innovation which will facilitate the labs. Circle Innovation’s expertise in innovation practices is well-established across the region, encompassing processes, tools, and methods that enable the creation of impactful innovations scalable to various contexts.
Other universities that benefited from this grant include Rongo University (Kenya) University of Portsmouth (UK), Strathmore University (Kenya), and Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine (UK).
By Muoki Charles
