SEI officially launches new Africa centre

Written by Sturle hauge Simonsen

Friday, 29 May 2009 07:14

Strengthens SEI’s research across the continent and complements existing research in Asia, Europe and North America.

4 June 2009 marks the official opening of SEI’s new Africa centre. Based at the University of Dar es Salaam in the capital of Tanzania, the centre will work closely with African organisations and networks on key issues within environment and development.

- With the establishment of an SEI Africa centre, we aim to provide an even closer practical support to help policymakers meet the challenges of environment and development, including achieving the Millennium Development Goals, says centre director Anders Arvidson.

- Of paramount importance to Africa
Together with SEI researcher Stacey Noel he began in August 2008 to work on issues such as adaptation to climate change and bioresources alongside the Institute of Resource Assessment at the University of Dar es Salaam. This collaboration led to the formal establishment of the SEI Africa centre, which has been welcomed by a number of collaborating partner institutions in the region.

The Tanzanian Minister of State for Environment, Dr. Batilda Salha Burian, has said that the ‘physical presence of SEI in Africa, particularly in Tanzania, is of paramount importance.’

The aim of the new centre is to build on the SEI’s already large network of African research organizations and deliver interdisciplinary and applied research. SEI has over the years been involved in numerous research and capacity-building activities throughout the region.

- Africa has always been central to SEI’s work, ever since its pioneering work on woodfuel and desertification began in the 1980s. We will continue to work alongside bilateral and multilateral agencies through their offices in the African region, as well as provide objective advice to a range of public and private actors on the environmental impacts of their activities, Arvidson says.

Close collaboration with UNEP
An important current initiative, developed in close collaboration with the University of Cape Town (UCT), is the Climate Change Explorer (CCE) tool, a desktop software that allows users to easily access and explore downscaled climate model predictions. The ACCCA project (Advancing Capacity to Support Climate Change Adaptation) has made extensive use of CCE in its pilot actions in Africa.

SEI also collaborates with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on an ambitious programme to support adaptation decision making in Africa by connecting science, policy and practice from the local to regional scales.

Central to the programme is the weADAPT platform which provides guidance material, case studies, datasets and innovative tools for use by non-experts to help select adaptation measures, share experiences and support learning.

The weADAPT platform was recently identified by the OECD as one of the top three global adaptation platforms.

Furthermore, the SIDA-funded programme SEED (Strengthening Energy-Environment-Development Processes) will move to SEI Africa. Because of its strong Africa focus, this move will bring greater credibility to the research and ensure close partnership with regional stakeholders.

Official launch at Swedish embassy
To celebrate the official launch of the centre and raise awareness of SEI’s work, leading experts from Africa and beyond have been invited to hold a seminar on issues related to biotechnology, adaptation, ecological sanitation and energy access.