The Interdisciplinary Nexus of Energy Workshop
The interdisciplinary nexus of energy workshop was held in Flensburg, Germany on 4-6 August. It brought together 25 participants from 16 different nationalities, spread across five continents. The aim of the workshop was to inform sustainability experts with various backgrounds on the benefits of renewable energy and how it can be incorporated into plans for rural development.
We learned about various renewable energy resources, technologies and their applications during the workshop. We dived deep into why it is important to consider energy as an interdisciplinary topic. One of the topics covered was the utilization of renewable energy as a catalyst for rural development. We also discussed how sustainable energy can contribute to rural communities. The connections between SDG Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy and the other SDGs were thoroughly explained in the presentation. Mominul Hassan, a research fellow at Europa Universität Flensburg’s Department of Energy and Environmental Management, further highlighted how to find positive links to various SGDs and potential trade-offs in order to achieve sustainability.
Use of Geographic Information Systems in Planning Energy Systems
Prof. Dr. Bernd Muller from the Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (ZNES) gave a lecture on Introduction to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for Planning Renewable Energy Projects for Development, taking into account interdisciplinary aspects. He explained the social, economic, political and environmental relations between location and sustainable energy use. He also talked about how renewable energy resources appear to be inexhaustible, however, they are actually constrained by available space.
This workshop offered a unique and practical learning experience on how to program and implement different energy solutions for rural communities. We also had lots of networking with amazing people from 16 countries, spread across five continents!
Importance of Interdisciplinary aspects in Project Development
Mohamed Jah talked to the group about how the NGO Start N’Light Africa makes a difference in his home country of Sierra Leone using residential solar systems. Kajo Stelter, the director of Weltweit e.V., introduced the networking platform Action Network Worldwide, explaining how to register and the various opportunities the platform offers.
Finally, we also received practical training on photovoltaic systems, where we acquired basic technical knowledge on the types of systems and components, and we dug deep into the applications of PV off-grid systems. Mominul demonstrated how to use both paid and open-source resources to map renewable energy resources.
The workshop was organized by the Weltweit e.V. and Action Network Worldwide. It was sponsored by DAAD and hosted at the beautiful Sankelmark Akademie Zentrum by The University of Flensburg.