RARSUS - Risk Assessment and Adaptation Strategies for Sustainable Urban Resource Supply in Sub-Saharan Africa

Keywords

Water, energy, infrastructure, resilience, urban areas

Countries

Niger, Mali

Summary

RARSUS and its extension, RARSUS-SEMALI, aim at establishing a long-standing research-based higher education partnership between African and German partners in the area of sustainable resources supply and disposal systems (water, energy, food) in urban contexts. ZEF’s major contribution to RARSUS consists in developing options towards sustainable water and food provision systems and strategies for adapting to changing environments in order to reduce risks through adapted management (flood management, groundwater conservation, urban agriculture) in urban/peri-urban settings. Within the DAAD-financed part of the RARSUS-project, ZEF’s major contribution is the development of two e-learning units as well as supporting the curriculum development.

Methodology

• Research: establish pilot research on key resource supply challenges in urban/peri-urban African areas with participation of relevant stakeholders
• Training: provide targeted research trainings for university staff, young researchers, as well as practitioners dealing with urban planning
• higher education: develop and share of case­ study-based online educational resources to be used by all partners on sustainable urban management
• Network: create sustainable institutional relationships among participating higher education universities as well as ties among a community of experts in the area of natural resources management in African cities

ZEF is focusing on working out options towards more sustainable water infrastructure and its management in the case study regions Niamey/Niger as well as Bamako/Mali and nearby Katibougou/Mali.

Main Cooperation Partners

• Abdou Moumouni University of Niamey (UAM)/WASCAL MRP Climate Change and Energy (Niger)
• Faculty of Sciences and Techniques (FST); University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako (USTT-B) (Mali)
• Institut Polytechnique Rural de Formation et de Recherche Appliquee (IPR-IFRA) (Katibougou/Mali)
• Pan African University - Institute of Water and Energy Sciences (PAUWES, Algeria)
• Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Sub-Tropics (ITT) / TH Köln
• Institute for Environment and Human Security of the United Nations University in Bonn (UNU-EHS)

Main Funding Partners

• BMBF (RARSUS, RARSUS-SEMALI)
• DAAD (RARSUS-DAAD)

Duration of the Project

01.01.2017 – 31.12.2019