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Proposing a master’s programme on participatory integrated assessment of energy systems to promote energy access and energy efficiency in Southern Africa

Cheddi Kiravu (Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana)
François Diaz-Maurin (Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain)
Mario Giampietro (Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain, and Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain)
Alan C. Brent (Department of Industrial Engineering and the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa, and School of Engineering and Computer Science, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand)
Sandra G.F. Bukkens (Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain)
Zivayi Chiguvare (Namibia Energy Institute, Namibia University of Science and Technology, Windhoek, Namibia)
Mandu A. Gasennelwe-Jeffrey (Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana)
Gideon Gope (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Namibia University of Science and Technology, Windhoek, Namibia)
Zora Kovacic (Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain)
Lapologang Magole (Department of Architecture and Planning, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana)
Josephine Kaviti Musango (School of Public Leadership, Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies, uMAMA, Centre for Complex Systems in Transition, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa)
Ulpiano Ruiz-Rivas Hernando (Department of Thermal and Fluid Engineering, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, Spain)
Suzanne Smit (School of Public Leadership, Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies, uMAMA, Centre for Complex Systems in Transition, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa)
Antonio Vázquez Barquero (Department of Economic Structure and Development Economics, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain)
Felipe Yunta Mezquita (Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Bromatology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain)

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education

ISSN: 1467-6370

Article publication date: 18 December 2017

Issue publication date: 23 February 2018

419

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present a new master’s programme for promoting energy access and energy efficiency in Southern Africa.

Design/methodology/approach

A transdisciplinary approach called “participatory integrated assessment of energy systems” (PARTICIPIA) was used for the development of the curriculum. This approach is based on the two emerging fields of “multi-scale integrated assessment” and “science for governance”, which bring innovative concepts and methods.

Findings

The application of the PARTICIPIA methodology to three case studies reveals that the proposed transdisciplinary approach could support energy and development policies in the region. The implementation of the PARTICIPIA curriculum in three higher education institutions reveals its ability to respond to the needs of specific contexts and its connection with existing higher education programmes.

Practical implications

Considering energy issues from a transdisciplinary approach in higher education is absolutely critical because such a holistic view cannot be achieved through engineering curricula. Deliberate and greater efforts should be made to integrate methods from “multi-scale integrated assessment” and “science for governance” in higher education curricula to train a new breed of modern-day energy planners in charge of coming up with solutions that are shared by all relevant stakeholders.

Originality/value

This paper presents an innovative higher education curriculum in terms of the attention given to energy access and energy efficiency that affect the southern Africa region and the nature of the methodology adopted to face these issues.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The research leading to these results was supported by the project “PARTICIPIA - Participatory Integrated Assessment of Energy Systems to Promote Energy Access and Efficiency” funded under the ACP-EU Cooperation Programme in Higher Education (EDULINK); a Programme of the ACP Group of States, with the financial assistance of the European Union, under grant agreement No. DCI-AFS/2013/320-333. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the persons mentioned, the ACP Group of States or the European Union.

Citation

Kiravu, C., Diaz-Maurin, F., Giampietro, M., Brent, A.C., Bukkens, S.G.F., Chiguvare, Z., Gasennelwe-Jeffrey, M.A., Gope, G., Kovacic, Z., Magole, L., Musango, J.K., Ruiz-Rivas Hernando, U., Smit, S., Vázquez Barquero, A. and Yunta Mezquita, F. (2018), "Proposing a master’s programme on participatory integrated assessment of energy systems to promote energy access and energy efficiency in Southern Africa", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 622-641. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-04-2017-0048

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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