Kick-off meeting of the Living Laboratory of West Africa (LLWA) under the I-CHANGE project (“Individual Change of HAbits Needed for Green European transition, EU-H2020 # 101037193), has been held at The WASCAL Competence Centre, Ouagadougou.
The workshop was aimed at establishing the framework of stakeholders, the lab’s eco-citizen research, and actions mechanism to involve citizens in monitoring adverse weather conditions, high temperatures, and air pollution as well as quantifying carbon and environmental footprints intangible and realistic urban frameworks called “Living Labs” (LLs).
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Director of Research, Prof. Kehinde Ogunjobi, representing the executive director of WASCAL, while welcoming all participants to the meeting, stressed the existential threat posed by climate change.
‘’The city of Ouagadougou, like the other cities of the sub-region, has been facing for several years the adverse effects of climate change in the form of droughts and floods with significant damage to residents, agriculture, and infrastructure, including loss of human lives’’, he said.
The project manages eight LLs spread across Europe (6 LLs), Israel (01 LL), and Burkina Faso (01 LL). The LLWA – Ouagadougou – works to strengthen ordinary citizens’ capacities and encourage their active participation to tackle climate change and promote sustainable development and environmental protection.
Stakeholders of the waste management chain attended the meeting, experts from the ministries in charge of the Environment, Climate Change, Agriculture and Water Resources, and the National Biodigester Programme, with discussions cutting across heavy rain, bio-based circular economy, multi-stakeholder platform (PMA), research ethics and integrity, agents of change, empowering environment (legislation and laws), and Open Data Kit (ODK) clients.
The European Union funds the I-change project is funded by the European Union, within the framework of the European Green Deal, the European Pact for climate, and the European Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.