OR/17/039 Introduction

Gill, J C, Mills, K, and Mankelow, J. 2017. Workshop report: earth and environmental science for sustainable development (Nairobi, March 2017). British Geological Survey Internal Report, OR/17/039. (Contributors/editors: Ellis, M, Lapworth, D, Ludden, J, Rees, G (CEH), Smith, M, and Watts, M).

Background

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the UK Aid Strategy (UK Government, 2015) emphasise the need to invest in strengthening resilience and response to crises, promote global prosperity, and help to tackle extreme poverty in the world’s most vulnerable communities.

As part of the UK Government’s commitment to the SDGs and its Aid Strategy, the British Geological Survey (BGS) is increasing the proportion of its budget spent on Official Development Assistance (ODA). BGS will deliver this via three research platforms, each of which will seek to develop new partnerships with a wide range of expertise to co-design and deliver a 3-year programme up to 2020.

In Eastern Africa, exponential population growth, rapid urbanisation and economic development, confounded by the effects of climate change, are having an increasing impact on health and well-being, national security and the ability of governments and aid agencies to cope. Such changes present challenges and new opportunities for science to support delivery solutions in respect to the sustainable use of natural resources (e.g., soils, minerals, water), infrastructure and services, training and skills enhancement.

Our long-term ambition therefore is to develop a platform of research and capacity building that enables our partners in ODA-recipient countries to use their natural resources to maximum benefit in an environmentally acceptable manner. Here we report on an introductory workshop organised in Nairobi that aimed to explore development priorities and understand how geological research can help support sustainable development.

BGS engagement in Eastern Africa

BGS has worked extensively across Eastern Africa for over 70 years on a variety of projects in support of the country geological surveys focused on mineral resources, water supply, natural hazards, infrastructure and energy. Currently we have active projects in a range of countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi and Uganda. Examples include:

• Kenya. Funded by the UK Department for International Development, BGS are providing technical assistance to the Government of Kenya as they establish a National Geodata Centre.
• Uganda. BGS are working with the African Union, International Geoscience Services, GeoSoft, and the Uganda Chamber of Mines to facilitate access to geological, environmental and social data to enhance inward investment.
• Malawi/Zambia/Zimbabwe. Funded by the Royal Society and UK Department for International Development, BGS is working with project partners in Malawi, the UK, Zambia and Zimbabwe to enhance spatial predictions of soil type and chemistry to help combat low agricultural productivity and micronutrient deficiencies (so called ‘hidden hunger’) in vulnerable communities.
• Ethiopia. Since 2014, BGS has been participating in RiftVolc, a NERC-funded project to investigate past and current volcanism and volcanic hazards in the Main Ethiopian Rift. International project partners include Addis Ababa University, and the Geological Survey of Ethiopia.

This report synthesises the perspectives and input from 32 delegates from 22 organisations who attended a workshop in Kenya, including representatives from government, academia, industry and civil society. Using interactive group exercises enabled BGS to listen and collate the views, thoughts, and ideas of the workshop participants that lead to a better understanding of the sustainable development priorities.

The workshop represents an activity of the BGS Eastern Africa ODA Research Platform, informing the planning of a programme of science-for-development. Our work aims to build scientific collaborations, foster networks of scientists across the Global South, and support capacity building through focused training, research interactions, and applying for additional research funding (e.g., Global Challenges Research Funds).

Workshop objectives

Primary workshop objectives are noted below, with the sections of this report that provide evidence that these objectives were met:

Stakeholder Mapping		Better understand existing stakeholder networks, responsibilities, and research interests and capabilities.		Achieved by mapping out participating organisations and their activities (see Workshop participants).
Needs Assessment		Determine development priorities in eastern Africa at a range of scales (i.e., from broad overview development goals to specific challenges), and consider the Earth and environmental science research required to inform solutions.		Achieved by a set of activities aiming to prioritise and discuss development objectives (see Prioritising the UN sustainable development goals), and potential solutions (see Thematic working groups).
Partnership Building		Facilitate respectful dialogue between and across BGS and potential in-country partners.		Relationships enhanced during the workshop (see feedback in Appendix 2 - Workshop feedback)), with information on participant-priorities helping to facilitate future strong partnerships (see Thematic working groups).
Consolidate Positive BGS Reputation		Build trust and respect through delivering a workshop centred on meaningful engagement and listening.		Workshop feedback provides evidence that participants felt their perspectives were valued (see Appendix 2 - Workshop feedback).
Multi-Disciplinary and Multi-Sectoral Perspectives		Include diverse science and sectoral perspectives (e.g., academia, think tanks, NGOs, government).		Workshop participant list indicates diverse sectors and disciplines (see Workshop participants).

Report structure

In this report, we first characterise workshop participants (Workshop participants), before proceeding to present the results of workshop activities exploring the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Prioritising the UN sustainable development goals) and potential activities to support their delivery (Thematic working groups). We finish by documenting the initial results of an exercise aiming to understand participants’ perspectives on what makes a positive science-for-development partnership (Science-for-development partnerships). We outline next steps in Conclusions.

The Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme of the BGS will use this workshop information to inform future project planning and research development in eastern Africa. All workshop participants will receive a copy of this report.