Since 2016, the research funding programme Leading Integrated Research for Agenda 2030 in Africa (LIRA 2030 Africa) supported collaborative research projects led by African early-career scientists to advance sustainable development across cities on the continent.
Through transdisciplinary research, LIRA projects produced knowledge that took in account the diversity of scientific and societal views of the sustainable development challenges in African cities and promoted the use of scientific evidence as a basis for urban policy development and practice.
As the LIRA programme is coming to its end in Dec 2021, the International Science Council (ISC) and the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC) will convene a series of webinars to showcase the achievements of early-career Africa scientists in advancing the 2030 Agenda in African cities, to discuss their learnings and explore the future of the LIRA programme.
The three LIRA webinars took place on 8-10 December 2021, each starting at 2PM CET / UTC+1.
🏆 Day 1: LIRA achievements
14:00 – 14:10
Welcome and Introduction
Heide Hackmann
CEO, International Science Council
Jackie Kado
Executive Director, Network of African Science Academies
14:10 – 14:40
Keynote: Africa’s urban future: imperatives for how we think and act
Susan Parnell
Global Challenges Research Professor at the University of Bristol and Emeritus Professor at the African Centre for Cities
14:40 – 14:50
Q&A
14:40 – 15:00
LIRA achievements
Katsia Paulavets
Senior Science Officer, International Science Council
15:00 – 15:50
Panel Discussion: What is the significance of transdisciplinary approaches for the delivery of relevant urban outcomes in Africa?
Temilade Sesan
University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Henri Sourou Totin Vodounon
University of Parakou, Benin
Sokhna Thiam
Institut de Recherche en Santé, de Surveillance, Senegal
Oghenekaro Nelson Odume
Rhodes University, South Africa
Discussion with all LIRA grantees
Dan Inkoom
Professor of Planning at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana and Visiting Associate Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
15:50 – 15:57
Discussant
Shuaib Lwasa
Associate Professor at the Makerere University and the University of Twente
15:57 – 16:00
Closing of Day 1
Jackie Kado
Executive Director, Network of African Science Academies
💡 Day 2: LIRA learnings
14:00 – 14:03
Welcome to Day 2
Vivi Stavrou
Executive Secretary of the ISC Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in Science
14:03 – 14:25
Key learnings across LIRA projects
Zarina Patel
Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town
14:25 – 14:35
Q&A
14:35 – 15:35
Panel Discussion: Is there a distinctive approach to transdisciplinarity emerging from Africa?
Sandra Boatemaa
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Deborah Darko
CSIR – Water Research Institute in Ghana
Gladman Thondhlana
Rhodes University, South Africa
Emmanuel Kanchebe Derbile
SD Dombo University of Business & Integrated Development Studies, Ghana
Discussion with all LIRA grantees
Shuaib Lwasa
Associate Professor at the Makerere University and the University of Twente
Zarina Patel
Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town
15:35 – 15:40
Closing of Day 2
Vivi Stavrou
Executive Secretary of the ISC Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in Science
🌟 Day 3: LIRA – looking ahead
14:00 – 14:03
Welcome to Day 3
Katsia Paulavets
Senior Science Officer, International Science Council
14:03 – 14:25
Future of TD research in Africa
Cheikh Mbow
Director of Future Africa Science at University of Pretoria
14:25 – 14:35
Q&A
14:35 – 15:15
Panel discussion: Competencies for TD research on urban Africa
Kareem Buyana
Makerere University, Uganda
Sokhna Thiam
Institut de Recherche en Santé, de Surveillance, Senegal
Sylvia Croese
University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Sheillah Simiyu
The African Population and Health Research Center, Kenya
Philip Osano
Centre Director of SEI Africa
Discussion with all LIRA grantees
Dan Inkoom, Moderator
Professor of Planning at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana and Visiting Associate Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
15:15 – 15:30
Urban Africa: Directions for science
Edgar Pieterse
Director of African Center for Cities, South Africa
15:30 – 15:45
LIRA next phase, ACC
15:45 – 15:55
Q&A
15:55 – 16:00
Conclusions and looking ahead
Katsia Paulavets
Senior Science Officer, International Science Council
Jackie Kado
Executive Director, Network of African Science Academies
Photos: Susan Parnell (ugec.org); Sandra Boatemaa (ResearchGate); Deborah Darko ( ResearchGate); Gladman Thondhlana (IUCN); Emmanuel Kanchebe Derbile (SD Dombo University of Business & Integrated Development Studies); Edgar Pieterse (University of Cape Town).
Background photo: Tim Johnson on Unsplash