It is the CAISL project that is being talked about – at the seminar, Thursday 10 October 2024, the results of the project were presented; and what results. The project supported by CISU – Civil Society in Development has shown the way for both individuals and local communities in Uganda towards a more sustainable future.
The training programs that JEEP Folkecenter and UCSD (Uganda Coalition for Sustainable Development) have carried out with local populations in Uganda have provided skills and knowledge, so they can take matters into their own hands, said Lene Høgh, project worker in CAISL; for example, they have learned how to produce homemade sanitary products, how to make energy-efficient stoves, hay boxes to keep food warm, and renewable energy solutions in local communities and, not least, how to build individual and joint financial stability. A small film made by JEEP depicting some of the work in the CAISL project was shown at the seminar.
Sustainable Development Goal no. 7, Sustainable Energy, was put into relief in relation to Denmark and Uganda, in a workshop organized by Sustainability Manager, Gitte Davidsen. Here it was pointed out that if everyone in the world is to have access to sustainable energy, it requires knowledge sharing and the transfer of know-how – both about technologies, models, and ownership. In addition, the talk was about energy efficiency, optimization and changes in behavior so that our overconsumption becomes consumption that matches the planet’s resources and the energy that is produced.
Jan Harry, project coordinator on the More Light! project, talked about LED lighting and how he has worked to spread it in Africa together with Nordic Folkecenter and JEEP Folkecenter. The project has been about fine-tuning the placement and selecting of the most optimal LED lights, in order to get the best possible lighting at a decent price and with the least possible energy consumption for African schools. It has also been about using the materials that are available. Jan Harry presented a beautiful lamp, where a scrap from a bullet in a deodorant, old newspapers and brochures, an avocado and clay have been used to make lampshades.
The most important thing, however, is to spread the knowledge, and in a year there will be a handbook and teaching material ready to spread the knowledge of LED technology and renewable energy even more.
Anker Mardal, data specialist at Nordic Folkecenter, could tell that recycling also applies to the technologies; and here the PV table was brought forward as an example. The PV table, which was built by two trainees, and which consists of a discarded PV panel, recycled wood, battery and outlet.
And back to energy savings. The question of sustainable energy for the whole world can also be partially answered with energy savings. It matters what is plugged into the socket. Jan Harry concluded with the phrase: “sometimes it’s huge to think small”
Afterwards, the participants had to go out into the fresh air with Lene Høgh and Anker Mardal and they had a look at Nordic Folkecenter’s exhibition of various energy-saving stoves suitable for development projects and the African School with LED lighting, where the inspiration for the work with renewable energy and LED light schools in CAISL came from.
