New Book "China-Africa Science, Technology and Innovation Collaboration", edited by Mammo Muchie, Angathevar Baskaran, Mingfeng Tang

New Book

China-Africa Science, Technology and Innovation Collaboration; Edited by Mammo Muchie, Angathevar Baskaran, Mingfeng Tang; Springer Nature, 2024. ISBN 978-981-97-4576-0 (eBook). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-4576-0. 
About this book: This open access book brings together researchers from a variety of disciplines to explore science, technology, and innovation cooperation between China and African countries by using  different  perspectives. The growing economic, technological, and scientific cooperation between Africa and China provides opportunities to jointly develop mechanisms to provide a skill base from discovery to creativity, invention, innovation,  entrepreneurship and implementation for the benefit of both  Africa and China. This book makes a significant contribution to the knowledge, imagination, understanding of the different dimensions of China-Africa STI cooperation and can  reach out to all stakeholders with evidence-based research.

Table of contents (32 chapters)

• Introduction: China–Africa Science, Technology, Innovation Collaboration for Their Win–Win Enduring Shared Future Relations | Mammo Muchie, Angathevar Baskaran, Mingfeng Tang
• China-Africa S&T Relationship: Selected Cases of Learning and Technology Transfer | Swapan Kumar Patra, Mammo Muchie
• Post Scriptum | Mammo Muchie, Angathevar Baskaran, Mingfeng Tang

Vendée Globe: 25 skippers will support UNESCO’s oceanographic research

PRESS RELEASE   Vendée Globe: 25 skippers will support UNESCO's oceanographic research   Les Sables-d'Olonne (France), 8 November 2024 – As the Vendée Globe 2024 kicks off, 25 skippers have volunteered to carry and and deploy scientific instruments provided by UNESCO and its partners during the competition in order to advance oceanographic research and weather forecasting models.   "To better protect the ocean, we also need to know more about it. I commend the commitment of the Vendée Globe, the IMOCA Class and the skippers who, alongside UNESCO, will help to advance oceanographic research by integrating scientific instruments on board the yachts. This is an exemplary initiative illustrating cooperation between the worlds of sport and science", said Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO. More than half of the skippers (25 out of a total of 40) who will set off on Sunday in the biggest non-stop, solo race around the world have volunteered to take on board scientific instruments provided by UNESCO and its partners, such as surface buoys, weather stations and thermosalinographs. These sailors will contribute important scientific observations that will enrich our global knowledge of the climate and ocean, and improve operational weather forecasting services, particularly in the most remote areas of the globe, such as the Southern Ocean. The data collected during and after the race, as well as the buoys deployed, will feed into UNESCO's Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). Monitoring the ocean to better understand climate change The research equipment is provided by renowned institutes that are partners of UNESCO: Ifremer, Météo France, UK MetOffice, CNES, GEOMAR, CLS, TARA Foundation, and ETH Zürich. Coordination will be provided by UNESCO's International Centre of Excellence for the Coordination and Monitoring of Ocean Observing Systems (OceanOPS). In mid-October, the sailors were trained by scientists in the use and deployment of these tools. 10 skippers will be taking on board Argo profiling floats (20kg, 1.70m long) which measure sea temperature and salinity at depths of up to 2,000m, and allow the forecasting of changes in the ocean and their impact on the climate and marine biodiversity. 8 skippers will be deploying drifting surface buoys (20kg) that measure atmospheric pressure, sea surface temperature and currents, making it possible to improve global weather forecasts and monitor climate change more effectively. 5 skippers will be taking on board Calitoo photometers (400g), small portable devices that measures the level of aerosols in the atmosphere and sort them according to size (smoke, pollutant gases, ice crystals, dust). This makes it possible to measure optical depth, i.e. the amount of light absorbed in the environment. 2 skippers will be taking Argos Marget II beacons (1.3kg) on board to reveal and measure marine currents, which are essential for navigation, tracking the movement of marine animals and to better understand the dynamics of certain types of waste in the ocean. In addition to these devices, weather stations (300g) linked to the boat's onboard computer will measure atmospheric pressure in real time to inform weather forecasts.   Finally, the TSG Gaillard (10kg) on board two  of the boats will continuously measure sea surface temperature and salinity. This partnership with the Vendée Globe and the IMOCA Class is part of a wider initiative by UNESCO – the United Nations' science organisation, which is also leading the Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development – to mobilise public and private actor as well as civil society to improve our knowledge of the ocean and protect it more effectively. Download the brochure: UNESCO's ocean programmes The 25 skippers who will be taking instruments on board : Fabrice Amedeo (OceanPack + Argo float) Romain Attanasio (TSG Gaillard + Weather buoy) Arnaud Boissières (Weather buoy + Calitoo)  Louis Burton (Calitoo) Antoine Cornic (TSG Gaillard + Weather buoy + Weather station) Manu Cousin (Weather buoy) Clarisse Crémer (Weather buoy) Sam Davies (Calitoo) Louis Duc (Weather buoy) Benjamin Dutreux (Weather Station) Sam Goodchild (Argo float + Calitoo) Pip Hare (Calitoo) Oliver Heer (OceanPack + Argo float) Boris Herrmann (OceanPack + Weather Buoy) Tanguy Le Turquais (Weather Station) Nicolas Lunven (OceanPack) Sébastien Marsset (Weather Station + Argo Float) Paul Meilhat (Planctoscope) Yoann Richomme (Argo Float + ARGOS Marget II) Kojiro Shiraishi (Argo Float) Maxime Sorel (Argo float) Guirec Soudée (Argo float) Denis Van Weynbergh (Weather buoy) Szabi Weores (Argo float + weather station) Jingkun Xu (Argo float)   About UNESCO   With 194 Member States, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization contributes to peace and security by leading multilateral cooperation on education, science, culture, communication and information. Headquartered in Paris, UNESCO has offices in 54 countries and employs over 2300 people. UNESCO oversees more than 2000 World Heritage sites, Biosphere Reserves and Global Geoparks; networks of Creative, Learning, Inclusive and Sustainable Cities; and over 13 000 associated schools, university chairs, training and research institutions. Its Director-General is Audrey Azoulay.   "Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed" – UNESCO Constitution, 1945.   More information: www.unesco.org   Press contact François Wibaux, f.wibaux@unesco.org, +33 (0)1 45 68 07 46   UNESCO Newsroom All our press releases   Social media

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Fwd: ORF Event "Regenerative Agriculture and Agrobiodiversity for Food Security in Africa and India - Empowering Smallholders through Market Approaches", 11 Nov

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ORF invitation Greetings from Observer Research Foundation! The Observer Research Foundation is delighted to invite you to the panel discussion on Regenerative Agriculture and Agrobiodiversity for Food Security in Africa and India - Empowering Smallholders through Market Approaches. This is an invite only event. NOVEMBER 2024 11 RSVP ABOUT THE EVENT: The lack of agricultural biodiversity in farming systems threatens nutritional security for nearly 3 billion people in India and Africa, or roughly 40 percent of the global population. Around 600 million smallholder farmers (with a bulk in India and Africa), who are working on less than two hectares of land and producing around 35 percent of world's food, are key to maintaining biodiversity and ensuring food and nutrition security for their local as well as national populations. However, facing pressures of the homogenizing effects of globalization, their "economic viability and contribution to diversified landscape" is threatened. It also explains why millions of smallholder households in India and Africa are struggling to stay afloat. Regenerative agriculture, which is based on principles of agrobiodiversity, is an emerging pathway to address the challenge of food and nutrition security as well as support smallholders to improve their farm productivity and income. Its focus on improving soil health and on-farm diversity, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and sequestering carbon dioxide while building climate resilience among smallholders also appreciates their role in climate change mitigation.  The key aim of the discussion is to engage policymakers, researchers and civil society organizations working with smallholders in India and Africa on regenerative agriculture — to secure local food systems, improve biodiversity and ensure access to quality and nutritious food to rural communities. PROGRAMME: 09:30 - 10:00 (IN) - Registration and Reception 10:00 - 10:40 (IN) - Inaugural Session (launch of Policy Brief) Welcome Address Shatadru Chattopadhayay, Managing Director, Solidaridad Asia Inaugural Address Nilanjan Ghosh, Director-Centre for New Economic Diplomacy & Observer Research Foundation-Kolkata Centre Special Address/s Tharangani Wickremasinghe, Additional Secretary, Tea Development & Plantation Policy of the Ministry of Agriculture & Plantation Industries  Anuja Kadian, Chair, the FICCI Task Force on Sustainable Agriculture/ Government and Industry Affairs Director (Asia Pacific) @ Corteva Agriscience  Keynote Address Maninder Kaur Dwivedi, Additional Secretary & MD Small Farmer's Agri-Business Consortium (TBC) Vote of Thanks Prashant Pastore, Asia Head-Water & Agri Programme, Solidaridad Asia 10:40 - 10:45 (IN) Setting the Context/Policy Brief Recommendations Shoba Suri, Senior Fellow, Observer Research Foundation 10:45 - 11:00 (IN) Break 11:00 - 12:00 (IN) - Session 1: Regenerative Agriculture: A Case for Small & Marginalized Farmers Suhas Wani, Ex-Director, ICRISAT India  Ajeet Chahal, Rice Team Lead - Asia Crop Science Division, Bayer Arpita Mukherjee, Professor, ICRIER Nithyashree ML, Senior Scientist-Division of Agricultural Economics, ICAR-IARI  Manish Anand, Senior Fellow, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) Nilabja Ghosh, Professor, Institute of Economic Growth Moderator - Nitin Rao, Asia Lead for Planning & Innovation, Solidaridad Asia 12:00 - 12:10 (IN) Q&A 12:10 - 13:10 (IN) - Session 2: Reaping a rich harvest: On-farm success stories from Africa and India Sarika Mittra, Consultant, Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture, Alliance of Bioversity International, and CIAT, Asia-India Office  Godlove Nderingo, Senior Programme Manager, Tanzania, Solidaridad  Suresh Motwani, General Manager, Solidaridad India  Kaushal Bisht, Lead, Partnerships, Varaha  C.S.Dubey, Strategic Marketing & Technology Director, Cargill Animal Nutrition Moderator - Monika Khanna, Country Manager, Solidaridad India   13:10 - 13:20 (IN) Q&A 13:20 - 13:30 (IN) - Closing Session Summing Up & Vote of Thanks Kritika Banerjee, Senior Editor, Solidaridad Asia 13:30 - 14:30 (IN) Lunch We look forward to your participation.  Warm regards,  Team ORF  Facebook FOLLOW ON TWITTER VISIT OUR WEBSITE Copyright © 2024 Observer Research Foundation, All Rights Reserved. Our mailing address is: Observer Research Foundation, 20 Rouse Avenue, New Delhi-110002 If you want to subscribe, please send an email to orfevents@orfonline.org

Observer Research Foundation · 20 Rouse Avenue · New Delhi, 110002 · India

JNU-GIAN Course on Quadruple Helix and Strengthening Knowledge Interactions for Frugal Innovation

JNU-GIAN Course on Quadruple Helix and Strengthening Knowledge Interactions for Frugal Innovation

17-21 February 2025

Foreign Faculty : Prof. Peter Knorringa, International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam, Hague, Netherlands

Host Faculty : Dr. Saradindu Bhaduri, CSSP, SSS, JNU

Duration: 17 - 21 February 2025

Link for Registration: https://jnucashless.fdsbase.com/

Overview: As elaborated by the UNCTAD in its 2017 report, new innovation approaches are needed to support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The promise of these new innovation approaches hinges on how successfully they can create a balance between scale and context specificity, while maintaining inclusiveness. Many such innovations require an appreciation for polycentric knowledge interactions based on mutual respect for various kinds of knowledge holders. This course takes up the case of frugal innovation, as one such new approach, and elaborates on how to strengthen knowledge interactions for generating socially impactful frugal innovations. India and the Netherlands offer interesting complementary experiences with key elements of this agenda. While India is rightly seen as the 'home' of many successful frugal innovations, both by local communities and by larger companies, The Netherlands is seen as the champion of consensus-building and co-creation by various stakeholders. The argument in the course is that scalable frugal innovations tend to be more successful and relevant when they succeed in synergizing efforts by local communities, local and global business, intermediary organizations, knowledge institutes and government agencies. The so-called Quadruple Helix model of the 'DutchDiamond' is an example of how stakeholders in the Netherlands have developed experience with such co-creation processes, that mobilizes government officials, business actors, university-based researchers and society through so-called citizen science participation. In the course we will discuss to what extent and under which conditions, some of the more successful Dutch experiences in sectors like water and agro-food might be useful in the Indian context. Moreover, the Dutch Quadruple Helix model has failed to achieve lasting results in policy areas like energy and shipbuilding, which will be instructive to see the context specificity and contingent nature of where and when Quadruple Helix processes are more likely to produce useful results. A next element in the course investigates how to further develop relationships between the constituting stakeholders in a Quadruple Helix model in India. Finally, also through a simulation game, the course critically assesses the potential value added of using a Quadruple Helix model to strengthen knowledge interactions for frugal innovations with developmental impacts.
Objectives: The primary objectives of the course are as follows:
i) To build up and strengthen research capacity on frugal innovation in Indian universities,
ii) To reach out to social sector professionals and industry executives on unfolding dynamics of frugal innovation,
iii) To sensitize policymakers on the challenges and need to support frugal innovations in a country like India,
iv) Motivate scientists to carry out and critically analyze frugal innovations.

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