Final AfriAlliance Conference

The Final AfriAlliance Conference will be held online from 28 - 30 October 2020, and will be hosted by the (online) 21st WaterNet Symposium. This Conference will draw from the experiences of the entire AfriAlliance project to:

• Showcase innovations for the needs of African stakeholders; 
• Foster mainstreaming of innovation by water and climate governance and by appropriate financing mechanisms;
• Identify communication and coordination mechanisms for enhanced engagement between Africa and Europe for water and climate;
• Ensure sustainability and uptake of AA outputs for stakeholders (working in water and climate) in Africa and Europe.

4 sessions will be held as part of the AfriAlliance Final Conference:

1. Bridging needs & solutions: the AfriAlliance approach, 28 October 2020, 10:15 - 12:15 CET 

The AfriAlliance project departs from the realization that while climate change presents (new) challenges for African stakeholders, an increasing but fragmented knowledge base exists, in Africa and in Europe. AfriAlliance tries to bridge the needs of African stakeholders to be better prepared, on the one hand, with existing knowledge, innovation and solutions, on the other hand.

This session will showcase & obtain feedback on the methods and approaches developed by AfriAlliance which help to bridge the gap in Africa between local, water-related needs arising from climate change, and existing knowledge and solutions

2. Enhancing engagement between Africa and Europe for water and climate, 29 October 2020, 10:15 - 12:15 CET

The main objective of the AfriAlliance project is for African and European stakeholders to work together in the areas of water innovation, research, policy, and capacity development to prepare Africa for future climate change challenges. The project creates an effective, problem-focused knowledge sharing mechanism platform for scientists, decision makers, practitioners, citizens and other key stakeholders to identify appropriate social innovation and technological solutions for key water and climate change challenges.

In this session AfriAlliance invites African and European Stakeholders, in order to enhance engagement, deepen partnerships, and strengthen Africa's response to the water and climate change challenge for sustainable development.

3. AfriAlliance Innovation Brokerage Event: Climate proof IWRM, 29 October 2020, 13:00 - 15:00 CET

The purpose of AfriAlliance Innovation Bridge Events (IBE) is to serve as a matching platform for universities, science councils and companies in water and climate change with potential collaborators, funders and investors to facilitate commercialisation, awareness and better uptake of their innovations. The topic of the Innovation Bridge Events follows from the overarching theme of the AfriAlliance project which is to foster social innovation related to climate change and water. Social Innovation in AfriAlliance means tackling societal, water-related challenges arising from climate change by combining the technological & non-technological dimensions of innovation. 

This 5th edition of the AfriAlliance IBE will address social innovation and its various dimensions gathering diverse stakeholders across all levels of government and the sectors of climate, water, environment, sustainability and innovation. The session will consist of technology exhibitions and demonstrations and a follow up plenary discussion on fostering technological innovations for further development, uptake and commercialization.

4. Power, Influence and the Networking ability of water and climate organisations: the AA Social Network Analysis, 30 October 2020, 9:00 – 11:00 CET

Through measuring the power, influence, networking ability, centrality amongst other metrics we will showcase which water and climate organisations are the most significant in Africa and the EU and how they are positioned in relation to one another. 

In this session we will validate the AfriAlliance Network Map, through an interactive process, where participants can contribute to validate the map. 

This virtual workshop will be framed with three objectives in mind: 

1. To explain the map development;
2. To discuss the long-term sustainability of the map; 
3. To validate and update it according to the participants profiles and knowledge. 

Where does your organisation, network or project fit on this network map?

You can register for the Final AfriAlliance Conference and WaterNet Symposium for free here: https://waternetsymposium.dryfta.com/attendees-authors-registration/attendee-registration. You can then indicate your attendance to the AfriAlliance sessions by clicking "Add to my schedule" next to the AfriAlliance sessions.