Search Results for: item/10864860/PhD-position-Global-flood-risk-assessment-and-behavioural-modelling-VU-Amsterdam/page/49/www.linkedin.com/in/apoorva-seeram

In a context of food insecurity and extreme poverty due to unsustainable agriculture practices, it is worldwide recognised that education can play an important role by shaping competent change-agents that will work for solving this sustainability challenge . It is under this perception that a module on Integrated Farm Planning (PIP) is introduced in vocational agriculture schools in Burundi in the attempt to solve the problem. This research intends to explore the learning approaches and competences relevant for shaping real change-agents for sustainable agriculture in Burundi. To achieve this objective, this research will combine review and empirical-based impact assessment approaches of a learning programme. The research will firstly identify key competences needed to be fostered in the context of Burundi. Secondly, in the view of PIP principles, the research will assess the extent to which current agricultural education is competence-based towards sustainable agriculture. Thirdly, the research will evaluate the impact of the PIP learning approach in terms of students’ competence development as well as their active role in the area of sustainable agriculture. By providing scientific evidences on how an effective learning approach contributes to shaping competent sustainability change-agents, findings of this study will contribute to shedding light on how education can play an important role in the efforts to achieve sustainable agriculture.

Stakeholder participation is argued to have many advantages in the water sector and its application is becoming important in environmental management decision making processes, but it is relatively limited in the developing world. Holistic assessment and stakeholder participation are not commonly practiced in research works from Ethiopia. This study intends to seek solutions to reservoir development and management problems in Northern Ethiopia by linking upstream and downstream hydrological and sediment dynamics and by combining the physical functioning of the irrigation system within the landscape with the socio-economic functioning of the irrigation system and involvement of local stakeholders.

Households and industries produce enormous amounts of mixed, heterogenous waste streams containing organics and inorganics. With respect to the organics, some are biodegradable, while others are not and often plastics. This mixture creates challenges for various current solid waste management processes. An integration of different platform technologies is required to effectively dealing with this low grade solid waste. This project aims to assess the technical feasibility on turning low-grade, heterogenous organic and plastic wastes into high value chemical streams via integrating thermo-chemical and biological platform technologies with a high technological readiness level. The assessment will be done based on synergetic experimental work on tuneable pyrolysis and microbial chain elongation technologies that will potentially lead to new integration of these platforms for an effective urban solid waste management.