Pairs of university and community representatives from ten African cities will take part in the first EPIC Africa-led training on February 3-6, 2020 in Durban, South Africa. The event will be hosted by EPIC-N, the EPIC Africa Network and START International.
The training aims at expanding the EPIC Africa Network by introducing new institutions to the EPIC model. EPIC matches the real-world needs of cities and local governments with university students and faculty, to enhance the capacity of cities and communities to become more sustainable, resilient, and adaptable to climate change.
Workshop participants will have the opportunity to learn about three programs implemented in Lusaka (Zambia), Durban (South Africa) and Nairobi (Kenya). They will be able to start working in pairs (city and university officials) on programs related to their cities and communities.
A site visit to Durban climate adaptation projects, some of which are using the EPIC model, will provide opportunities for peer-to-peer learning exchange.
The last day of the event will be dedicated to strategic planning for the EPIC Africa network, with a focus on the network’s expansion in the continent.
This training follows a first EPIC workshop held in 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa, which led to the establishment of the EPIC Africa. The workshop was funded by the US National Science Foundation and UNEP’s Global Adaptation Network. EPIC-N members have completed over 1,200 projects in the United States in the past 10 years, and the network is expanding with events in Africa, Asia (Bangkok) and the United States in the first quarter of 2020.
