Blog - Teso University Project

Pilgrim Holds Sustainable Rural Technologies Meetings at Makerere University

Posted By Helen Hofman on 5.10.11 @ 2:30PM | Teso University, Education, Biodiesel and Sustainable Rural Technologies Program, Teso University, Beacon of Hope College, Teso University Project, Kampala, Uganda, Soroti; Uganda

Dorothy Echodu spent time in Uganda last month with a team from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The group led groundbreaking workshops in Sustainable Rural Technologies at Makerere University in Kampala. Dorothy, the Director of Pilgrim's Teso University Project, has been active in enlisting US university staff to teach sustainable technology as one of the two initial programs planned for the launching of Teso University in Teso, northern Uganda.

The US team was led by Dr. Andy Danylchuk, and included Dr. James Webb, Dr. David Damery (Dept. of Environmental Conservation (ECO)) and Dr. Craig Hollingsworth (U Mass Extension). Dr. James Webb has been working with the Teso University Project researching and designing an environmentally friendly and economically viable aquaculture project for Teso.

On Wednesday, Dr. David Damery, Director of the Building and Construction Technology program within ECO led the first workshop on "Green Construction in Uganda". The workshop was attended by architects, engineers, academics, and Government Ministry officials from across the capitol city. The workshop revealed that topics such as adaptive reuse and embodied energy are not foreign terms within the building construction industry in Uganda, and that there is considerable desire to use alternative construction techniques to increase the sustainability of the build environment throughout the region.

Dr. Andy Danylchuk, Asst. Professor of Fish Conservation within ECO next directed the entire team for two days of workshops entitled "Pathways for Aquaculture in Uganda". Practitioners, academics, and consultants from across the country participated in discussion, demonstrations, and strategic planning for future aquaculture development in this East Central African nation. The workshop took an integrative systems thinking approach to help identify challenges and opportunities to the aquaculture industry in Uganda. All participants were encouraged by the collective sharing of information as well as the potential role the new university in the Teso region will play in helping the aquaculture industry move forward in Uganda.

This work is generously supported by a grant from the Clarence and Anne Dillon Dunwalke Trust.

Below are the workshop slides and a photo gallery of the Pilgrim event, plus a video Andy Danylchuk produced for FishForward's channel on YouTube.

Pilgrim Hosts Sustainable Rural Technologies at Makerere University

Participants in the recent workshop series held at Makerere University in Kampala. Workshop topics included environmentally friendly aquaculture, and green building techniques. The meetings were attended by Government Ministry officials, architects, consultants, academics, and practitioners and engineers from across the Ugandan country.