In this project researchers from Aalborg University and the Namibian University of Science and Technology want to design an assistive shopping robot that supports customers in making more sustainable shopping choices considering different cultural contexts. Therefore, we will explore how people do grocery shopping with and without a robot and how they do that differently in Namibia and in Denmark.What? Why? How?

We will adapt, tailor, and advance the results from the Horizon 2020 project SteamBio (Grant agreement 636865). SteamBio demonstrated innovative continuous Superheated Steam processing of agro-forestry biomass into clean burning solid biofuel. This was recognised by the EU Innovation Radar as a market ready innovation with three SMEs identified as key innovators, bringing these innovations to SteamBioAfrica. Across Southern Africa invasive encroachment by bush and other woody species, aggravated by climate change, is creating environmental, social, and economic damage. We will demonstrate superheated steam processing of invasive woody biomass into clean burning biofuel and water in rural Namibia. Operating at an industrially relevant scale (250kg/hour throughput) for over one year, we will validate this biofuel with domestic and industrial customers in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa. We will prepare sustainable and inclusive business plans to justify post project investment in large scale replication that will result in economic impact, and jobs across the region. Our objectives will be to validate this superheated steam biomass processing as a viable and sustainable source of large scale, clean burning, secure and affordable energy across Southern Africa. We will confirm market acceptance and ensure that it creates greater value than the cost of harvesting and processing. Quantifying over five different market opportunities, we will create a plan for post project exploitation that will stimulate bush harvesting and reverse encroachment. This will lead to long term socio-economic and environmental benefit across the region. SteamBioAfrica will enable large scale, clean, secure, and affordable energy in Africa. It addresses multiple challenges facing Southern Africa, low carbon energy, climate change impacts and resource efficiency. It will transform these challenges into a resilient source of clean and secure energy, water, and sustainable rural economies.

Water-scarce regions in Sub-Saharan Africa are most vulnerable to climate change and fluctuations in seasonal rainfall patterns. Agriculture is the most important economic sector in those areas and adaptation strategies must include technical support to subsistence and smallholder farmers who need to apply innovative technologies and practices to cope with environmental stresses and create revenue generating activities. The DIVAGRI project proposes a wide range of bio-based innovative solutions adapted to specific conditions in target countries. Ecosystem restoration in combination with diverse crop production in regenerative agricultural systems, mobile biorefineries for biomass conversion to high-value compounds and bioenergy, and the highly innovative clay-based micro-irrigation system “SLECI” (Self-regulating, Low Energy, Clay-based Irrigation) are solutions developed by DIVAGRI. In addition, building on community participation and co-development of collaborative business models, the project will enable smallholder farmers to increase income and generate new economic opportunities while guaranteeing food security, real rural opportunities, and sustainability. The focus of this project is not only on the primary production sector but also on the food and bio-based industries, thus promoting new partnerships between producers, processors, retailers and consumers and opening new sustainable avenues for businesses, services and value chains in support of rural communities. Developing innovative bio-based technologies characterised by the efficient use of resources and utilisation of waste and by-products, DIVAGRI contributes to the EU research priority of making the transition towards circular agriculture and bioeconomy.

SESA will facilitate a structured co-development process, which starts with the co-development of energy access innovations that have a high potential for take-up and are tested, validated and later replicated. Each technology will be demonstrated in the living lab, and a corresponding information and training package is created. Each of the living lab team will consist of technology experts, local implementation partners (members of the consortium) along with local authorities (associated partners) and innovators (recruited through the seed-funding call), guided by business development, finance and policy experts. Demonstration actions will aim to test innovative technologies and services in different contexts that have a high level of replicability and a high potential for long-term sustainability. The project aims to achieve a high level of replicability of actions. As part of an effort to go beyond the state of the art and maximise the project?s impact, the project will co-develop innovations with local partners and cooperate closely with sister projects to exploit synergies. Solutions that will be tested in this project have been selected on their basis of their replication potential. Demonstration concepts aim to integrate several solutions to provide essential energy services to rural and urban communities and create easily replicable business opportunities for local entrepreneurs. The co-developed demonstration actions will be initially tested in the Kenya living lab and based on the initial learnings, various aspects of the tested innovations will be validated in living labs in different socio-economic operating environments (Ghana, South Africa, Malawi and Morocco). The learning from the validation living labs will strengthen the applicability and replicability of the technologies as well as the basic business concepts, which will be shared in the SESA toolbox and incubator programme.

Secure the access to raw materials represents a critical issue for European ambition to deliver the Green Deal and perform the energy and digital twin transition. As future demand of primary critical raw materials will continue to be largely met by importations, EU needs to diversify its supply chain and engage strategic partnerships with resources-rich third countries covering extraction, processing and refining such as African countries. In this framework, AfricaMaVal project aims to develop EU-Africa partnership ensuring a responsible sourcing of mineral resources for the European industry while granting a sustainable local co-development in the best Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) conditions and leading to a long-terms business environment for European and African companies. The consortium, created with partners coming both from Africa and Europe, is based on experienced organizations and networks deeply anchored and involved in the raw material domain with a specific expertise and knowledge of the African culture, organisations, difficulties and resources. The mineral, financial, environmental, social, institutional and economical aspects will be studied along with all the value chains, including the ASSM activities, to the project completion to reach its operational targets: - Building an EU and Africa business networking on the whole CRM value chains. - Developing a strategy on the integration of identified and emerging EU and African raw materials value chains for the energy and digital transition. - Assessing responsible investment opportunities. The AfricaMaVal project will conduct ten case studies in African countries and an evaluation of 100 investment opportunities, a wide dissemination within Europe and Africa to promote responsible sourcing and will implement a sustainable organisation after the completion of the project.