After 2 years a milestone in the INTERFACES project has been reached with the launch of the e-learning certificate ‘Research and Innovation for Sustainable Land Management in Africa’.
The University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD),Somanya, Eastern Region, Ghana in collaboration with Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences (H-BRS), Germany, has officially launched an E-Certificate Programme in Sustainable Land Management.
The ceremony took place at the University’s Auditorium, Multipurpose Building, and was jointly officiated by the Vice-Chancellor of UESD, Prof. Eric Nyarko-Sampson, and Prof. Wiltrud Terlau, Head of the International Centre for Sustainable Development at H-BRS. The event drew members of faculty, management, and senior staff, including the Registrar, Mrs. Mary Abena Agyepong.
The E-Certificate Programme is the outcome of a strategic partnership between the two universities, aimed at delivering short, specialised courses at UESD. The courses, which will run for six weeks to three months, include modules such as Land Information Management Systems and Evolution of Traditional Governance Structures, Climate-Smart Land Management, Gender and Land Rights and Sustainable Land Use Planning. The programme is open to students, alumni, and practitioners in the field.
In his remarks, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor and UESD Coordinator of the INTERFACES Project, Prof. Edward Wiafe Debrah, outlined the roadmap that guided the development of the curriculum. He acknowledged the contributions of Dr. Peter Asare-Nuamah and other collaborators from H-BRS and partner institutions across Africa and Europe. He further noted that the programme will be hosted on UESD’s Learning Management System, making it accessible to policy practitioners, students, and professionals in land governance across the region and beyond.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Nyarko-Sampson, commended the team for successfully launching the programme, describing it as a major step in UESD’s mission to lead in sustainability-focused education and innovation. He expressed optimism that the programme will attract a high calibre of applicants interested in advancing sustainable land management practices.
Prof. Wiltrud Terlau also expressed her delight at the collaboration, stating that the initiative exemplifies the importance of transdisciplinary knowledge co-creation and capacity building in sustainable land use and governance, particularly across sub-Saharan Africa. H-BRS actively partners with Universities around the world, especially in Africa, to promote capacity building and sustainable development through education and research. It works on sustainability, transdisciplinary research, and international cooperation, such as the collaboration with UESD).
By: Barbara M. Yakubu
Original news item here.
Nach zwei Jahren des vom BMBF geförderten Projekts „INTERFACES – Unterstützung von Entwicklungspfaden für ein nachhaltiges Landmanagement in Afrika “ sind wir stolz, den Start des E-Learning Zertifikats „Research and Innovation for Sustainable Land Management in Africa“ bekannt zu geben.
Das digitale Lernangebot wurde von einem Forschungsteam des Internationalen Zentrums für Nachhaltige Entwicklung (IZNE) der Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg (H-BRS) in enger Zusammenarbeit mit der University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD) und dem Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) entwickelt und bündelt das Fachwissen von mehr als 20 Forschenden.
Der Startschuss fiel während des Statusseminars des Programms in Accra, Ghana (2.-6. Juni), und wurde von einer Podiumsdiskussion begleitet, die von Berenice Fischer geleitet wurde.
Ein symbolischer „Mouse-Klick“ durch Vertreter:inen aller drei Partnereinrichtungen eröffnete die neue Lernplattform feierlich.
Zu den Höhepunkten der Konferenz gehörten:
Original news item here.
The workshop from 9th till 10th of October was about planning an E-learning certificate on Research and Innovation for Sustainable Land Management in Africa. The workshop brought together content producers and moderators of the e-certificate to plan the moderated sessions as part of the E-Learning experience and the actual roll out of the e-certificate at University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD) in Ghana in 2025.
A series of sessions on “e-teaching” has been prepared in cooperation with the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences (H-BRS) library. The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) will present the online Learning Management System for the roll out of the e-certificate in 2025.
„This workshop represents a milestone in our planned activities for the INTERFACES project. It will define the actual implementation of the E-learning certificate at UESD, a key step in our project. Moreover, it will bring together all partners involved in this joint venture for the first time, marking a significant moment in our progress. We are looking forward to this collaboration and to implementing it next year.” Silvia Berenice Fischer – Research associate ‚Responsible Economy and Natural Resources’/Ph.D. student at IZNE
The e-certificate is developed under INTERFACES project through a collaboration between International Centre for Sustainable Development (IZNE) at H-BRS and UESD, FARA as well as West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL). During the workshop further collaboration with University of Development Studies (UDS) located in Tamale, Ghana will be explored. Representatives of all organisations are participating in the workshop.
The objective of the E-learning course is to provide an extracurricular qualification in Research and Innovation in Sustainable Land Management through practical content. The content will be based on the research outcomes, methods, and contributions of the four BMBF-funded regional projects and interfaces within the call „Sustainable Land Management in Sub-Saharan Africa: Improving Livelihoods through Local Research.“ The course is structured into six modules, covering topics such as the evolution of land governance in Africa, gender and land management, as well as research and innovation.
Original news items here.
