The French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) is stepping up its scientific cooperation with Africa. Following a series of calls for projects launched in 2023 by the Paris-based institution, 32 initiatives by African researchers focusing on urban planning, water and climate have been selected to receive technical and financial support, knowledge-sharing and doctoral grants respectively.
The winners include Sylvia Croese from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and Chloé Buire from the Les Afriques dans le Monde (LAM) laboratory. The two researchers worked on urban construction, in particular Top-Down architecture, in the light of their experiences in South Africa and Angola, as well as surveys of city dwellers and local elected representatives.
The “TanzaShule” project, designed jointly by Stéphanie Gautier-Raux from the Géosciences Montpellier (GM) laboratory in France and Remigius Lucius Gama from the University of Dar Es-Salaam in Tanzania, was also selected by the CNRS. It focuses on the assessment of geological and climatic risks in the north of this East African country, where Mount Kilimanjaro is facing the dual challenge of a shrinking ice cap and fires. Researchers from the University of Dodoma, supported by the Tanzanian government’s Geological Survey, took part in this scientific work.
Scientific cooperation at its best
“The aim is not only to strengthen bilateral scientific cooperation, but also to support the continent’s young generation of researchers. We are well aware of the importance of their role in the future of African and global research”, explains Christelle Roy, Director of Europe and International at the CNRS.
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In the field of water, the research centre headed by Antoine Petit crowned the results of the 25-year collaboration between Bernard Adiaffi, lecturer at the Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Ivory Coast, and Christelle Marlin from the Geosciences Paris-Saclay laboratory. These lecturers have set up the Recharge dynamics and threats to groundwater resources in Ivory Coast (DREEMES-CI) project. The project is designed to address “the complex challenges of drinking water supply and accelerated urbanisation, particularly in Abidjan”.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi