Background & context How was this extended concept note developed? How did you take into account the comments of the selection commission (selection stage 1 – concept Note South)? Faced with the multiple challenges surrounding the region’s exploitation of natural resources, having negative repercussions on the population’s socio-ecological conditions and ecosystem services, UNILU is anxious to improve the above-mentioned conditions with UHasselt as main partner. To ensure that the different axes of the problem are taken into account, professors from UGent and UAntwerp (with expertise complementary to that of the UHasselt partners) joined the team during the formulation of this extended concept note. The first discussions took place during a workshop organized on 12.03.2020 at UNILU, at the end of which a small team (whose members were contacted on the basis of their specialisations; only those who were available ultimately worked on the proposal) headed by Prof Nkuku was set up and entrusted to write the extended concept note. As the IUC programme cuts across several sectors of UNILU activities, teacher-researchers from different UNILU faculties were involved from the start and during the whole development of the concept note. Initially, 4 academic projects covering (i) biodiversity, climate change, environment and health; (ii) governance and security; (iii) entrepreneurship; (iv) climate smart agriculture for sustainable food systems, as well as one transversal project (institutional capacity building) were identified. Subsequently, drafting teams for each project were set up and local team leaders were designated. Travel to Lubumbashi from already involved North Partners (from UHasselt and UGent) to further elaborate on the extended concept note, definition of the different aspects and establishment of a working strategy was planned and organized in April 2020. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the North coordination team (Virginie Bito, Jean-Michel Rigo, and Liesbeth Oeyen from UHasselt; Pascal Boeckx and Geert Baert from UGent) were not allowed to travel and to stay in Lubumbashi. The pandemic also affected the work of the local teams, who were unable to physically meet between mid-March and mid-May as a result of the closing of Congolese universities. The discussions on the extended concept note continued, however, including several email and video conference exchanges with the North partners. In brief, the South partners drafted several projects and sent them to the North partners for feedback. Through extensive shared documents and exchanges, the South coordination exchanged with the North coordination on its proposal to have 6 projects within the IUC programme. Read more …
