The Planet Earth Institute Chairman - Mr. ร lvaro Sobrinho
Building scientific education and leadership in Africa
Alvaro Sobrinho, Chairman, Planet Earth Institute While across Africa, my home, we have seen patches of rapid economic and social development, there are still huge challenges facing us in spreading that progress to all of society. To do so we must continue to strive to increase the living standards and essential rights of all people today, while at the same time ensuring resources and models of economic growth are sustainable for the generations that follow us. Our vision at the Planet Earth Institute is to empower Africa through building scientific excellence and capacity. Through increasing access and quality of higher education across the region we can help take steps toward a truly scientifically independent Africa. That is why we are establishing our new flagship PhD Centre in Luanda, the Centre of Excellence in Science for Sustainability in Africa (CESSAF), as well as scientific research centres in Rio de Janiero and New Delhi. Through working with UNESCO, Newcastle University, Agostinho Neto University, the Angolan Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and many other governments and institutions across the world, we are continuing to design and deliver pioneering higher educational projects. CESSAF will open its doors in 2013. In the following ten years, the Centre will teach 100 PhD students in courses focused on the scientific pillars of sustainable development. Through this project and others we are playing our part to train and inspire a new generation of African leaders, able to shape a sustainable future for us all.
About The Planet Earth Institute The Planet Earth Institute (PEI) is an international not-forprofit organisation, commited to empowering the Global South through building scientific capacity and excellence. Drawing on our own Global Scientific Committee and partnerships with leading academic research institutions, our mission is to lead Africa to scientific independence within one generation. This pioneering scientific agenda drives our physical projects, designed and delivered in partnership with leading organisations in the international institutional framework, including UNESCO, as well as national governments and corporations. Through the scientific empowerment of Africa and the Global South, we are helping build sustainable, long-term and equitable societies in emerging nations, spreading what we learn to inform policy-makers across the globe. As emerging nations continue to develope and strengthen, our projects are creating better living standards and increasing opportunities for people today, while ensuring we are conserving resources and advancing technology for an even brighter tomorrow.
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The CESSAF PHD Programmes Agostinho Neto University, Luanda
Prof. Dr. Paul Younger- Chairman of PEI Global Scientific Committee
Geochemistry and Microbiology of Hydrocarbons This programme will see the establishment of a laboratory where students can examine organic contamination by the fossil fuels sector, including geochemical and microbiological aspects. Furthermore, environmental monitoring, pollution measurement and identification of its origin will also be considered, as will the application of remediation technologies.
The Centre of Excellence in Science for Sustainability in Africa (CESSAF), opening in early-2013 in Luanda, Angola, is a higher-education PhD facility designed to promote teaching and research in applied science for sustainability in Angola and throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Through expert training and the sharing of cutting-edge scientific knowledge between countries, CESSAF will develop high-level scientific capacity and academic leadership within a framework of social responsibility, contributing to the creation of a new generation of indigenous scientists on the African Continent.
Management of Water Pollution from Mining and Metals
The ever-increasing number of disaster vulnerabilities and exposure in Africa demonstrates the necessity for the type of improved science, technology and capacity building exercises facilitated by CESSAF. These susceptibilities compound the challenges of sustainable development and undermine Africa’s prospect of achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
Sanitary Engineering
CESSAF will pioneer a series of PhD programmes focused on addressing sustainable development. In 10 years the PEI and CESSAF will create 100 PhD, providing future generations with the tools and skills with which to tackle the environmental and socio-economically challenges that will define our time. The PEI’s regional scientific centres in Brazil and India will simultaneously allow scientific knowledge, expertise and support to flow from Latin America and the Asian subcontinent to the Centre of Excellence, lifting Africa to the levels of development enjoyed in many parts of its neighbouring continents. The successful implementation of this model also means that the PEI can truly live up to its vocation; to be a science-based organization dedicated to sustainable development in the Global South. Agostinho Neto University, one of CESSAF’s founding partners and the future home of the Centre, have selected seven PhD teachers and professors to run and manage the programmes of study, who will be mentored by a team of academics from Newcastle University.
Research area for this programme cover analytical aspects of the quality of water before, during and after the holding, as well as the evaluation of environmental impacts. It will also include units addressing prevention of contamination of water, passive and active remediation techniques, hydrogeology and studies investigating the level of contamination in and around mining basins.
The Sanitary Engineering programme incorporates the study and analysis of domestic wastewater treatment, microbiological treatment processes, the application of molecular biology techniques, low power consumption systems and algae and biomass research. The programme will also incorporate planning methods in urban environments of rapid growth and social innovation in planning health actions.
Water Resources This programme looks at monitoring and evaluation of water resources, hydrologic modelling, impacts of climate variability, groundwater, computational hydraulics, and modelling and analysis of flood risk.
Geomatics The geomatics programme includes research and training in the tools and techniques used in land surveying, remote sensing, cartography, geographic information systems (GIS), global navigation satellite systems, photogrammetry, geography and related forms of earth mapping.
Sociology and Environmental Policy This programme incorporates an analysis of the interaction of environmental and socio-political processes on small and large scales, including issues of equality and social change. The programme also addresses issues surrounding environmental governance as well as political and institutional analysis.
Urban Planning The urban planning programme will scrutinise the planning of urban centre’s of rapid growth in detail, with an emphasis on housing, environment, infrastructure and poverty alleviation.
CESSAF is a partnership between The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology of Angola, the Planet Earth Institute, the Banco Espírito Santo Angola, the University Agostinho Neto of Angola and the University of Newcastle.
CESSAF Organisational Chart BOARD OF RECTORY MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY HE MARIA CANDIDA TEIXEIRA RECTOR CESSAF CHAIRMAN
THE PLANET EARTH INSTITUTE
NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY
AGOSTINHO NETO UNIVERSITY SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Dean Manager Support Managing Team 7 Departments Labs
PEI University Agostinho Neto Newcastle University Banco Espírito Santo Angola
Vice Rector Scientific Manager 7 Professors Administrative Support Labs
MINISTÉRIO DO ENSINO SUPERIOR E DA CIÊNCIA E TECNOLOGIA DE ANGOLA