The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) will soon be engaging the scientific community and policy makers on critical climate change research findings.

The Building Stronger Universities Project phase three (BSUIII) in collaboration with its Danish partners is making this possible.

This came up during a 2-day international conference on climate change resilience, adaptation and sustainable rural transformation in Kumasi.

The conference was themed: “Consolidation climate change research and enhancing collaborative actions for a sustainable future”.

It aims to disseminate research works and operate methods of climate change. 

Prof. Robert Clement Abaidoo is the coordinator of the Building Stronger Universities Project III.

“The purpose is to package and disseminate to scientific and policy communities the finding of BSUIII- funded research works and those of other research working on similar topics around the world. 

“We will try to utilize research methodologies in climate change, Resilience, Adaptation, and Sustainable Rural Transformation. The third one is harnessing and enhancing collaboration for future research and securing post-MFA-FFU research funding,” he said.

The Pro-vice chancellor of KNUST, Prof. Ellis Owusu-Dabo assured of the university’s commitment of rolling out climate-responsive actions to support the fight against climate change. 

“Climate change is an issue that poses an existential threat to humanity and our globe. The last decade has witnessed the highest global average surface temperature which is about 0.8 degrees Celsius, higher than our industrial level as has been recorded in history.

“The University has rolled out an energy policy that is intended to guide the university community to sustainably manage energy demands and supply. This policy is in alignment with Ghana’s national energy strategy and master plan 2020 to 2030. Through our collective efforts we will create a resilient, green, healthy, liveable, and sustainable society beginning with our campuses,” he said 

The BSU III partner from Aarhus University, Prof. Torsen Rodel Berg, explained the direction of international research collaboration on natural resources management and climate change.

“In the early days, we talked about plots and fields, increasingly we are now looking at farming systems and agrosystems, and food systems. And even beyond that we are looking at bio-economy, circulatory and greater connection. We are also having a focus on the plane and planetary boundaries. 

“These discussions and research paradigms, moving from the environment to the climate to the planet led to three main sustainability dimensions: ecological intensification, agro-ecological and sustainable intensification,” he said.

Development Assistant at the Danish embassy, Kasper Overgaard Nielsen reiterated the Danish government’s resolve to strengthen collaboration with Ghana.

“At the Embassy of Denmark, we explore how we can further strengthen our cooperation with Ghana in the area of climate change.

One of the options is a new collaboration with the Ghanaian meteorological agency as Danish’s counterpart,” he stated.

The Building Stronger Universities (BSUIII) has funded research works, facilitated the KNUST paperless system, and bridged the Ph.D. gap among staff. 

The Building Stronger Universities project is a partnership between Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and a consortium of Danish institutions including Aarhus University, University of Copenhagen, and CG consult.