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International Course on Rural Energy Planning (ICREP) Celebrate Their 25th Anniversery

April 10th saw an international audience of around 80 participants coming to the University of Twente for the lustrum of the ICREP.

ICREP is a joint initiative of the University of Twente (CSTM/TSD) and the ITC (in Enschede) and at 25 years old it is the longest running activity organized by the two institutions. It was therefore appropriate that after the opening by the Rector, Prof Henk Zijm (who was keen to stress the role that a technical University like ours can play in solving global issues such as poverty in developing countries), the first presentation was given by Dr Mike McCall (now at ITC but formerly with TSD) who has been involved with the course since the beginning. Dr McCall gave a light hearted review of the ICREP and showed how it had evolved and adapted to changing training needs in the energy sector over the last quarter of a century. The morning’s session focused on how University education and special training institutes like the ITC can contribute to capacity building of the South to deal with issues arising in the energy sector, for example climate change, which is the focus of the present ICREP. Providing training and education to people from developing countries fits well with the international objectives of the UT. Prof Olaf Fisscher, Director of Postgraduate Education, outlined the Faculty of Management and Governance’s international education programme and Dr Paul van Dijk from ITC described the changes in approaches to teaching currently underway in ITC. The morning session was rounded off by John Christiansen from UNEP Risoe, the organization responsible for monitoring the Clean Development Mechanism which is part of the implementation strategy of the Kyoto protocol. UNEP Risoe are currently partners with the UT and ITC in delivering the ICREP. John set out the potential for short courses such as the ICREP to contribute to capacity building in the area of climate change.

After lunch, the focused switched to research. Paul Hassing, from Netherlands Development Cooperation (DGIS), discussed the changes that have taken place in terms of the key issues for research in energy and development. Unfortunately, a key guest speaker, Prof Ogunlade Davidson, from the University of Sierre Leone, was unable to make it at the last minute due to the meeting of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) running late. Dr Joy Clancy (CSTM/TSD and course director of the ICREP) gave a synopsis of his presentation which identified academic research needs in the area of climate change.

Of interest to research at both institutes are urban and rural development and biofuels. The format used to present this expertise within the institutes was “two minute debates”. Dr Joy Clancy and John Chome (ITC graduate now with UN-Habitat in Malawi) debated the cause of urban and rural problems while Prof Jon Lovett (CSTM/TSD) and Prof Eric Smaling (ITC) discussed whether biofuels are a threat to sustainable development. Each presenter was allowed to make one statement on what he/she saw as the cause of the problem. The audience was then asked to vote on the issue. The presenters were given another round to try to convince the audience, and the vote was retaken. Although there was some shift in opinion, the result was basically the same at the beginning and end: urban areas are the cause of rural problems and biofuels are a threat to sustainable development!

The symposium finished with a closing statement on behalf of all ICREP alumni by Ir Robert Jan van der Plas, an UT alumnus and a participant in the very first ICREP. As befits a technological university the statement was delivered by video recording because Ir van der Plas was in Mongolia! Ir van der Plas reported that in the course of his work as an energy consultant he often encountered members of the more 450 alumni from the ICREP and other short courses run by CSTM/TSD, some of whom are now in senior positions in the energy sector. In the audience were three other ICREP alumni (Sunil Somathilaka from Sri Lanka, Ganesh Ram Shrestra from Nepal, Jamie Sologuren from Bolivia) and an alumnus from the CSTM Masters in Environmental and Energy Management (Nozipho Wright from Botswana), who were guests of the CSTM.

However, the celebrations were not over yet! The ICREP organizers joined forces with Studium Generale to organize a debate about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Dr Margaret Skutsch (CSTM/TSD – and another of the lecturers involved with ICREP from the beginning) and Dr Kamal Rijal (UNDP Energy and Atmosphere – also an ICREP alumnus) were joined on the podium by Prof Henk Zijm to answer some searching questions on whether or not the goals will be reached, as well as the role of energy in reaching them and the contributions that the UT, a technical university in an industrialised country, can make.

If you were not able to take part in the day’s events you can find all the presentations and video excerpts on the web site at: http://www.utwente.nl/cstm/tsd/news/conferences/

CSTM appreciates very much the financial support it received from:

• Executive Board of the University of Twente and the Board of ITC
• UNEP Risø Centre
• Stichting Universiteitsfonds Twente
• NCDO

This article has been contributed by Dr. Joy Clancy, ICREP Course Director,CSTM/TSD.

Added 12 May 2008 by Dr Karabi Dutta

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