Jukka KäyhköDivision of Geography

Department of Geography and Geologyjukkay@utu.fi

AFRICA AT THE UNIVERSITIES IN TURKU/ÅBO Mapping competencies and synergies

Tuesday, 23 October 2012

’AnNa Waters’

Living with floods and droughts at the Angola/Namibia border:Sustainable water resources in fluctuating climate in the

Cuvelai catchment

Human-environment challenges in the Cuvelai region

• Strong fluctuation in runoff • Flooding -> hazard, evacuations• Droughts -> water scarcity• Complex, dynamic channel

network• Fast population growth,

expanding settlements• Poor spatial planning• Regional climate change ??

?

AnNa Waters rationale

• AnNa Waters will increase understanding of socio-ecological dynamics in the Cuvelai catchment between Angola and Namibia for improved sustainability and resilience

• The project will unravel past and present water dynamics and their climate connections, and build regional scenarios of climate and hydrology under changing global climate

• Key methods include sedimentology, remote sensing, climate model downscaling, fluvial modelling, interviews, geographic information systems and participatory planning

“CLIMATE SUSTAINABILITY”

•Generate knowledge on climate change•Promote multidisciplinary research

environments in developing countries •Serve the societal needs by combining

different perspectives•Create research-oriented networks

between Finland and developing countries•Boost the mobility of researchers•Promote collaboration between different

actors from Finland and developing countries•Produce knowledge with a view to

creating innovations

UN Millennium Development

Goals

Finland’s Development

Policy Programme

Academy of Finland Call objectives

• Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the University of Turku (UTU) and the University of Namibia was signed by rectors in October 2012. This will facilitate research and student exchange.

• MoU between UTU Department of Geography and Desert Research Foundation of Namibia (DRFN) has been signed in 2011

• In the future, North-South-South as well as HEI-ICI instruments will be feasible ways forward

• Angola is much more challenging partner due to its bureaucratic political atmosphere and language barrier (Portuguese, no English) – negotiations underway with potential partners (Univ. Agostinho Neto, Univ. Privada de Angola (UPRA), Lubango)

Co-operation, networking