A few weeks ago, the fourth LEAP-RE Stakeholder Forum, took place at the prestigious Politecnico di Milano, in Italy, with additional participation online. This year’s gathering brought together over 380 participants, representing a diverse and dedicated range of partners and stakeholders from government, research and higher education, which played an essential role in making the Forum a success.
The LEAP-RE Forum was a great opportunity to advance the role of Science, Education and Research in the AU-EU partnership on STI, with an emphasis on Climate Change and Sustainable Energy. This year’s event also celebrated significant milestones, including the European Commission’s new communication, the African Union Year of Education 2024, the Italian G7 Presidency and the launch of the Mattei Plan (Piano Mattei).
Highlights from the Forum include:
- Strengthening of a Bi-Continental Co-Funding Mechanism: Since 2021, we have launched two calls for projects, supporting over 220 beneficiary organizations across 30+ countries in Europe and Africa. The full list of funded projects is available here. We are excited to confirm two new calls for projects in 2025 and 2026, under the leadership of the French National Research Agency (ANR). We encourage our community to leverage the LEAP-RE online platform to connect, design projects, and explore consortium opportunities for future calls.
- Strategic Growth Assessment for Renewable Energy Innovation: Our work continues to focus on scaling renewable energy solutions and fostering market adoption of these technologies. In the coming months, we look forward to addressing RE innovation funding in Africa through innovative financing models, public-private partnerships, investment opportunities, and risk insurance solutions.
- Institutional Teaming & Twinning Capacities: LEAP-RE places a high value on co-designing research agendas and decision-making processes. This year’s forum emphasized new models of collaboration between African and European institutions, paving the way for a sustainable and inclusive partnership to tackle shared challenges in green energy and climate change. We also hosted a session of RESchool, which trained young researchers and PhD students from Europe and Africa in sustainable energy.
Once again, thank you for your participation and support. Stay tuned for updates on our upcoming 3rd Call for Projects launching in early 2025. We look forward to staying connected and collaborating further.
