The "GREATER" project, which was launched in January of this year, aims to support Rwanda in its energy transition and the fight against climate change.

By revising existing and developing new degree programmes in the field of renewable energies at the four Rwandan partner universities, educational capacities are to be improved. The new degree programmes are to be more practical emphasis / orientation and developed together with industry in order to better prepare students for entering the job market. The introduction to and improvement of laboratories is intended to advance digitalization and also modernize higher education. The implementation of four networked living labs is intended to drive sustainable business models. These living labs will also be developed together with companies and other stakeholders to raise awareness of renewable energies among the population. An effective transfer strategy will be used to promote networking between academia and the population and ensure the sustainability of the project measures.

In the first week, the four partner universities and their selected Living Lab candidates were visited. During these visits, exciting exchanges took place with various stakeholders. On the one hand, we were able to discuss the current status of the projects with the project managers and also interview students. During our visit to the Living Labs, we got to know the various target groups, including pupils, teachers, the local population, farm owners, workers and seamstresses in the sewing workshop. We also took the opportunity to ask the stakeholders about their fears, expectations and wishes.

On August 30, an "International Workshop" was held in Kigali together with other Erasmus+ projects, in which numerous representatives of the European embassies, local companies and other project partners such as the Rwandan Ministry of Education attended alongside the project members.

In addition, another two-day workshop was held at our partner university, the University of Rwanda (UR) in Kigali. Here, the "user-centered design" (UCD) developed by our SWK E² - Institute of Energy Technology and Energy Management was presented and...

The "GREATER" project is being sponsored by the European ERASMUS+ program under the 2022 CBHE (Capacity Building for Higher Education) call with approximately €800,000 over a period of three years.

Four Rwandan universities (INES-Ruhengeri, Rwanda Polytechnic, University of Technology and Arts of Byumba and University of Rwanda) and four European institutions (University of Parma and National Research Council from Italy, Hochschule Niederrhein and Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg from Germany) are involved in the project.

Nine associated partners will support the project, including the Rwandan Ministry of Education, national NGOs and the main national companies active in the energy development market.