THEME: 

Enhancing Collaboration Between Academia and Industry for Advancing Clean Energy and Sustainable Resource Management Solutions

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Event is in session!

PUBLICATION SUPPORT

Conference proceedings in addition to selected papers will be published in a Scopus or Web of Science journal abstracting and indexing (A&I) database. In addition, Keynote presentations will be refined and published as policy briefs and opinion pieces.

GREENING

To demonstrate commitment to sustainability, the conference will be organized as a ‘green meeting’ in accordance with climate friendly environment in Ghana. There will be a focus on the areas of paper smart documentation, waste reduction and environmentally friendly catering.

INAUGURAL ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES CONFERENCE - IENR 2024 |

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

Climate change poses a significant threat to humanity and the socio-ecological systems that support us. In response, the international community, national governments, development organizations, and the private sector are all working diligently to address the impacts of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve sustainable solutions, it is crucial to transition to clean energy sources while safeguarding our precious natural resources. These goals are aligned with the 2015 Paris Agreement, the UN 2030 Agenda the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Ghana’s National Energy Transition Plan, which combine the transition to clean energy with broader social and economic objectives. However, it is evident that developing countries have not received adequate support in terms of energy transition and sustainable natural resource management. This conference aims to bring together key stakeholders who share a common goal of promoting clean energy initiatives and developing strategies for sustainable resource management. Therefore, the conference offers a platform for networking, knowledge-sharing, and intellectual exchange, foster cross-fertilization of ideas and encourages innovative solutions to support current Government policies to Ghana’s Net-Zero Agenda. The conference’s thematic focus includes gaining a deeper understanding of clean and renewable energy, facilitating the transition to sustainable energy systems, mitigating the environmental impact of waste disposal in the energy sector, and exploring the innovative utilization of natural resources to tackle these challenges. Join us at this conference to contribute to the global effort of enhancing collaboration between academia and industry, driving the adoption of clean energy solutions, and charting a sustainable future for our planet.

Professor Elvis Asare-Bediako

Host & Vice-Chancellor, University of Energy and Natural Resources

Prof. Elvis Asare-Bediako is the current Vice-Chancellor of the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, Ghana. He is a professor of Plant Virology. He holds a Doctorate Degree in Plant and Environmental Sciences from the University of Warwick, UK, with specialization in Plant Virology. He also holds Master of Philosophy Degree in Crop Science (Plant Pathology), Bachelor of Science in General Agriculture, and Diploma in Education, all from University of Cape Coast. Professor Asare-Bediako specializes in virus diseases of horticultural, vegetable and food crops, with special interests in virus characterization, diagnostics, plant-virus-vector interactions, and development of integrated crop improvement strategies. He has conducted a number of scientific research works including breeding for high yielding and virus resistant crops. He has been involved in releasing a number of high yielding cowpea varieties that are resistant to viruses, striga and drought (2018) and two white flesh and three yellow flesh cassava (high beta carotene content) which are resistant to cassava mosaic disease (2018). He has won several research grants from both local and international institutions such as: World Vegetable Centre, AVRDC. Shanhua, Taiwan (2013); CSIR-West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) (2014); International Treaty of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture-FAO, Rome, Italy (2016); Ghana Skills Development Project-COTVET fund (2015); and Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy, University of Cape Coast (2015, 2017). European Union (LEAP-Agri) grant, an African- European collaborative research, for the development and implementation of N-Plasma technology; Grant award from Master Card Foundation / Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) to undertake a pineapple value chain project in the Central region of Ghana, 2018.

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Professor Akbar Saeed

Associate Professor of Information Systems, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo Canada

Akbar Saeed is currently Associate Professor of Information Systems in the Business Technology Management program at the Lazaridis School of Business at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada. He is also the former Director of the Tshepo Institute for the Study of Contemporary Africa ([link]) based at the same university. He teaches courses mainly related to technology and entrepreneurship which include cyber ethics, information and communication technology in the developing context and the entrepreneurial environment specifically focused on startups. His research interests are generally centered on how technology influences both the way we understand ourselves and the way we operate in the world. He has published in the Journal of Management Studies, International Political Sociology, the Journal of Management and the Journal of Leadership Education. His current research involves studying innovation and entrepreneurship in technology-infused markets in the developing world. To that end, he researched impediments to entrepreneurial success in small-scale solar markets in Ghana. His current project is focused on understanding how to better train and support Ugandan solopreneurs by building entrepreneurial effectual capacity and providing working capital loans that can be leveraged for long-term business sustainability. He is also currently working on a book that profiles the limitations and failures of humanitarian technologies to solve large scale crisis in the developing world. Recently, he delivered a TED talk entitled “Transformation in Africa: Global Citizenship and the Digital Divide” ([link]) in which he argued that true transformation in Africa can only be achieved when African youth are able to gain access to knowledge and education, through the internet, thereby empowering themselves to become more entrepreneurial in solving some of Africa’s major problems.

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Professor Samuel Fosu Gyasi

Lead Co-Chair, Local organizing Committee

Prof. Samuel Fosu Gyasi is a Professor in Microbiology and Global Health and the Dean; School of Sciences, University of Energy and Natural Resources. He obtained his bachelor degree in BSc Biological Science at the Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in September 2000. He further pursued his Master of Science degree with research in Environmental Science in the same department a year after his bachelor education. In September 2009, he obtained research funding from the office of the Vice Chancellor (KNUST) to pursue his PhD in Microbiology at the same department, doing part of his research work at Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research into Tropical Medicine (KCCR). He holds various certificate in Global Health Research; Leadership and Management in Health Research; Monitoring and Evaluation in Global Health; and Introduction to Epidemiology in Global Health all from the Department of Global Health, University of Washington, USA from March 2020 to February 2022. His current research area is in neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) (Including Buruli Ulcer, Schistosomiasis, Filariasis), Malaria, Environmental Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH); Environmental Health and Global Health. He has successfully supervised 95 undergraduate project works with 27 in progress. He has about 40 publications in peer review journals and 14 conference papers to his credit. Prof. Gyasi was a proud recipient of an International Society for Neglected Tropical Diseases, ISNTD, London, United Kingdom award in 2016 at the Russel’s Square, London, United Kingdom. This was in recognition to his research in WASH and Buruli ulcer. He is also a co- recipient of PATH (A Washington Non-Profit Corporation) funded project “The Dynamics of Healthcare Utilization in the Context of RTS,S/AS01 Vaccine Introduction in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi. The partner Institutions include University of Health and Allied Health Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and University of Cape Coast with a project funding of $1 million over 3 years. In September 2020, he also won Instrumental Access Programme (Seeding Labs) equipment, worth about $1m.

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Ing. Professor Amos T. Kabo-Bah

Co-Chair, Local Organizing Committee

Ing. Professor Amos T. Kabo-Bah is an Associate Professor and currently the Dean for the International Relations Office of the University of Energy and Natural Resources. Formerly, he was the Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department for Energy and Environmental Engineering and the Earth Observation Research and Innovation Centre between 2015 and 2020. He is a Programme Board Member for the Group on Earth Observation (GEO); an intergovernmental organization working to improve the availability, access and use of Earth observations for the benefit of society. Under GEO programme, he is a Scientific Committee for GEO AquaWatch Programme and Co-Chair for developing the strategic direction and implementation schedule for the GEO Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN). This initiative will assist countries, regions and others interested in addressing land degradation with monitoring and reporting necessary to implement and achieve SDG 15, “Life on Land”. He is also a Scientific Steering Committee Member for the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). He has published 60+ articles in several journals, is an Editorial Member for Oriental Journal of Chemistry (OJC), Editor for Information Technology and Engineering Section – Scientific African Journal, and a Co-Chief Editor for the Journal of Energy and Natural Resource Management (JENRM). Dr. Kabo-bah obtained his bachelor education in Civil Engineering at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana and MSc Environmental Hydrology at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. In 2013, he obtained his PhD Hydrology and Water Resources at Hohai University in Nanjing, China, and later for his Post-doctoral research on Climate Change Impacts on Hydropower Generation in Ghana at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

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Professor Bob Andoh

UK, Development Director for ACE-Events Management Ltd., UK

Prof. Andoh earned his Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Civil Engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana and received both his Master of Science (MSc) and his Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Public Health Engineering from Imperial College, London. He is currently a visiting professor at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), UK, Development Director for ACE-Events Management Ltd., UK, and a Technology Consultant with AWD Consult Inc., USA. He is an accomplished Water and Environmental Management professional with more than 30 years of experience and his pedigree and exhaustive international experience include Technology Development and Commercialization, Due Diligence, Quality Assurance and Audits, Training, Capacity Building, and “Know-How” Transfer.

 

He was Chief Technology Officer, Director of Innovation, and Group Research and Technical Director for Hydro International plc., where he managed teams in the UK and USA, developing and commercializing a range of award- winning water and environmental technologies that saved clients several hundred million dollars; participating in decades-long management turnaround that resulted in phenomenal revenue increases, return to growth and increasing profitability.

Prof. Andoh has played active roles in a wide variety of corporate and civic initiatives such as involvement in policy issues through chairing the Skills and Innovation Task Force of the UK Water Sector Advisory Group and conducting innovative industry research into the use of computational fluid dynamics to accelerate product development. He received a SMART award for innovation given by the UK Government Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), to assist in the development and bringing to market, a novel non-powered, self-cleansing, fine mesh screening system which was subsequently awarded the coveted “millennium product” status, addressing a prevailing environmental pollution challenge and contributing significantly to company growth. He is a named inventor on several patents and the inaugural winner of the “Outstanding Individual” category of the IWEX (now UK Water Industry) Innovation Awards in recognition of his contributions to the water industry.

He has been involved in several Industry-Academia collaborations that have led to technology developments, improvements in knowledge, and “know-how” transfers. These include decades-long collaboration at LJMU leading to improvements in Hydrodynamic Vortex technologies and the championing and identification of market trends leading to the strategic augmentation of product portfolios to include novel environmental technologies such as a stormwater filtration product initially developed at the University of Alabama, USA under a US-EPA SBIR grant. He focused his efforts on technology developments, overseeing high-level marketing and product sales support operations, technology integrations related to acquisitions, and leading training for licensees and new global distributors in Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, and the Middle East.

Bob is an industry “thought leader” who has been responsible for inventing, positioning, and improving knowledge on a broad range of water and environmental management systems and has authored hundreds of articles and op-

ed pieces in industry publications. He is affiliated with the University of Energy and Natural Resources in Ghana where he serves on the International Scientific Advisory Board of the Regional Center for Energy and Environmental Sustainability (RCEES). He is also the vice-chair of the International Scientific Advisory Board of Regional Water and Environmental Sanitation Center Kumasi (RWESCK) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana, an associate editor for the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) Journal of Flood Risk Management and an editor for Elsevier’s Scientific African Journal. He has served on Thames Water (UK) Plc’s Independent Advisory Group (a team of leading industry experts), providing independent advice and oversight on the Counters Creek Flood Alleviation Scheme. He is a member of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) and a Fellow of CIWEM where he received the President’s Award and is the Honorary Vice President for Africa with a remit that includes the promotion of professional development in the Water and Environmental Management sector on the continent.

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Professor Seth Owusu-Agyei

Former Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Science

Professor Seth Owusu-Agyei is a former Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) in Ho, Ghana. Prior to this, he was the Director of Kintampo Health Research Centre, Ghana Health Service/Ministry of Health and a Professor in Infectious Diseases Epidemiology at the Faculty of Infectious Tropical Diseases in the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is currently a Professor of Epidemiology in the Institute of Health Research (IHR) in UHAS. Professor Owusu-Agyei had his basic degree education at the University of Ghana, Legon, a Master of Science degree in Applied Medical Parasitology at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK and a PhD in Epidemiology at the Swiss Tropical Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland. He started his research career at Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana some 36 years ago; he later moved to Navrongo to work as a pioneer staff on the Ghana Vitamin A Supplementation Trials, which later became the Navrongo Health Research Centre (NHRC). He undertook several research studies in field/clinical epidemiology in Navrongo and served several years as a management member. He was later appointed as the Director of Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC) under the Research and Development Division of the Ghana Health Service where he served in this capacity for 14 years. He spearheaded research, diversifying the scope, expanding on research collaborations with various research institutions, attracting funders to KHRC and building both human and infrastructural capacity required for excellent research. He has been and continues to be Principal Investigator for several large-scale field/clinical intervention studies/trials in Ghana. Of special mention is studies carried out on the most advanced malaria vaccine that approved and licensed by the World Health Organisation as the first ever malaria vaccine to be deployed. Professor Owusu-Agyei’s main area of research is in infectious disease epidemiology, especially malaria. He has extensive experience in the design and implementation of large and longitudinal studies and is well-known in maternal, neonatal and child health intervention studies as well as in non-communicable diseases research. He has served as temporary advisor and member of several WHO Committees. He was a board chair of the INDEPTH network for 4 years. He has served on several local and international committees and boards. He has over 350 publications in peer-reviewed journals, several Technical reports conference presentations, and has co-authored 4 books. In 2023, Professor Owusu-Agyei is ranked as top scientist in Ghana based on the AD scientific index for ranking of scholarly works. Details of some major works in the field of infectious disease can be read here.

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Professor Ellis Owusu-Dabo

Pro Vice-Chancellor of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)

Professor Ellis Owusu-Dabo is a Consultant Public Health Physician, University Teacher, and Researcher, who currently serves as the Pro Vice Chancellor of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). as a Professor of Epidemiology and Global Health, his area of expertise is in Medical Epidemiology and Applied Public Health Technologies. As a university teacher, he has trained undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as mentored young faculty at both local and international levels. Ellis is a demonstrable, experienced, and astute university administrator, ethically-sound industry leader and a research project management consultant. He is highly driven in his research interest area, mainly non-communicable diseases in low-income country settings. He also has considerable interest in population genomics of pulmonary tuberculosis. Ellis has secured and managed multimillion United States Dollar research grants from principal granting institutions such as the European Union, National Institutes of Health (NIH), The World Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) as well as many bilateral organisations. He has travelled extensively and serves on several boards at both local and international levels, while having a massive network of individuals and organisations he works with.

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Conference Host & Keynote Speakers

Speakers of the plenary sessions are experienced scientists with diverse specializations, drawn from different cultural and higher-learning environments.

Conference Information

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Target Participants

Participation in the Conference is solicited from decision makers, regulators, experts, scholars, industry players, academia, graduate students’ non-governmental organizations involved in energy, natural resources, climate change, environment, economic and social development portfolios.

The Conference foresees the participation of the invited speakers to provide keynote presentations and/or take part in panel discussions.

Important Dates

  • Opening August 1, 2023
  • Abstract/full paper Submission Deadline: November 8, 2023
  • Early Bird Registration: Before November 30, 2023
  • Notification Date: December 12, 2023
  • Registration Deadline: January 12, 2024
  • Camera-Ready Due: January 12, 2024
  • Conference Date: February 8 – 9, 2024

Register

World Bank Regional Center for Excellence in Energy and Environmental Sustainability of the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani-Ghana.

For enquiries or sponsorship please contact:

Email: grasag@uenr.edu.gh      

Phone: +233245620943

Register

Conference Fees & Registration

SUBMISSION GUIDELINE

Submit your abstract of not more than 250 words with 5 keywords. Submitted manuscripts should be written in English conforming to the required template: TEMPLATE (Download Abstract). All paper submissions must represent original and unpublished work. Abstracts and Papers must be submitted electronically in Word or PDF format through: https://grasag.uenr.edu.gh/register/
Each paper should be between 4 – 5 pages, including all figures, tables, and references. Please adhere to the provided template guidance for composing and formatting conference papers. Authors have the option to submit only abstracts for works that may not be suitable for publication. These abstracts will be considered for an oral or poster presentation during the conference. It's important to note that the abstracts themselves will not be published.

Call for Abstract

THEMES AND TOPICS

The themes and topics include but not limited to:

  • Clean energy technologies and Renewable energies
  • Sustainable energy solutions and energy transitions
  • Energy economics and energy security
  • Power systems, Energy storage technologies and systems
  • Energy demand and supply management (efficiency, conservation, and savings)
  • Smart energy grid education.
  • Sustainable transportation and infrastructure
  • Nuclear energy systems, development and power generation
  • Decentralized and distributed energy systems
  • Net Metering
  • Grid Modernization & Smart Grids
  • Renewable energy integration in built environments
  • Biodiversity, ecosystem services and benefit sharing
  • Sustainable natural resources governance and management
  • Climate change, environment, law and politics
  • Sustainable land governance and management, mineral extraction, and environmental protection
  • Policy and regulatory frameworks for sustainable energy and natural resources
  • Nature-based conservation approaches in built environments
  • Sustainable mining practices and their impact on the built environment
  • Forest conservation and sustainable urban forestry
  • Biodiversity and ecosystem conservation in urban areas
  • Smart Grid Technologies and Energy Management Systems
  • Internet of Things (IoT) for Environmental Monitoring and Resource Management
  • Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Sustainable Energy Solutions
  • Energy-efficient hardware design and optimization
  • Intelligent energy distribution and demand-response technologies
  • Cloud Computing for Sustainable Resource Allocation
  • Data Analytics and AI for Environmental Sustainability
  • Climate Modeling and Predictive Analytics
  • Energy Efficiency and Demand-Side Management
  • Energy Storage and Grid Integration
  • Sustainable Mobility and Transportation
  • Environmental Monitoring and Conservation Technologies
  • Sustainable urban planning and design
  • Green building technologies and innovations
  • Resilient infrastructure for climate adaptation
  • Circular economy in construction and architecture
  • Smart cities and sustainable mobility
  • Low carbon construction materials and practices
  • Social equity and inclusive design in the built environment
  • Sustainable water management in urban development
  • Heritage preservation and sustainable regeneration
  • Sustainable waste management strategies
  • Innovative approaches to affordable housing
  • Urban agriculture and food security in cities
  • Sustainable transportation and infrastructure

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