The College of Engineering, Design, Art, and Technology, (CEDAT) hosted Christian P. Schneider, a PhD researcher and Focal Point for African partnerships from UN-FLORES. During a meeting held in the College Boardroom on Monday 12th February 2024 involving members of staff, the discussions focused on finding areas of collaboration between the college and UN-FLORES, which is the academic arm of the UN.
Christian P. Schneider said UNU-FLORES which is United Nations University Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and Resources focuses on addressing critical global challenges related to human survival, development, and welfare through collaborative research and education.
He explained that it is part of the United Nations University (UNU) with 13 institutes and programs spread out in 12 counties since its establishment in Dresden Germany in 2013, and operates as a global thinktank and postgraduate teaching organization. It aims at making a contribution to sustainable resource management by integrating material fluxes and resources. According to Christian P. Schneider, their work focuses on areas like water, soil, waste, and energy aimed at achieving sustainable development goals. He said it’s research activities include topics like water resilience, climate adaptation, biodiversity stewardship, and circular transformation strategies. The visit and subsequently the deliberations were coordinated by the Dean, School of the Built Environment, Dr. Anthony Gidudu further delved into possible areas of collaboration through availing access to useful and freely available resources from the Knowledge Academy for the resources. Other areas include fully funded research support, joint research supervision for doctoral students, reviewing publications for the peer reviewed journal among others.