The construction of WASCAL’s Climate Competence Centre, the scientific hub of WASCAL (West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use) has begun in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, following a foundation stone laying ceremony led by Dr. Christoph Rövekamp and Professor Alkassoum Maïga.
Dr. Christoph Rövekamp is the Head of Energy and Hydrogen Technologies Division at the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) that is funding the project, while Professor Alkassoum Maïga is the Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation in the West African country.
An overview of the project
The WASCAL’s Climate Competence Centre, a proposed 3 levels building, will be built on a 4-hectare piece of land donated by the Burkinabe State to WASCAL. Upon completion, it will include a doctoral school, offices, a geographical data management center, and applications.
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According to Dr. Stefan Kaufmann, Innovation Commissioner for Green Hydrogen at the BMBF, the project will gulp approximately seven and a half million Euros from construction to interior equipment.
The future facility will house WASCAL research and data center in addition to the graduate school for scientific data management at the University of Ouagadougou.
Importance of the facility
According to Minister Alkassoum Maïga, the construction of WASCAL’s Climate Competence Centre is a major asset in favor of actions being implemented to combat climate change.
“This center will allow our universities to shine through training, and allow our countries to know how to manage climate change as there will be instruments here that will allow us to have reliable data that we can take advantage of to deal with climate change,” explained the minister.
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