Paper short abstract:

The German publicly funded interdisciplinary project ART-D Grids intends to knit together the complex landscape of disparities of education, research and culture, when addressing the sustainability of mini-grids for electricity supply in rural East Africa.

Paper long abstract:

The project "Africa: Research and Teaching platform for Development - Sustainable Modular Grids for Grid Stability" (ART-D Grids) intends to bridge the complex landscape of disparities of education, research and culture, when addressing the sustainability of rural mini-grids for electricity supply in rural East Africa. An interdisciplinary team of 13 researchers from Uganda (6), Tanzania (3), South Africa (1), Ghana (1) and Germany (2) from different academic disciplines (engineering, economics, social science, and educational science) and cultural backgrounds, develop in collaboration with local communities in Tanzania and Uganda a shared perspective of how to promote and accelerate attainment of Sustainable Development Goal number 7 in rural areas through sustainable electrical mini-grids. On an institutional level, academic entities from the South and the North are participating, business companies, as well as stakeholders from local communities.

Within and among the mentioned groups, we find disparities in academic cultures and approaches to knowledge production (regional, academic disciplines), interests (businesses vs. research vs. survival), as well as to power (real and assumed). These disparities have to be understood as to their productive and destructive potential, and bridged, to bring life to the project as such, as well to be utilised in order to propose meaningful approaches for the subject of the research, the mini-grids embedded in their social-economic environ­ment.

We will explain those disparities, describe the approach the project is taking to overcome those challenges, and try to understand its gaps and limitations.