Academics for Development

🔋 We’re thrilled to announce our three partners for the Clean Tech Summit 2024: Luminus: Driving sustainable energy innovation for a brighter future. Internet Computer: Host of secure, network-resident code and data. delaware BeLux : Global ICT experts empowering businesses and improving their sustainability strategy through digital transformation. 🧩 And also these cleantech startups will be present at our booth fair: COOSHA Impact Ventures: Innovators in clean cooking solutions, they’re making kitchens planet-friendly while cooking up delicious results. Sirona Technologies: Masters of carbon capturing, they’re turning emissions into opportunities. VDB Engineering: Experts in energy-efficient building and renovation, offering tailored energy studies and audits to help you choose the best sustainable solutions for your home or business. 🍹 Don’t forget: After the panel discussion on technology going green, join us for the networking reception! There’ll be drinks and food, and plenty of time to chat with these amazing start-ups and other visionaries in the clean tech space. 🗓️ Mark your calendars – This is your chance to be part of a brighter, cleaner tomorrow.💡✨

🔋 Technology is going green and you can be part of the process 🧩 Innovation meets sustainability in the Clean Tech Summit, on the 28th of November, in Group T. Panel discussion with professionals from the field and the opportunity to directly interact with start-ups leading in sustainability await you✨ 🪴 Discover insights from top Clean Tech companies as they share their journey toward sustainable innovation, empowering you to be part of the next wave of green tech pioneers. Stay tuned for meeting our speakers, partners and other surprises we have prepared! 💥 Register now: https://lnkd.in/dJSxufmU

Last week, we organised our annual Impact Case Day: The day was filled with anticipation and stress, but also problem-solving, critical thinking, interesting conversations and a lot of excitement. 💡 First of all we would like to thank our partners NMBS and AB InBev for providing engaging sustainability cases on waste reduction and water management as well as an highly experienced jury to give feedback on the team's pitches. But also to Luminus, who provided a workshop on how-to-case prior to the event, helped prepare the teams for the case day. But also to our events team Emma Tillemans, Casper Vandendriessche, Eliza Popa and Ioana-Alexandra Gherman for a stellar organisation. Next, we want to congratulate all our winners of the day: 1️⃣ st place overall - Team Nairobi Kristina Yefimak, Sarah Deckers, Marie De Wilde and Louise Caustur 2️⃣ nd place overall - Team Lima Baldip Singh, Herlinde Voorbij, Matthias Dom and Jialin Li 3️⃣ rd place overall & 🍻 AB inBev case winner - Team Tripoli Eline Rega, Zoë Scheerlinck, Charlotte Jans and Olivia Mariens 🚆 NMBS case winner - Team Santo Domingo Emma van de Bogert, Adithep Thammashote, Dries Paesen, Serdar Yildiz 👏 And lastly, a big thank you to all others who participated. You put everything into solving the cases in a timespan of 4 intense hours and came up with innovative and inspiring solutions, so also a well-deserved congratulations to you and your team. See you next year!

🏆 Take your last chance to win one of these amazing prices What would you do with €1000? What would be your favourite line-up at Rock Werchter? Which artists would you go watch with friends in the AB? 🧠 Get together a team of 2, 4 or even participate by yourself, crack the sustainability cases of our partners and pitch them to our juries to show your skills and competence! P.S. You also get a certificate in return ⏰ Deadline is extended until Tuesday 5/11 at 4 pm 🍜 🥂 Food, drinks and good vibes included

It's the final day of October, which not only means Halloween 🎃 but also time for our 3rd Alumni post 🙌 This month goes to an AFD multi-man: Conrad Jacobs. He impressively took on five different functions during his time with AFD! Since then he has been tackling international debt issues and sustainability of financial institutions, but in this post he reflects about the revelations his AFD years brought him, the friendships that stuck with him and the legacy he can still look back on. Ever wondered how Brightminds began? Start swiping 😉👉

Meet our partners for our upcoming Impact Case Day on November 6th: 🚆 NMBS, Belgium's national train provider, has a deep commitment to sustainable transportation as well all-round ecologically- and socially-friendly practices and will provide a sustainability case this year. 🍻 AB InBev, a global family of local breweries but with its origins dating back to 1366 in Leuven, has more than 500 beer brands all imbedded in sustainable practices. They will also be providing a sustainability case. 🌪️ Luminus is Belgian's 1 provider of on wind- and hydropower while also looking for other innovative opportunities in clean energy. They could give you and your teammates a competitive advantage by giving you some tips and tricks on how to solve and pitch cases on November 4th. 💡 All of the cases provided are focused on social impact, sustainability and multidisciplinarity, so all faculties and educational backgrounds are invited to join to give their insights in these issues and come up with a solutions from a variety of perspectives. 📖 All information and registration link can be found on our event page and socials, hope to see you all on Wednesday to create some impact 💥 .

Have you ever wanted to have a bit of that social impact that we're always talking about yourself 💥 ? Put together a team of clever minds 🧠 and join us on November 6th to try to come up with inventive solutions for sustainability-related issues provided by NMBS 🚆 and AB InBev 🍻 and maybe even win one of many prizes 🏆 . You can find all info in the event or on our socials! P.S. Bonus: you'll get a certificate of participation to spice up your Linkedin/CV 📜

Last Friday, AFD was invited to the Jubilee Symposium - 70 years Lovanium organised by KU Leuven 👩🎓. This event reflected on the shared past of our university, Université de Kinshasa (UNIKIN) and Université Catholique du Congo 🇨🇩 and celebrated their future. This was done through presentations and panel discussions by rectors and professors from all involved universities. AFD is quite familiar with these universities in Kinshasa, and especially UNIKIN, in the context of one of our projects in the Global South, namely Kikesa 🌍. In previous years and in collaboration with these universities, multiple teams of project students have tried to tackle the issues related to erosion and landslides due to heavy rainfall. These events continue to devastate the community of Livulu, Kinshasa. During the Symposium, our current president Bodine Leenders together with a former project student Fien Vanongeval had the honour to present this project, the progress made in the past few years and the opportunities in the years ahead. This year the project will focus on stakeholder management 👬 , community engagement 🫂 and implementation of technical solutions 💡 to reduce the impact of erosion. If you are looking to have an impact 💥 yourself, don't hesitate to check out the project and apply to be apart of the next Kikesa Team! Send your CV and motivational letter to recruitment@afdimpact.org.

🎉 Monday night, AFD Belgium held its General Assembly! The GA is a bi-annual meeting where the entire organization comes together to vote on budgets, updated Articles of Association, and long-term strategy. 📊🗳 Additionally, Leuven, Gent, and the GB presented their strategies for the coming year. We are excited to see these plans come to life in the coming months! 🚀✨

To wrap up the month of July, we are happy to introduce our second Alumni Of The Month: Marlies Van de Poel! A true impact advocate, in the literal sense👩⚖️ We had the pleasure to learn how impact lawyers guide organisations towards more sustainability and positive change. For anyone with the same background or an interest in legal and organisational frameworks for impact: be sure to connect and reach out to Marlies! 🤳🤝