Welcome to the Walker Update, bringing you up to speed with our latest news.
Partnerships
Postcards from Senegal
Although it may be the summer break at the University of Reading, The Walker Institute has been busy at work. In July several members of our core team travelled to Dakar, Senegal to facilitate a 5-day workshop together with AGRHYMET CCR-AOS.
This workshop focussed on the introduction of a core interdisciplinary module common to all courses designed to strengthen the capacity of AGRHYMET CCR-AOS to implement and conduct activities under component 1 of the FSRP.
During this workshop, participants engaged in a serious game called “Weather Whispers,” where they conveyed forecasts of varying complexity and language. This exercise aimed to enhance communication skills and highlight the importance of clear, understandable messaging for all.
The final part of this workshop was the co-development of the Impact Assessment Methodology (IAM). IAM will allow trainers to carry out and conduct regular evaluations of the impact of AGRHYMET CCR-AOS training programmes in the future.
Events
Food biosystems DTP Summer School
Earlier in July we also delivered several sessions at this year’s FoodBiosystems DTP summer school. Sessions were aimed at first- and second-year students and brought in aspects of our ‘Engaging with Decision Makers’ course.
Community
Next MCRILG session: Climate change and Universities
Join us in September’s Interdisciplinary Learning Group session where Professor Iain Stewart will be discussing whether universities, and the academic mission, is fit for purpose in terms of addressing the climatic and ecological emergency. If not, there is a danger that universities, rather than being part of the solution will become part of the problem.
Session time: 9th September 13:00-14:00 BST (GMT +1)
Iain Stewart is the El Hassan bin Talal Research Chair in Sustainability at the Royal Scientific Society (Jordan) and Professor of Geoscience Communication at the University of Plymouth (UK). His research interests are in disaster risk reduction, climate change, and Earth science communication. Zoom link here
Walker Associate highlight: Amadou Thierno Gaye
Prof. Amadou Gaye, a distinguished climate scientist at University Cheikh Anta Diop, has over 30 years of expertise in African climate research. An elected member of Senegal’s Academy of Sciences, he leads numerous projects, mentors future scientists, and holds significant academic and policy positions, including contributions to the IPCC assessments. He also plays an integral part in the AGRHYMET’s Training Program.
If you are interested in working with the Walker Institute as an Associate, please contact us on info@walker.ac.uk.
What happened across the world this week?
Prof Virginia Murray and her team at Public Health England have produced the weekly Global Hazards Weekly Bulletin, archived by Prof Richard Allan.
All the best!
The Walker Institute Team