Prof Kiama: Innovation culture needed in schools for graduates to tackle climate change
The University of Nairobi Vice-Chancellor
Stephen Kiama has called for the incorporation of an innovation culture in
higher education training to make graduates able to come up with solutions to
contemporary challenges such as climate change.
Speaking to Citizen TV on Tuesday’s
Day Break program, Prof Kiama said this can be achieved by breaking down what
he described as silos in universities and creating an environment where
different departments inform each other.
“We need to rethink how we have been
training in silos. The other day, one of our heads of the paediatrics
department invited the chairman of the engineering department for a discussion.
He looked at how they deal with problems of newborn kids where UV light is
needed and he said instead of importing it, we can make,” he said.
“There is a need to break those
silos because they are the traditional systems we were left with. How do we
ensure the engineers are working with medics and businesspeople?”
The don cited a recent trip to a
Danish university where he said the engineering and business schools are integrated
to boost innovation.
“We need to reorient our training at the universities. I visited a university in Denmark the other day where they come up with two start-ups every week by students. They have integrated their Engineering and Business schools instead of having them separate,” said Prof Kiama.
His comments came in the backdrop of the ongoing inaugural
Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi under the theme "Driving Green Growth and
Climate Finance Solutions for Africa and the World."
The convention is set to give
African nations the chance to develop specific plans, design corresponding
resources and investments, push for changes in the global financial system,
share knowledge and workable solutions, and update Africa's development and
climate vision.
The summit kicked off on Monday and goes on until Wednesday. It
was organized by the African Union Commission in collaboration with the Kenyan
government.
Over 20 current and former heads of state are among the 30,000 delegates in Nairobi for the summit.
On Tuesday, the summit was set to offer proposals to reform global financial structures that have resulted in only a tiny fraction of investments in climate solutions being directed toward Africa.
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