SmartVille project completion in Namibia
The Erasmus+ SmartVille project aims to strengthen education in rural areas in Namibia and Zambia. This goal was achieved by setting up a total of four Smart Living Labs, which offer courses tailored to the needs of the communities and provide infrastructure for accessing knowledge.
The SmartVille project team, consisting of Dr. Ann Christin Schulz, Christine Best, and Kerstin Guhlemann, traveled to the Namibian capital Windhoek at the end of the project. Together with project partners from Finland, Namibia, and Zambia, they visited the two newly installed Living Labs in the communities of Nauaspoort and Mix Resettlement. This gave the project team an impressive insight into the two Living Labs and the life of the communities.
The locations were deliberately chosen so that people from rural areas could take advantage of what the Living Labs have to offer. First and foremost, this means that a place has been created where people from the communities can meet. In addition, the Living Labs offer access to electricity, the internet, computers, printers, copiers, and scanners. A freezer is also available. In addition to these infrastructure facilities, the partner universities offer weekly courses at the Living Labs, e.g., on computer use, marketing, or agriculture. Successfully completed courses are certified. The first certificates were awarded to participants during the closing event.
Another item on the program was the “Innovation Challenges” organized by the Finnish partners at the partner universities NUST (Namibian University of Science and Technology) and UNAM (University of Namibia). Two interdisciplinary student groups were given a task by local companies relating to a specific issue facing the companies and had one week to develop a tailor-made solution. The results were presented at the end of the week and the winning teams were honoured. Highlights of the week included a visit to Penduka Village – an initiative dedicated to empowering women economically, providing them with work and empowering them – a joint braai – Namibian/South African term for barbecue – with African dancing, and a safari where antelopes, giraffes and zebras could be observed in a breath-taking setting.