After an extended period of thorough preparations and diligent application processes, the innovative Level-Up research and development project is now finally set to begin construction of the Bioenergy Park in Ghana. Supported by the Tübingen-based company Novis, the site has been successfully prepared by the project team and the initial concrete foundations for the facility have been poured. This progress opens a new chapter in the international collaboration between the two project partners to create a practical educational and research facility in the fields of Renewable Energy and Circular Economy.

At the EnaTex mid-term conference in Bandung (Indonesia) in October 2023, partners took stock of the project's progress.

The RIESGOS 2.0 project has come to an end. The project team developed a demonstrator for a web-based multi-risk information system. The results have now been published in a policy brief.

The StratOre project aims to improve the mining processing chain of ore deposits in Indonesia by developing innovative concepts for efficient and sustainable extraction of critical metals such as nickel, cobalt, scandium, and bismuth, silver, antimony, indium, tellurium. Between April and May 2023, researchers from the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF), along with project partners from the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), successfully completed a field trip to Indonesia to meet the Indonesian project partners and to visit the project’s two study areas.

Hazards are rarely isolated: when an earthquake triggers a tsunami, it can exacerbate existing damage and cause disruptions to vital, critical infrastructure. In recent years, experts from Germany, Chile, Ecuador and Peru have been working together in the RIESGOS 2.0 project to better prepare disaster risk management for such complex situations.

The company RITTEC 8.0 Umwelttechnik GmbH (revolBRAS project coordinator) was awarded as the winner of the Sustainability Open Innovation Program by the Brazilian brand manufacturer Lojas Renner S.A.. In addition, RITTEC organized a second roadshow to Brazil in November 2023. Furthermore, on 26th of January 2024, the first in-person revolBRAS project meeting took place in Germany. The new project partner HORIBA Europe GmbH was integrated and warmly welcomed into the project team.

The Institute for Biodiversity - Network e.V. (ibn) organised a regional IPBES capacity building workshop in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with funding from the German Federal Environment Agency's (UBA) Advisory Assistance Programme.

The CLIENT II Science-Policy-Interface project team hosted a side event at the 28th Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP 28) entitled “Renewable Energy Solutions on different scales in Africa and the Middle East”. The event primarily focussed on solar energy.

As part of the project OrganoRice, rice production under organic farming started in Vinh Long and An Giang provinces in the Mekong Delta in 2023. Initially, 3 hectares of farmland were converted in each province in order to school local farmers in organic farming. In addition, trials were started in Vinh Long to optimise organic fertilisation, organic pest control, and also variety trials were established.

The CLIENT II regional video Africa provides insights into two of the 81 projects within the framework of the BMBF funding programme. The 4th part of the video series is now also featured in the current issue of the BMBF’s FONA newsletter.