What is SPARKNET?

Journalists and Media Officers? SPARKNET is described in summary below. For additional resources visit our 'press office' page.

SPARKNET has twelve member organisations from nine countries, and is the first formal Knowledge Network on Sustainable household energy in Southern and Eastern Africa. The project partners are aiming to assemble and disseminate (through an interactive Internet-based knowledge network) up-to-date knowledge (information, scenario analysis and policy assessment) on the low-income household energy situation in seven partner countries in East and Southern Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa) as well as relevant donor-aid policy in three European Union (EU) countries (UK, Germany, and The Netherlands) and at an EU level. The project is a thematic network supported under the INCO funding stream of the EU 5th Framework Programme, and was launched in January 2002. Key themes include household energy and health, household energy and gender, and household energy and forestry.

The first phase of SPARKNET will last until December 2004. In this first phase we will compare and contrast the prevailing rural household energy situation in each country so as to highlight policy options and innovation opportunities. A knowledge bank on key actors and projects will be developed to identify the effects of current policies and to stimulate debate about best practices and alternative approaches. SPARKNET will then develop rapid scenarios for each country and lead debate about these alternatives. Policy options will be then follow. Two international Internet-conferences will be held so as to assist with the dissemination of the results. The timeline and activities can be found here.

If you're wondering what a formal knowledge network is you can't do better than to visit the 'networks' pages of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). They have excellent discussion papers that can be downloaded under 'Networks Research'.

How do I use the SPARKNET webpages

We've tried to make the SPARKNET web site as easy as possible to use but there are some tips that can make your visit easier (if you can think of improvements please let us know!). As SPARKNET gets up and running our website will become an increasingly important resource for those interested in household energy in Southern and East Africa. Why not let us keep you informed of site updates and SPARKNET activities? Simply click here.

To find out information about a particular issue either select a country from the map in the top left of the page, select a theme (health, gender, forestry, policy) by clicking on the images at the top of the page, or select an option from the menu on the right. Don't forget to bookmark this site!

Who are the SPARKNET members?

The project consortium consists of twelve organisations five of which are from EU member states (three from the UK, one from the Netherlands and one from Germany). The organisational structure is essentially horizontal (direct communication takes place between all partners) although the role of each is clearly defined. Programmatic co-ordination is carried out by ITDG - UK. Communication and Information Technology (IT) systems are the responsibility of eco Ltd. This includes facilitation of communication within the knowledge network, communication with those outside the network, and design & maintenance of the SPARK-NET web pages. The three thematic European partners (ECO-consult - Germany, University of Twente/TDG - the Netherlands, and University of Liverpool - UK) lend support to the local country partners as well as provide information about relevant development aid activities of their respective countries. In addition they bring expertise in key thematic areas (integration of household energy into other sectors, gender, and indoor air pollution/health).

All twelve partners participating in this project are experts in the field of energy in low-income rural households although they come from a wide variety of backgrounds including semi-governmental, private sector, and NGO.