Preparations begin for the next INSA Workshop: Kenya 2023
The INSA coordination team, Dr Claire Delon (LAERO, CNRS), Dr Corinne Galy-Lacaux (LAERO, CNRS) and Pr Dominique Serça (LAERO, Paul Sabatier University), recently spent two weeks in Kenya to begin preparations for the next INSA workshop, to be held in October 2023. The team met with Dr Sonja Leitner from ILRI, Kenya; Dr Gretchen Gettel from IHE Delft, the Netherlands; and Dr Benjamin Nyilytia, Ms Rachel Otieno and Dr Kenneth K’Oreje from the Ministy of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, Kenya, to discuss the location and content of the workshop.
Being home to several INSA collaborators, the visit to Nairobi provided a unique opportunity for the coordination team (primarily atmospheric chemists), to strengthen interdisciplinary links within the INSA consortium – namely with specialists in: greenhouse gas emissions from livestock and agriculture (Dr Sonja Leitner), water quality (Dr Benjamin Nyilytia, Ms Rachel Otieno and Dr Kenneth K’Orege), and catchment level water-nitrogen interactions (Dr Suzanne Jacobs, Dr Gretchen Gettel and Dr Benjamin Nyilytia).
First on the agenda was a visit to the Mazingira Center, an environmental research and educational facility established by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi. Research at the Mazingira Centre focuses on understanding and managing the environmental footprint of livestock systems without reducing productivity. Included in their tour were customised stalls for measuring greenhouse gas emissions from cows and sheep after ingestion of different fodder, to study the variability of emissions as a function of the forage quality, digestibility, and climate (dry / wet); and automatic chambers for measuring the flow of N2O through the soil (see photos).
The coordination team also visited the Central Water Testing Laboratory (Water Resources Authority), to discuss with colleagues, Dr Benjamin Nyilytia, Ms Rachel Otieno, and Dr Kenneth K’Oreje.
Next, workshop preparations called for visits to potential host sites, including Taita Hills Research Station, Wundanyi, run by the University of Helsinki and a popular field site for Gretchen Gettel’s masters students. It is planned that the second half of the workshop will be held here, providing the opportunity for a range of insightful fieldtrips looking at the impact different ecosystems and livelihood systems have on the nitrogen cycle.
Also on the agenda, was a visit to a local primary school to discuss Les Petit.e.s Débrouillard.e.s d’Occitanie (APDOC) workshops planned for September – October 2023. The workshops will be similar to those held in Abidjan in 2022, with two APDOC science facilitators performing a series of hands-on workshops with school children to educate them about the nitrogen cycle, the impacts of nitrogen on the environment and the history of nitrogen fertiliser.
The coordination team also took the opportunity to present the INSA project at the French Embassy, Alliance Française and the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD). The response to the project was very positive and the meetings sparked ideas for future collaborations, including a science café and public lecture to be held at Alliance Française, Nairobi, in coordination with the Workshop in 2023.
